By Sumeria, Inc. The purpose of Ocean Life: Hawaiian Islands CD-ROM is to familiarize people with the many aspects of 32 different species of marine life inherent to the Hawaiian Islands, through the use of text, movies, maps, and narration. $49.95. Windows/Mac.
This is volume three in a four volume ocean life series produced by Sumeria. The text was written by Robert Myers, the author of Micronesia Reef Fishes.
I enjoyed reviewing Ocean Life. The music
created an exciting mood and the action video at the beginning
were enough to get me hooked. The contents screen appears after a
few minutes of video.
The first item is the family index which
shows small pictures of the fish family that the user may click
on to get more information on different fish in this area as well
as underwater movie clips. The user may then read the text, or
follow along while it is narrated. A short paragraph or two
gives both the common and Latin name, and a brief description of
the species and its habits. A map of the reef area where this
species lives is included on the screen.
The next item in the contents is the morphology section, which
shows a fish with all body parts labeled. When different parts
of the body are clicked with the mouse, different variations of
body type appear for different fish types. For example, if the
caudal fin is clicked, a sketch of six other types of caudal fins
inherent to other fish types appears.
Section three provides
interesting aspects of Reef Life such as feeding, brooding,
defense, and locomotion of different fish species. Charts and
maps which follow show each of the Hawaiian Islands. The last
section plays all the different fish species information
segments. [Top of Page]
Use & Audience
Ease of Use: From installation to navigation I
found this a fairly simple program to manipulate. A contents
icon is always present and fish icons with arrows are provided to
go back and forth within each section.
In the Reef Life section
a scroll bar is used to move from one aspect to the next and this
can sometimes be difficult to manipulate.
The menu bar allows the user to export both text (full text only)
and movies which will appeal to students. It also allows for
search capabilities. The menu bar also gives many different ways
of accessing the information contained within the program.
Recommended Audience: The producers state the intended audience as "educators, students, scuba divers, aquarists, and lovers of the oceans." I would suggest that this product be used in high schools in coordination with biology studies, as a way to get a brief introduction to the underwater world and its inhabitants. [Top of Page]
Installation: I used this product on both Windows and Macintosh with no problems. It was simple to install in both systems, simply by clicking on the icon on the Macintosh and clicking on olife3.exe file from the Windows file manager.
System Requirements: For Macintosh, 6 MB RAM, System 7.0, 13 inch monitor (256 colors), CD-ROM (double-speed.) For IBM-compatibles, 486/33 MHz, 8 MB RAM, DOS 5.0, Windows 3.1, VGA display (640 x 480 at 256 colors), sound card, CD-ROM drive.
Product Support: The documentation covers
trouble shooting and installation instructions, product rights,
as well as a list of family types and species within that are
covered in this program. The help screen offered assistance
navigating throughout the program and the menu bar gave
additional options. [Top of Page]
Other Reviews
Bickford, Carolyn. "History: The 50 Best CD-ROMS." MacUser. October 1, 1994. Page 78:
"This CD-ROM combines a series of gorgeous QuickTime video
clips of nearly 100 brilliantly colored Hawaiian fish with
an encyclopedic compilation of facts about their habitat and
behavior. This visual treat of observing the sea creatures
is reason enough to check this title out; the fact that
you'll undoubtedly learn something is a bonus."
See also Technology and Learning. October, 1994.
Review by Kate Slaten: Teacher (eight years experience),