![[EMedia Professional]](/file/36067/SIGCAT 97 - Conference on Convergence.ISO/Docs/00006/00654.gif)
Resources in Brief
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Click on any title below to read an individual review. Click on any rating icon within a review to return to this list.
| An Introduction to Programming Java Applets |
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| Finding Images Online | |
| Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communication Terms |
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| D&B Marketplace |
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| Multimedia Source Book |
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Multimedia has often been associated with mere flash and pizzazz; books on the market frequently support that conception in layout, content, and even writing style. But Authoring Interactive Multimedia is not one of those books. It concentrates on helping the reader decide what he or she needs to know to begin the process of authoring multimedia applications. Arch Luther presents the much-needed information clearly, and without getting bogged down in overly technical prose.
Discussion in the book ranges from the steps involved in authoring, to choosing the authoring environment (including software and hardware, authoring interfaces, and languages), to the various results or goals the authoring environment helps to attain. Custom code-writing and programming are briefly covered.
Augmenting the authoring techniques sections is a discussion of various authoring tools and packages. Brand names of software and hardware are mentioned only to help illuminate the various concepts or lessons. Some of the software packages covered are Microsoft PowerPoint, IBM StoryBoard Live, Harvard Graphics, and AutoDesk Animator. To help give a better understanding of the products, a compact disc containing examples of current multimedia software from the IBM Ultimedia Tool series is included.
While Authoring Interactive Multimedia won't provide the electronic media professional with much other than an awareness of what other tools and technologies are available, the book will provide the multimedia amateur with a strong introduction to the field. --BM
Short of spending hours browsing CD-ROM boxes on store shelves or flipping through titles in company catalogs, how can you find the CD-ROM to fit your needs? CD-ROMS in Print 1996, which bills itself as "An International Guide to CD-ROM, CD-I, 3DO, MMCD, CD32, Multimedia and Electronic Products" is a good place to start.
More than 9,000 titles are listed and described in the main index, which takes up two thirds of the directory. The entries usually include the title's subject (such as entertainment), a brief description, the audience level, the platform requirements or specifications, and the title's price. While the title list is fantastic for those who already know the name of the title they want to look up, the other indexes are useful for searching by company, audience level, subject, and platform. In the companies index, companies are listed alphabetically with contact and published titles information. And in the subject index, titles can be found listed under the more than 200 subject headings, from "Adult" to "Zoology."
While some information is missing--for instance, id software is not listed under either Doom or Doom II and is absent from the company index--the directory seems fairly complete. It is also extremely easy to search, although a CD-ROM version that could search and cross-reference indexes would serve the purpose a whole lot better. --IR
![[LiveLink]](/file/36067/SIGCAT 97 - Conference on Convergence.ISO/Docs/webcd.gif "[LiveLink]"){kind=small}
. $59.50 per set, $195 for the entire set.
EMS describes its CD-ROM series, EMS Professional Shareware, as a comprehensive collection of all known public domain, free, shareware, and commercial vendor patch, bugfix, and add-on products. EMS doesn't note that these discs are a must for working programmers and application developers, but many developers recognize these CD-ROM collections as essential.
The current CD-ROM collection includes such sets as ASM Utility Library, MS Access Utility Library, AutoCAD Utility Library, C/C++ Utility Library, Visual Basic Utility Library, and Pascal Utility Library. Even if you purchase just one of the more than 15 sets, all sets in the collection are indexed in a dBASE-compatible database (that comes on diskette) to enable finding the right code or program quickly. The database lists each product, its original release date, the size of the application, the name of the producer, the price, and a short description.
EMS discs are assembled by professionals in each of the sets' areas, and include some of the most comprehensive collections of utilities and add-ons available anywhere. These sets are so useful to the working programmer that they are supported by a 30-day money-back guarantee. --RG
inquiry.com, inc.'s Web site is a significant resource for researching software application development and for keeping up with emerging networking technologies that will affect software developers.
The site is supported by the vendors, VARs, and consultants that are hosted on it, so registration is free. But after registering, the user seeking product information will be asked permission to pass his or her name to that specific vendor. This approval earns each user "Cyber Points" which may be used at the inquiry.com online store for baseball caps, T-shirts, and the like.
inquiry.com hosts such publications as InfoWorld, Information Week, Application Development Trends, CMP Media's TechWeb, Communications Week, and VAR Business. Any search done on the site will return scores of references to networking hardware and general industry trends and news, all of which can be read and printed.
One of inquiry.com's most useful features is the Tech Tips section, where developers can pose questions to a number of industry experts, including those covering Visual Basic, SQL, Java, VRML, C++, MFC (Microsoft Foundation Classes), Delphi, and the Web. The Tech Tips section is an excellent, searchable resource, and stands beside other worthwhile sections of the site that include forums--where users can contact other professionals in the computer industry and exchange technical info--and company directories that can be browsed using a number of different methods.
Every applications programmer, networking professional, and multimedia developer would be well advised to register with inquiry.com for the significant resources available on the site. --RG
Multimedia Law: Forms and Analysis is a lengthy introductory resource aimed at helping lawyers understand the various nuances of multimedia publishing. This volume takes existing commercial and intellectual property law, such as trademark rights and patent infringement, and applies it to the multimedia industry. Raysman, Brown, and Neuburger also provide an analysis of the legal issues surrounding the Internet.
