Gale’s American Decades CD‐ROM provides users with an excellent introduction to the history and culture of twentieth century United States. Based on the fine print reference series, the CD‐ROM provides a good combination of text and multimedia with a well‐designed search engine. Users from high school through college undergraduates and the public will find this useful to answer a wide range of questions.
As with other Gale products, American Decades CD‐ROM installs quite simply. The user’s guide contains clear instructions on both installation and usage. Both the product’s invoice and account number are needed to complete installation.
The colorful main screen provides eight search modes. A basic keyword search mode plus advanced search mode appears, with the advanced mode allowing for searching by name, gender, subject, full text, birth and death year, occupation, decade, and document type. Search results appear in relative order: brief entries on the left side of the screen, and text or multimedia entries on the right. Retrieval time for searches is quite short.
Besides the two keyword search engines, American Decades provides a subject search mode for locating materials via controlled vocabulary. Users access subject headings by browsing an alphabetical list or entering a term in a search window and allowing the engine to move to the closest term on the list. Along with the basic list, the subject mode may be displayed in an outline mode. Twenty‐one subject categories appear. When users select a particular category, the system opens subcategories allowing users to move to the results screen.
Perhaps the most interesting way to use this CD‐ROM is through the five browsing modes. The browse by decade routine allows users to select first a decade of the twentieth century, then browse entries from twelve subject categories. Multiple decades and subject areas may be selected. In addition, users may view brief overviews of the decade in each subject category, leading topics of the news, biographies, and a list of awards.
The topics in the news section uses a controlled vocabulary search engine to access entries by title. Once patrons select a document title, they move to the main entry. A primary document section contains links to the collection of speeches, court decisions, newspaper articles, excerpts from books and other materials. The timeline section echoes the decade section, allowing users to select a timeline and subject to view. Differences arise in the ability to limit searches to time periods running from one to ten years. The biography section lists entries for important individuals in alphabetical order. In addition to the keyword and browsing modes, users may access the collection of pictures, video clips and audio clips. The 1322 items are accessed by title and keyword search. Also, users may limit the search by material type. Detailed online help is available from the main menu and from each of the search and browsing modes. The user’s guide also contains detailed instruction presented in a clear, easy‐to‐follow manner.
Patrons and librarians alike will appreciate this well‐designed tool for quick reference, detailed research on various topics, and simply browsing its rich information. American Decades also continues Gale’s fine tradition of well‐designed, easy‐to‐use, and factually accurate products. It is highly recommended for all academic, public, and school libraries.
