Beacham’s International Threatened, Endangered, and Extinct Species is an interactive CD‐ROM that corresponds to Beacham’s four‐volume set, The Official World Wildlife Fund Guide to Endangered Species of North America. It covers 1,472 species through multimedia presentations and hypertext links. Each 20‐130 screen article describes the species, its habitat, behavior, taxonomy, legal status, protective agencies, threats to survival, recovery efforts, and historical and current ranges. Each article contains a photo of the species that readers can enlarge to full screen and a 2‐color locator map.
The title page lets readers access the main index, get an introduction to PowerCD (the search engine), or view an introductory multimedia presentation. The main index, comprising twenty entries, is the heart of the product. It offers options to access the multimedia presentations index, master indexes of all endangered species reports (either by common name or by scientific name), U.S. endangered species index (887 species), international endangered species index (433 species), extinct species index (150 species), delisted species index, habitats index, Federal Register index, Endangered Species Bulletins index, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official lists and recovery plans index, Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species index, illegal trade in endangered species, selected environmental organization phone books (these include: Bureau of Land Management offices, regional heritage data centers, offices of the National Marine Fisheries Service, National Forest Service offices, state heritage programs, national wildlife refuges, and offices of the U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service), Forum for Scientific Exchange index, photographers specializing in endangered species index, metric/imperial system conversion charts, annotated bibliography index, acknowledgments, and getting the most out of this encyclopedia.
Upon retrieving a species to study, the student can view a large photo or a locator map, listen to the pronunciation of the common and scientific names, view a report summary or index, or answer a question about the species. One can also listen to a sound or view a photo of the habitat, if available.
The report features contain the meat of this product. Clicking the “Report” button displays a one‐screen summary identifying the species’s status (indicating differences from one state to another) and when it was listed as threatened, endangered, or extinct. The summary indicates the family of the species, describes it and its habitat, and lists the threats to the species and its range (where it may be located). It may also describe its food and reproduction.
After the summary screen, the student can page through the report or go to the “Report Index” button to select a particular section or heading. These include: description; economic statuses; food habits; habitat; initial data compilers; international statuses, treaties, agreements; past and present distribution; periodicity; population biology; reasons for current status; recovery; references; responsible federal agencies; state statuses and laws; summary; taxonomy; U.S. statuses and laws; and updates.
Navigating through this product is generally easy. However, after leaving an index to view an entry, one cannot press the “Previous” button to return to the previous location in the index. Instead, one has to select the index anew. The tool bar at the bottom of the screen contains buttons to play or pause a multimedia presentation, an identifier of the text or presentation, and buttons to page up and page down. The page up and page down keys also work; but there is no scroll bar. An indicator in the lower right corner indicates one’s relative position and the total number of screens in a text article or the total time of a multimedia presentation. The center of the tool bar also has navigation icons to return to the feature presentation, browse the indexes, find a word, go to the previous screen, or go to the Learning Center.
The “return to the feature presentation” icon can be a little misleading. If one selects a multimedia presentation and pursues other links, this button will return to that presentation. However, as most users will probably start with the text indexes, clicking this button will return to the main menu.
Text appears in large, easily‐readable type. Headings appear in red. Hypertext links are clearly marked in blue text while green text indicates words that appear in the glossary. Clicking on a word in green text automatically opens a window with the definition. The student can view the next or previous word in the 831 entry glossary or view the glossary list which opens highlighting the word most recently selected.
Multimedia presentations automatically change the text screens as a narrator reads. However, the screens often change before the narrator has finished reading them. Readers who want to take more time to read the text or to view the pictures can stop the narration with the “Pause” button and use the page up and page down keys to move at will.
While the Learning Center seems to provide different approaches to the material, it really offers information about related products and services. The library includes alphabetical, subject, and series catalogs of PowerCD titles. The “Services” button provides telephone numbers and other pertinent information for customer service, technical support, and sales and registration. The “Information” button offers a multimedia introduction to the PowerCD search engine, reviews of other PowerCD titles, information about the publisher, and the software license.
The program makes minimal demands on the computer as it runs off the CD and only installs icons in a PowerCD folder. Windows and Macintosh versions come on the same disc. System requirements include a 486DX/25 with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, 8 MB RAM (16 MB RAM Recommended with Windows 95), CD‐ROM Drive (double speed recommended), 640 x 480 VGA (SVGA, 256 colors recommended), mouse and sound card recommended.
The information contained in Beacham’s International Threatened, Endangered, and Extinct Species is authoritative and easy to read. While most of it can be printed, it cannot be saved or copied to disk. The annotated bibliography alone is impressive. It consists of three chapters of Beacham’s Guide to Environmental Issues and Sources which retails for $160. The chapter on endangered species covers 389 screens; the one on wetlands consists of 171 screens; and the one on wildlife conservation extends to 441 screens. The complete five volume bibliography contains many more topics and sources of interest to those researching endangered wildlife. Beacham’s International Threatened, Endangered, and Extinct Species is destined to be the definitive encyclopedia on endangered wildlife.