Beginning with definitions of the various terms, the work moves through coverage of rights acquisition, licensing, and copyright laws. Along the way, the nearly 900 pages touch on everything from distribution agreements, consulting forms, and defamation checklists, to discussion and dissection of the legal issues surrounding the Internet, multimedia, and electronic publishing. The authors also provide numerous references to court cases and examples of multimedia intellectual property law in action.
The most interesting part of the volume is the content provided by update 3, predominantly the addition of chapter 10--"The Internet and Online Services"--which fills a glaring gap in the previous edition's coverage with a thorough consideration of the issues service providers, corporations, and individuals must deal with when publishing content on the World Wide Web. Proof of their commitment to keeping the index current is seen in the author's choice of topics in the most recent edition, which range from domain name disputes, regulation of obscenity, and the Telecommunications Act, to brand new technologies such as Java and electronic commerce.
While aimed squarely at the legal profession, anyone involved with multimedia would benefit from a thorough consideration of the potential potholes and road hazards discussed in the book. The checklists provided are an easy way for a CD-ROM producer or Web page developer to prevent a trademark violation. After all, the volume is much less expensive than the legal fees developers sometimes face for copyright infringement. --JK
The Software Publishers Association (SPA) represents software companies not only for combatting pirates and piracy, but for supporting intellectual property rights. The SPA's Web site is useful, informative, and well maintained. The SPA Web site is essential for software publishers or for anyone producing multimedia for the consumer or corporate markets.
An example of what can be found on the site--illustrating both the usefulness of the site and the tactics the SPA often employs to control and patrol piracy--is the Internet Service Provider (ISP) code of conduct. This code of conduct is essentially a contract which may be signed by any service provider. Upon signing, the SPA will attempt to contact an ISP about any copyright infringement that may be occurring on a hosted site before initiating litigation against the ISP.
Another example of what the SPA offers--beyond industry numbers, information on piracy, and general resources for software publishing--is an electronic software distribution guideline that may be downloaded in RTF, PDF, or Microsoft Word formats. This guideline, which was presented at the SPA's 12th annual conference in Atlanta in 1996, discusses the work of members such as Borland, Brøderbund, Claris, CyberSource, Lotus Development, Macromedia, Microsoft, Netscape, Novell, Online Interactive, Portland Software, and Silicon Graphics. The guide offers analysis on the risks of credit card fraud in online transactions and offers information on companies that can help protect against this kind of fraud.
Outside of the useful resources the SPA Web site offers, it is designed well, uses a lot of tables to illustrate piracy figures, and also offers a text-only version for those who have slow connections or who want to go straight to the heart of the information without the delay of graphics. The association's press releases are easily searched using the Excite search engine, and there are links to its member's company home pages and information on becoming a member. It should be noted that although this site is worth repeated visits, a good deal of what it offers is available only to members. --RG
. ISBN 0-12-394970-X, 478 pages, with dual-platform CD-ROM, $34.95.3D Graphics: Tips, Tricks, and Techniques is a clearly written, comprehensive guide that will be useful to any developer not yet familiar with the tools and technologies that enable 3D creation. The book's greatest strength--introducing newcomers to the broad capabilities of some of the best techniques and technologies of the 3D field--is perhaps its greatest weakness. Those who have done 3D development and who are already familiar with its concepts will need to turn elsewhere for other-than-introductory guidance.
David Kalwick begins this broad introduction to 3D graphics with a discussion of 3D modeling and the various platforms available to developers. Readers will learn about primitives, about how to build more complex models, and about the most popular software tools used in modeling. Throughout the rest of the book, readers will become familiar with everything from loftsweeping, object deformation, and spline-based modeling to deformation tools, rendering queues, and camera animation. Kalwick does cover many topics but not in great detail. In the chapter on animation, for example, readers will learn about methods, motion paths, hierarchical animation objects, animation output, and intersecting geometry, but not the kind of information needed for advanced, hands-on creation.
In short, 3D Graphics is a good book for beginners or for those who haven't had much experience with 3D tools. Although 3D Graphics can help advanced 3D developers refresh understanding of some of the more obscure techniques involved in 3D creation, developers working in the electronic media industry will already be familiar with many of the topics covered in the book, and will want to turn elsewhere for refining their knowledge. --KLK
Technical multimedia title publisher Steve Cunningham and consumer multimedia title producer Judson Rosebush have enough CD-ROM publishing experience between them to write a good how-to book on the subject. And write a good how-to book they did.
Electronic Publishing on CD-ROM takes an honest look at CD-ROM publishing, focusing not only on the benefits of publishing on disc but on the disadvantages as well. Rosebush and Cunningham argue, for instance, that there are times when CD-ROM is not the best medium and point out that some frequently changing items belong online. And there are times when a good old print and paper book will do the job.
