This multimedia CD‐ROM is a collection of full text articles, reports, and legislation on the general topic of substance abuse. The CD‐ROM is Windows and Macintosh compatible, with the minimum hardware requirements for the PC: Windows 3.1, 486 microprocessor, 8 MB RAM, 10 MB disk space, and a 2x CD‐ROM drive; and for Mac: 68040 microprocessor, System 7.1, 8 MB of RAM, 10 MB disk space, and a 2x CD‐ROM drive. If a networked licence is desired, an Ethernet network is required. The reviewer used the CD‐ROM on a PC, Windows 95, Pentium 200, with 32 MB RAM.
Installation is a standard Windows install; but, due to the presence of videos, QuickTime for Windows is also installed on the desktop. Installation was quick, efficient, and easy to manage. The CD‐ROM opens to an introductory menu screen, providing the user with 12 options: Topics, Entries A‐Z, Articles, Visuals, Glossary, Directory, Bibliography, Advanced Search, Options, Help, Acknowledgements, and Exit. The first seven options are all browsable lists of full text information arranged alphabetically by first word in the title.
The Topics list contains a further subdivision into 11 general categories: alcohol, tobacco, other drugs, people and places, treatment, cause and effect, documents, regulation, resources, and prevention. When the user selects a topic, an alphabetical list of all the entries on that topic appears. There are hundreds of primary and secondary research materials available for any given topic. Entries A‐Z offers a dictionary of terms relating to substance abuse. The Articles section contains a huge number of full text articles taken from newsletters, fact sheets, surveys, and studies produced by such governmental organizations as the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The positives of the resource are in the diversity and volume of the information. Although many depository libraries will have the majority of this information in government documents, this resource brings together an amazing amount of research information that is closely related. The browsable lists are easy to navigate; and the search function allows users to perform advanced Boolean full text searching. Help screens are context‐sensitive and easy to understand. Print options are standard and print quality is high.
The negatives include problematic navigation, limited searching ability, and incomplete citation information. Users cannot maximize the screen display. Other than the topical list arrangement, there are no subject headings assigned to any of the articles or topical entries, thus effectively limiting searching to either title searches or full‐text searches. Most of the videos and images on the CD‐ROM do not include complete citation information. For example, actors are not identified, dates not listed, and original broadcast information is not conveyed. This weakness is not so substantial since most of the videos are not of a scholarly research quality. Almost all of the videos that I opened left me wondering why they were included at all. Although the CD‐ROM is advertised as being linked to an up‐to‐date Web site, the URL listed on the back of the CD‐ROM is already a dead link.
The wide range of materials makes the resource an excellent reference tool for non‐depository libraries that lack current dictionaries and encyclopaedias on substance abuse. The resource is better for high school and general public libraries than academic libraries; but it is still useful for undergraduates working on general research papers.
