The book series Illustrated Architectural Guides to Scotland published by the Rutland Press, the publishing arm of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, has been such a success story that the company is branching out into the world of CD‐ROM. The printed volume on Edinburgh was deservedly a bestseller and this seems the most likely one with which to start the multimedia ball rolling.
The CD‐ROM holds software to install the program in Windows 3.1, or Windows 95. An IBM or fully compatible PC is recommended, with 4MB of RAM and at least 3MB of free hard disk space. A high‐resolution VGA display, or better, a colour display is recommended. Edinburgh on Disk contains all the illustrations and text from the book, full indexing facilities, a spoken introduction by the author and a wealth of facts, details and anecdotes.
The index screen offers a choice of three facilities: index of places, sites and architects. Each one initially offers an alphabetic index so that, for example, information on the architect Robert Lorimer is found by selecting the box “L”. By selecting the name itself a list of buildings, with dates, appears on the screen.
Entries for principal buildings give the name, address, date and architect (if known). Generally, dates given are those of the completion of the building (if known). Lesser buildings are contained within paragraph text. Where appropriate, demolished buildings and unrealized projects are included. There is a cross‐reference system which links places and sites.
Part of the appeal of this CD‐ROM is that it is simplicity itself both to install and use. It may not be slick hypermedia “edutainment”, complete with music and voice‐over aphorisms, seamlessly combining text, images, audio and video, but it is instant, straightforward and functional. Whether for home, school or library use it is bound to become an invaluable reference tool on the architecture of Edinburgh.