In their careful, introductory approach to the subject, Cunningham and Rosebush take care to explain everything from how a CD-ROM is mastered, to the differences in authoring systems, to the costs usually involved in various types of productions. And to better show what goes into CD-ROM publishing, each of the authors tells the story of a title they've seen move from concept to the marketplace. The accompanying CD-ROM offers some interesting nuggets, such as FAQs from newsgroups, short QuickTime movies from disc manufacturer DMI, and links to useful Internet sites.
As should be expected from the team of Rosebush and Cunningham, the book is a wonderful resource for both beginning publishers and seasoned professionals. --IR
. ISBN 1-885452-07-1, 199, softcover, 313 pages, $24.95.
Aimed at new electronic media developers, the Interactive Publishers Handbook offers guidance not only on strategies for promoting new media projects in different markets but on the deals and contracts that control the industry. The book exemplifies its arguments with scenarios and case studies, and offers question-and-answer sessions with successful publishers and developers.
The Interactive Publishers Handbook includes coverage of a wide range of issues, including marketing, customer service, distribution, and online network franchising. These discussions are enhanced by interviews with successful CEOs, marketing managers, and developers. Mason Woodbury, VP of marketing services for Br┐derbund Software, for example, helps explain the role of technical support in his company. And a case study of book publisher and distributor Baker & Taylor illustrates how new media titles are finding their way through traditional book distribution channels. More than just a collection of case studies, though, the Interactive Publishers Handbook also contains a list of venture capitalist firms, lawyers familiar with copyright laws, publishers associated with multimedia titles, and distributors.
When the Interactive Publishers Handbook gets down to some essential issues, however, it falls short, not because of any lack of content or quality but simply because of format. There are two papers in the appendix ("Patents and Corporate Litigation" and "Intellectual Property Rights") and two boilerplate legal forms (a software development and publishing agreement and an affiliated label agreement) that are almost too small to read, even though they are vital to developers. They could easily have been presented as chapters in the book. The papers and forms offer an opportunity for developers to read the fine print that will affect distribution deals, company alliances, and profit margins.
Because of its insider perspective, the Interactive Publishers Handbook will be entertaining and useful for developers interested in expanding their knowledge of the industry. --RT
. ISBN 0-12-518408-5, 1995, softcover, 480 pages.
Multimedia and Hypertext gently brings new users and new developers up to speed on the history and use of hypertext. Author Jakob Neilson, an engineer for strategic technology at Mountain View, California-based SunSoft, covers just about everything hypertext, from its birth in Vannevar Bush's Memex idea in the 1945 Atlantic Monthly article "As We May Think," to its more familiar use in complex multimedia applications and on the World Wide Web.
Multimedia and Hypertext, a new version of the 1990 Hypertext and Hypermedia, has been updated significantly. Nielsen integrates these updates into the book's discussion of hypertext's use in a wide range of areas, including the architecture of hypertext systems, hypertext usability, and hardware support. The book also covers other hypertext-related issues like information overload, large document navigation, and content repurposing. At the end of the book, a comprehensive bibliography covers multimedia societies, conferences, journals and magazines, and even relevant videotapes.
The only shortcoming of this book is expressed in Jakob Nielsen's opening rhetorical question: "Why is this a book?" Although the screen shots and supporting captions are thorough and well-stated, and there are many good examples of applications that use hypertext, an illustration can never provide the experience of navigating through actual hypertext-based documents. Examples of the discussed technology are crucial and could have been included in a companion CD-ROM.
Nielsen's final chapter compares his predictions from the 1990 edition of the book to the reality of hypertext technology today. Many of those predictions were surprisingly accurate, making Multimedia and Hypertext a good and even trusted reference not only for discussion of hypertext theory, but for information on the practical side of hypertext technology. --RT
. ISBN 0-12-232932-5, softcover, 358 pages.
A standard technique in modern software development, object-oriented programming has evolved significantly since its birth in the 1960s, culminating with the C++ programming language, one of the most popular approaches to object-oriented programming. Taking an object-oriented approach to software development involves focusing on the entities or objects that occur within the application--each object containing its own data set or functionality.
Object-Oriented Programming with C++ attempts a frank and practical discussion of C++. Though not for the beginner, those with a basic understanding of the concepts behind the C++ programming language--readers with experience in C or Pascal, for example--will gain significantly from working with the book. Even so, the author cautions that there is still more to learn and supports this claim with a rather extensive reference section.
The book is broken into two main parts. The first part covers the introduction to object-oriented concepts: basic ideas, class hierarchy, encapsulation, and various object-oriented programming languages. Part two presents a detailed discussion of the actual programming in an object-oriented environment using C++ as the main language: elements of object-oriented systems, data structures and algorithms, object-oriented interfaces and databases, and object-oriented analysis and design. Though Raimund Ege attempts to show how to apply the concepts of C++ in a practical or working environment rather than justify it in an academic context, he tends to get bogged down with conceptual and overly illustrative language. Some may prefer this approach, but overall it serves to detract from Ege's original, practical intentions. As a result, the reader is presented with a rather overly detailed volume that covers the issues and ramifications of the C++ programming language. --BM
Ronald Leach's book Object-Oriented Design and Programming with C++--like Raimund Ege's Object-Oriented Programming with C++--is also divided into two major parts (concepts and techniques), and is geared toward the programmer with some familiarity with C. Leach covers many of the same topics Ege does, but chooses to place special emphasis on design, testing, and re-use.
Leach covers basic concepts quickly; metaphorical and philosophical treatments are generally avoided. Leach's writing is intensive and gets right down to the discussion and application of object-oriented programming using C++, moving through an overview of the elementary syntax features quickly in order to make way for thorough coverage of design, testing, and re-use. For example, Leach discusses the very basic input and output operators "cin" and "cout" early in chapter two, in the first part of the book, in order to move quickly into more advanced topics early on.
Every chapter in Object-Oriented Design and Programming with C++ ends with exercises focusing on instant application of the principles covered. There is a considerable amount of example source code used throughout the book, all of which is contained in usable format on the included floppy disk.
In short, Leach delivers an engaging book that will be useful for beginning and intermediate C++ programmers who want to refine their knowledge of object-oriented programming. --BM
Good planning can drastically reduce bloated budgets and wasted time for almost any project, including (and perhaps especially for) video, film, and multimedia projects. While author Steven R. Cartwright doesn't promise to eliminate completely the sorts of disasters that have plagued much-hyped Hollywood projects, he does offer a book full of preventative measures in Pre-Production Planning for Video, Film, and Multimedia.
Much of the book deals with the pre-production process for video and film, including everything from script writing, to casting and filming, to post-production. Multimedia is covered only briefly and, as with the rest of the book, is discussed with the beginner in mind. This brief coverage of multimedia makes no difference in the long run because most of the pre-production rules applied to video and film can be used for a multimedia project. The particular requirements for planning a multimedia production, such as the need for authoring software, are covered in the nine pages devoted solely to multimedia production.
Peppered throughout the book are useful check-lists and legal releases which can be printed out from the accompanying floppy disk. And a resource section at the back of the book directs producers to good production starting points, such as stock footage and music libraries, authoring software companies, and unions and guilds.
Pre-Production Planning is a useful resource for anyone wishing to plan better for engineering a film or multimedia project. --IR
An Introduction to Programming Java Applets is a solid, clear introduction to Java for the beginner. This CD-ROM title from MindQ Publishing presents the history of Java in terms of how it is being used for Web development. The disc features AVI video clips of Sun Microsystems pioneers such as James Gosling, John Gage, and Arthur van Hoff, and takes on coverage of both object-oriented programming in general and Java applets in particular, with graphically highlighted dissections of code and concepts.
The CD-ROM assumes no knowledge of Java or the Internet on the part of the user, which means that the title sometimes bogs down with screens offering commentary like "The Internet is a computer network system that connects many thousands of computers around the world." Luckily, there are easy navigation buttons that afford egress to the table of contents. A Web browser can also be launched from the CD-ROM itself, and there are URLs that can be activated directly.
Like with other titles produced by MindQ, the table of contents page is organized by topics that become tinted as they are read, much like words on a Web page, so that users can recognize where they've gone and where they haven't. MindQ titles are also customizable with personal bookmarks and notation that can be saved or exported for later reference.
Included on the disc is a selection of applets along with Sun Microsystems' Java JDK 1.0 and Brooklyn Software's HTML Assistant Pro 2.0. While both of these programs are now available online in later revisions, they will get the beginner going. Links to the download sites for the new versions, however, are launchable from the disc. Also included on the disc is a full glossary of Java terms and answers to common questions.
For the Java-literate, MindQ recommends their Java Programming and Class Libraries CD-ROM. All in all, An Introduction to Programming Java Applets is a good Java 101 course for the budding Java programmer. --Ron Gustavson
Searching the Internet and online services for an image that fits a particular description is, at best, a chore that can take hours. In Finding Images Online Paula Berinstein offers a number of helpful tips for the casual and professional searcher that can save much of the time and money typically spent searching for just the right image. Paula Berinstein begins the book with an overview of online image providers and offers a useful crash course in digital image basics and visual literacy. Berinstein covers search engines and some of the best techniques to use for complex searches. The book then moves on to explore the online services that provide images, and discusses everything from consumer services to digital stock and professional database services, to the Internet, the World Wide Web, and Usenet newsgroups. Berinstein outlines the benefits and potential problems with each channel, including ease of use, cost, and the types and quantities of images available on each site. Step-by-step case studies close the chapters, offering a guided hands-on way for users to experience the various services.
Berinstein looks at image-manipulation utilities and copyright issues briefly, and offers a significantly broad Web-oriented index as a starting point for searching for images by subject. The main drawback is that the index and the hands-on case studies would have made for ideal hyperlinks had a CD-ROM been included with the book. Also, a CD-ROM could have provided a way for readers to get a better sense of the image quality issues Berinstein discusses throughout the book. On its own, however, the book serves its purpose as a much-needed guide to the vast, illogically cataloged stacks of images found online. --Ilene Rosenberg
An impressive compilation of computer terminology, the Dictionary of PC Hardware and Data Communication Terms is designed for professionals. In the dictionary, readers will find obscure acronyms and terms that can confound even the most knowledgeable network guru. There are 900 terms in all, listed from A/UX to ZModem-90.
The author, Mitchell Shnier, began compiling the list of terms a few years ago after confronting ever-increasing "computerese" while working as a communications consultant. The fact that he compiled the definitions over time for his own use shows in the impressive depth of detail of the definitions.
Shnier pays most attention to acronyms, communications technology, and hardware. Multimedia is also given some attention, and new media developers will be glad to find definitions for many standards, protocols, and networking requirements. Thorough discussions of ESP, MPEG, and SD accompany equally well-treated examinations of more familiar topics.
Not only is O'Reilly doing the technology industry a favor by publishing this book, it is also supporting the book's online version at http://www.ora.com/reference/ dictionary/, which will be kept current by the author. Whether readers choose to use the dictionary in its print form or in its online version, it deserves a place on any computer user's bookshelf or bookmark list. --Rie Traub
Where do you go to identify all the McDonald's restaurants in Ohio? How can you get a customized telemarketing list of architectural firms in Arizona? What can you use to create a direct mail list of companies with fewer than 50 employees that manufacture ball bearings? You use D&B MarketPlace, a CD-ROM database specifically designed to help marketing professionals design customized business lists.
MarketPlace is a Windows or Mac-based CD that contains data on about ten million companies (or subsidiaries) from Dun & Bradstreet. No, you can't get a company's credit report from this disc, but you can see estimates of the company's sales, number of employees, whether it's public or private, a headquarters or subsidiary location, as well as names of executives and the company's SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) codes.
Searching MarketPlace is a breeze. You're walked through the steps to construct a "list," or collection of companies. You can search by location (state, ZIP code, county), type of business (SIC code or enhanced SIC codes), business name (when you're looking for every Pizza Hut in the county), corporate/site information (e.g., public or private or years in business), or size of business (by annual revenue or number of employees). You can, of course, mix and match these criteria to narrow the search down to just the companies or branches you want.
How do you actually get at individual company records? This is the clever part of MarketPlace--you buy the "license" to each individual record as you need it, rather than paying several thousand dollars up front for all the data on the disc. Your initial purchase of $599 includes $300 of usage meter credits. Each time you download or print records, your meter units are debited. With this license to use the data--which costs about a dime per record, depending on the kind of export you're doing--you can print the records in mailing label format, as a telemarketing list with address and phone number, or as a complete prospect report.
D&B MarketPlace is one of the most user-friendly and intuitive company databases. For marketing lists or analyses of individual companies and offices, this is a cost-effective and offline alternative to the Duns databases on some of the high-priced online services. --Mary Ellen Bates
The Multimedia Source Book, a companion to the Internet Commerce Source Book published by the same company, covers a wide range of multimedia service providers. The book brings together the contact information of companies specializing in creative, production, hardware, video, telecommunications, and Internet services, all of which need to be familiar to the electronic media professional.
The strengths of the Source Book include its outstanding variety of company listings and categories. Many guides and directories cover a few specific categories with much greater depth, but the Multimedia Source Book offers what amounts to an extremely useful cross section of the multimedia industry. However, the book does not include any commentary on the companies it lists.
The categories in which companies are listed are the only clues as to the kinds of services those companies offer. With many multimedia companies dabbling in a few different areas at once, simple listings can lead to some confusion. For example, Iomega--a manufacturer of storage devices, including tape and Zip drives--is listed under the category that covers CD-ROM drive manufacturers, even though Iomega doesn't manufacture CD-ROM drives. Also, in many cases, the URLs and email addresses of the companies listed were not provided, making the busy reader seeking to contact the companies rely on voice mail and snail mail.
All the same, the Multimedia Source Book can act as an instant rolodex, helping the electronic media professional find that elusive telephone number or the contact information for a great company whose name was mentioned at a conference. At considerably less cost than some of the other directories, the Multimedia Source Book keeps electronic media professionals in contact with their sources. --Rie Traub
By soliciting multimedia company press releases and encouraging readers to call in with additions, the Broadcast Information Bureau's Multimedia Business & Marketing Handbook is positioning itself as the source for multimedia contacts. Not only does it include names of contact people in key positions at the companies listed, but it provides information on vendor relationships, new products, and acquisitions.
The Multimedia Business & Marketing Handbook includes sections on software publishers, hardware manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and services. Two additional features include a year-end survey of the multimedia industry and a list of software titles by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).
The Multimedia Business & Marketing Handbook still has work to do before its claims of covering the entire industry become accurate. The current edition omits industry organizations such as SIGCAT and categories such as CD-ROM drives. Also, the index refers to the various sections of the book but those sections are broken up into subsections, making the reader leaf through subsections to find a company listing. If you are not sure what type of company you are looking for, you might not be able to find it, unless you look through all the subsections within each category.
However, a fully-searchable CD-ROM comes with the Multimedia Business & Marketing Handbook and allows users to view the companies in table form, customize the database with bookmarks, add notes, print data, and download files to contact manager software, word processors, and database software.
The Multimedia Business & Marketing Handbook also pledges to keep its subscribers updated with a free monthly fax that includes news summaries of the latest multimedia business developments. The combination of the sourcebook, CD-ROM, and newsletter should prove useful for those who need to keep abreast of the industry and know what companies to contact. --Rie Traub
In the quickly changing computer industry, it's hard to have a comprehensive or up-to-date print version of anything, especially a company directory. But The 1997 Interactive Multimedia Sourcebook, published in the last few months of 1996, still has most of the companies and information needed for doing preliminary company contact research.
The sourcebook begins with a glossary of industry and business terms. Most books leave the glossary for the end, and putting the glossary up front is the one thing that really mars this directory. The 11 articles on the state of the multimedia industry would have served as a more attractive front section, especially the first article, "CD-ROMs in the Age of the Internet," which looks at how the Internet could affect CD-ROM.
The actual directory, a revised edition of the Templin Bogen Associates sourcebook, now published by R.R. Bowker, is divided into three parts. The first part--Developers--houses custom, game, title, and Web developers. Producers, Providers, Services, & Suppliers covers content providers and hardware manufacturers, among others. Supporting Services lists colleges, periodicals and newsletters, trade associations, and others. The 2,800-plus entries, which include contact and general company information, are brief but informative. The alphabetical, geographical, and category indexes make it easy to find the right company.
The sourcebook is a good starting spot, both for those just starting out in the multimedia world and for the old pro looking for overview insight and current contact information. --Ilene Rosenberg
Scott Johnson's book is designed to instruct would-be developers in how to create digital media documents based on the hypertext model. Following discussions on the world of digital publishing and the specifics behind Johnson's own digital authoring tool, HyperWriter, the book launches into a series of tutorials aimed at instructing how to build an interactive catalog and a Web site.
The book relies strictly on HyperWriter--a Windows-based tool which Scott Johnson created--for constructing the digital publications presented in the tutorials. Although a short chapter only briefly discusses other digital publishing tools, Johnson takes the reader through the conceptual world of electronic publishing with a full-blown discussion of HyperWriter.
Using HyperWriter, the reader learns to create an interactive catalog and build a Web site. Step by step instructions are augmented by very practical examples to ensure not only that the reader understands how to do each step but that the reader understands why each step is being taken. For example, when creating a catalog, Johnson makes sure the reader is aware of the catalog's features, constraints, audience, and architecture. A CD-ROM included with the book contains HyperWriter 4, an HTML converter, a hypertext version of the book, and sample electronic products built with HyperWriter.
The book will appeal to new developers and to those wanting to understand hypertext-based electronic publishing. --Bill Mickey
eTimes is a new Web publication designed to help multimedia developers through the complexities of interactive and multimedia communications, including the technologies that support Web sites, Intranets, CD-ROM, presentations, kiosks, and other new media used for marketing, sales, training, and education. The eTimes Web site offers an impressively clear path not only to a number of developer-oriented articles housed on its own site but to articles on other Web sites as well.
eTimes has featured articles on business and consumer marketing using kiosk and CD-ROM, on commercial sites on the Web, on the ROI of CBT, on doing market research on your desktop, and on ways to promote a Web Site. Though not content-specific like some sites that focus specifically on DVD or imaging--and therefore not an exhaustive resource for a single particular technology--developers will find eTimes worth bookmarking for repeat visits. --Kirk L. Kroeker
Peachpit Press has an especially strong record for general and "quick start" coverage of software, hardware, and multimedia design concepts, and Designing Multimedia is no exception. Using screen shots and splashy design techniques that mirror the creative process of multimedia design and attain a bright, visually appealing approach, Lisa Lopuck covers the tools of the trade in short, almost capsule-like descriptions. She also covers user-interface design, graphic production tips, and color palettes, among other relevant multimedia-related issues.
The discussion is clearly broken down into convenient and easy-to-digest graphical sections. The book sacrifices depth, however, for expansive topical coverage, but lives up to its name as a visual guide that never pretends to reach beyond its scope. One problem with the book is that, although the title suggests coverage of online graphic design, the online section is especially brief. The section on designing a Web site, for instance, is broken down into a mere 13 short points, which are of course relevant to multimedia publishers but hardly worth mentioning in the title of the book because of the minimal coverage.
Largely for beginners and those looking to review the bedrock basics quickly, Designing Multimedia is an excellent visual overview of multimedia design. --Bill Mickey
Despite appearances, it's not all point and click out on the Internet. Running in the background are the protocols that make it all happen, from simple programs such as Daytime, which allows a client to retrieve the current date and time from a remote server, to more complex protocols such as MIB-II (Management Information Base for Network Management of TCP/IP-based Internets), used to manage TCP/IP-based Internet entities.
Dave Roberts' Internet Protocols Handbook provides a reference for these and other commonly used protocols. Internet Protocols Handbook is not an end-user book, and will not teach anyone how to use particular protocols, nor does it offer comprehensive coverage of all the protocols running today. Instead, Roberts covers only the most widely used application and routing protocols, and at a very technical level.
Each chapter covers a specific protocol in an easily readable format. The author avoids rambling and provides only the promised material, including a description of the protocol and related RFCs (Requests For Comments, which are any document used to disseminate descriptions of protocols as related to the Internet). More comprehensive data, such as transport information, formats, syntax, and sample codes are provided where the information can be helpful. The companion CD-ROM offers the full text of all the Internet RFCs mentioned in the book.
Realizing that the information provided in this book is most likely out of date soon after publishing, the author also provides pointers to resources for current information. Overall, the Internet Protocols Handbook achieves its goal of providing an easy to follow and comprehensive reference manual backed by online resources, and is an adequate resource for those interested in developing Internet applications. --Mike Tatroe
While some argue that Internet hype does not translate into dollars and hesitate to make any investments, others are cornering market share. Businesses are making their presence known on the World Wide Web, using the Internet to conduct market research, and saving money on day-to-day transactions. For those who need to be convinced of the Internet's worth, Joel Maloff has written a guide for business people that focuses on the Internet's ROI.
Joel Maloff, a consultant specializing in business and the Internet, gives the book the perspective it needs to persuade a person interested in the bottom line. The first nine chapters of net.profit survey the many resources contained on the Internet and many of the tools to use them. Although there have been many books written on the subject, business people will be interested to find lists of relevant telnet sites and newsgroups, and an appraisal of the Internet in terms of its worth as a sales and marketing tool, with Fidelity Investment's aggressive use of the World Wide Web as an example.
However, net.profit only really begins to show its worth in the section of the book that discusses acquiring Internet services. People already know that there is something great out there in cyberspace, but to make an intelligent decision about how to get there becomes complicated when issues of security and bandwidth need to be considered.
If you are interested in connecting your company to the Internet to create a network or use resources but don't know whether you need a firewall or an applications layer gateway for security, you may find this book valuable. And if you're trying to justify the expense of T-1 service or even your job, net.profit may provide the information you need. --Rie Traub
The Web Developer's Virtual Library is a lively development-oriented site that offers links to some of the most essential Web design and development technology resources, including HTML, VRML, JavaScript, Style Sheets, Shockwave, Plug-ins, and Java. Each one of the hundreds of pages sports a banner ad that won't overwhelm the visitor. In fact some of these ads are very well done and should appeal to the target audience of Webmasters and Webauthors. Under the Topic headings of Authoring, Gallery, Internet, Location, Reference, and Software, the WDVL presents a potpourri of useful links, articles, FAQs, and examples. A showcase of Web developers' work is hosted in the Gallery and links to many artists and consultants can be found.
An alphabetic Glossary of Web topics can be found under the Reference heading on the Encyclopedia page. The entire local site can also be searched (using the ICE search engine) under the Location heading on the Search page. Also outstanding are the HTML style guides that can be found under Authoring. WDVL has three mirrors in the U.S. and one in Europe, and with links to many resources at the W3 Consortium (http://www. w3.org/) and the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (http://www.ncsa.uiuc. edu/) the WDVL is a good resource for anything Web-centric. --Ron Gustavson
Andiron's Anders CD-ROM Survey 1997 provides an overview of the current consumer CD-ROM title market with evaluations based in large measure on a large survey of the CD-ROM title-buying public. The slim volume's more than 700 capsule reviews also draw from published reviews in magazines, newsletters, and other sources. The book rates the reviewed discs in four categories--Content, Multimedia, Usability, and Overall--on a 1 to 25 scale, and the first part of the book includes a handy list of top titles given the Anders Medallion award.
The Survey will benefit developers who are interested in reading through a set of consumer-based opinions about what constitutes good multimedia content. That consumer perspective may provide some insight into the whims of the consumer marketplace that inside-perspective reviews may not. The extensive companies listing (which includes complete contact information for nearly 200 CD-ROM publishers) and the subject index are also solid resources.
On the whole, however, this book is not a professional resource akin to the more comprehensive hundred-dollar directories, but will be useful to developers wanting to get a fairly up-to-date overview of the consumer multimedia industry. --Kirk L. Kroeker
Not all stock photography catalogs are created equal. While the selection of photographs and the usage costs may be the most obvious differences between catalogs, the ability to search a CD-ROM catalog of stock photos for the right image can set one catalog apart from the rest. Such is the case with Westlight's Creative Freedom catalog.
Westlight's CD-ROM offers a comfortable interface, complete with a button-linked online help and information guide, offering tips on how best to use the CD-ROM as well as information on services provided by Westlight. Among the tips offered are search hints for both Westlight's own Questock 2.0 and Adobe's Fetch browser software.
As with most stock photography CD-ROM catalogs, the images are well-photographed and are searchable by keyword. Although Fetch may be a familiar tool to some, Westlight's Questock 2.0 may be the better browser of the two. The program not only allows searching by listed keywords, but, unlike most browsers, the catalog can be searched by more than one keyword. This can narrow down the sometimes over-abundant photo pool when looking for the perfect powerful business image or vacationing-family picture. A 400-page paperback catalog is available as well, for those who prefer to browse physically rather than digitally.
Westlight's easy-to-use search engine and readily available information on the company and its services make searching for the right image quick and easy, which is ideal for the graphic designer or CD-ROM producer looking for the perfect photo on deadline. --Ilene Rosenberg
Developing Real-World Intranets claims to provide everything you need to know in order to create an Intranet, and begins by defining an Intranet as an electronic information and communication system running on an internal computer network and using Internet protocols, standards, and tools. Although the book offers a fairly comprehensive overview of its subject, it fails to provide the expert information that an Intranet specialist might need.
The first section of the book rambles through a short history of the Internet, client/server computing, and the World Wide Web. Four chapters later even a layperson should have a basic understanding of where the Internet came from, why the World Wide Web came into existence, and what an Intranet can do for a company. The next section takes a more technical look at the subject matter. Though the material still touches on the history of the various components of Intranet technology, it also begins to trace network technology parameters: system requirements, hardware, and protocols. The book also covers Web pages to some degree, largely because the authors believe that HTML is the best method for information retrieval and distribution on an Intranet. The third section goes into tools, including various software and languages such as Perl, Java, ActiveX, and others. The companion CD-ROM contains various Internet RFC's, HTML editors (including HoTMetaL and HTML editor), Excite (an Internet search engine), and Perl.
Overall the book concentrates a little too much on history but is fairly easy to read. Developing Real-World Intranets is primarily directed at people with little to moderate knowledge of Intranets. People already familiar with the the basic concepts and technologies likely will find little use for the book. --Mike Tratoe
The latest edition of How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site offers just what its title suggests, and when the information is not included in the book itself, reliable cross-referenced URLs are provided.
The author, Lincoln D. Stein, is Director of Informatics at the Whitehead Institute/MIT Center for Genome Research where his experience setting up the center's Web site led to the creation of this book. A single server from each of the Macintosh, Windows, and Unix operating systems has been chosen to exemplify various points Stein makes throughout the book. Included in the book's contents are two chapters introducing the Web; chapters on installing and configuring Web servers; a chapter on Web security; general information on creating HTML documents; discussion of software tools for text, graphics, sound, and video; a Web style sheet; examples and instructions on server scripts; and two chapters on JavaScript.
The appendices contain a complete list of the URLs listed in the book and general questions from a World Wide Web security FAQ. A CD-ROM included with the book contains hundreds of freeware and shareware tools for setting up a Web site and source code for all of the book's HTML examples and CGI scripts. The preface and table of contents of the book can be found for preview at http://www.aw.com/cp/.
How to Set Up and Maintain a Web Site should prove useful to anyone planning a Web site or expanding an existing site. Its thorough discussion of security issues both for servers and JavaScript make it appropriate for the corporate user. Altogether, it is a comprehensive guide gracefully lacking the hype that typically accompanies computer "how to" guides. --Rie Traub
The VRML Repository is the most complete source for the widest range of VRML information and links on the Web. With mirrors in Australia, Italy, and Switzerland, the VRML Repository Web site offers an expansive list of VRML related companies, software, books, FAQs, guides, online worlds, content libraries, utilities, newsgroups, mailing lists, Web sites, and more.
One recommended offering of this site is the Introduction to VRML 2.0 by Dave Nadeau, John Moreland, and Mike Heck. Introduction to VRML is the course notes from SIGGRAPH 96, and outlines the specification that all VRML browsers will eventually support. With the fast pace of browser beta releases, the browser list is slightly behind the total current offerings, but the site contains information on any browsers that are at least a month old.
There are plenty of clearly demarcated categories to explore. Looking into the content development heading, for example, yields lists of 3D modelers, generators, and translators, as well as image editors, Java tools, and sound editors. The list of 3D tools covered on the site is extensive and is the easiest way to find both commercial VRML editors and shareware and freeware editing tools and add-ons. All in all the VRML Repository is a great, repeat-visit reference for VRML information. --Ron Gustavson
The Web Design Group site presents links to basic and advanced HTML reference sources, validators, and other resources, including frequently asked questions, tutorials, style guides, graphics, and newsgroups. The Web Design Group offers its own "Web Authoring FAQ" that covers a host of good information on HTML. For experienced or beginning HTML authors, using the suggested HTML validators and reading the style guides will insure not only valid HTML pages, but tasteful ones as well.
A Web Design Group award is given to pages that meet the WDG approval; visitors are invited to submit sites for consideration. The Web Design Group Web site is an essential resource for honing HTML skills. --Ron Gustavson
The Writer's Guide to Software Developers, Electronic Publishers, and Agents makes markets available to writers accustomed to traditional publishing avenues, and will even be useful to multimedia and software developers attempting to understand the electronic media industry better.
The author, Sydney H. Harriet, is a literary agent and writing instructor who compiled the list of publishers and agents in his efforts to open new markets to aspiring authors. The book contains profiles of publishers, agents specializing in electronic media, magazines, and references. It also includes interviews with editors and developers and articles on the art of submitting to electronic publishers.
By styling its cover after the bible of market guides, The Writer's Market, the Writer's Guide to Software Developers, Electronic Publishers, and Agents begs to be compared to its predecessor. Its 205 listings of software developers and electronic publishers are no match for The Writer's Market's volume, but the author does include thorough descriptions of the companies, including key personnel.
Due to the emerging nature of the market, however, a more comprehensive look at the nature of electronic publishing and multimedia should have been included. The essential differences in the media are not discussed, nor does the book refer readers to examples of CD-ROM titles. Also, major resources have been overlooked, such as the Multimedia Sourcebook, which includes similar lists of publishers.
The Writer's Guide to Software Developers, Electronic Publishers, and Agents does give the essential information authors need to target publishers for far less money than the industry guides. --Rie Traub
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