                     The San Diego Zoo Presents...
                              The Animals!

                             by Tony Curro


    The Animals! is a multimedia CD that takes you inside The San Diego
    Zoo. There are three versions available: DOS, Windows and MAC.

    Balboa Park held the Panama-California Exposition in 1915-1916. At
    that Exposition Dr. Harry Wegeforth commented to his brother
    "Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a zoo here? I think I will start
    one." Six years later, in 1922, after convincing the town fathers,
    this dream became a reality. Dr. Wegeforth traveled the world on
    safaris, capturing animals, and collecting plants and vegetation.
    Some were for the animals to fed on, while others were to make the
    animals feel there were in their natural habitat. Since that time
    the Zoo, located in Balboa Park on 125 acres has grown, and become
    word famous, far beyond even the visions of Dr. Wegeforth. Today,
    animal collecting expeditions are a thing of the past. Animals come
    to the Zoo as gifts, trades, or the result of captive-breeding
    programs.

    Dr. Wegeforth, and other zoo directors formed the American
    Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA). Today AAZPA
    continues to oversee the fair trade, and collection of animals. It
    also assists captive breeding programs, serves as a "watchdog" in
    Washington, D.C., and promotes communication and professionalism
    among zoos.

    When you start The Animals! you have four options: Overview, Animals
    Alphabetical, Main Menu, and Exit.

        Overview takes you through 22 narrated pages of what you will
    find on the CD, and how to use the program.

        Animals Alphabetical gives you an A-Z listing of the all the
    animals on the CD, and allows you to quickly go to a specific
    animal.

        Main Menu shows the different landscapes that represent the
    world's ten different bioclimatic zones called "Biomes." Along the
    edges of the map you will find: Tours, Media Library, Zoo Nursery,
    Kid's Corner, Info Kiosk and more. Clicking on any of these, or a
    "Biome." will take you to that location. Placing the cursor over an
    area, and clicking the right mouse button, gives you a short summary
    of what you will find at that location.

    The multimedia Zoo is made up of hundreds of exhibits. For example
    if you select Island biome from the Main Menu map, you will explore
    the Islands through a series of exhibits, each presenting a
    different animal prevalent to the Island biome.

    Once you are in an area you can explore: text, pictures, sounds,
    movies, and stories presented at the exhibit. All of these options
    are also available from the Media Library, where you can view the
    information there, or be transported to the relevant area.

    There are also exploration buttons. Selecting one of these brings up
    a list of exploration media items for the current exhibit. Some of
    this material may also relate to another exhibit. In this case, you
    can go there, and then, by clicking on the 'go back' button, return
    to your previous location.

    Tour Bus takes you on several guided tours. As with any tour bus, it
    makes stops along the way, where you can study an animal or perform
    any of the above mentioned functions. When you are ready to proceed,
    you click on 'Next Exhibit,' and go along to the next stop.

    Story Theater presents a list of stories, which you will also find
    in biomes throughout the Zoo. Using the Theater is a shortcut that
    allows you to quickly locate any available story.

    Media Library is where you can research all the media items that
    appear throughout the Zoo.  The opening Library screen allows you to
    zoom in on a specific topic: Animal sounds, movies, pictures, text
    and so forth. You can view a movie in the library, or, again, go to
    the actual habitat to view it. Clicking on 'go back,' will return
    you to the Media Library where you can either make another
    selection, or exit.

    The San Diego Zoo is home to more that 800 different animal species
    -- that's more than 3,800 animals! -- and its plant collection
    features more than 6,500 species. The CD-ROM contains: over 80 video
    clips; over 1300 color photographs and descriptions; over 2500 pages
    of animal and habitat description, articles and scientific data;
    over 200 animals in more than 350 exhibits; and over 2 1/2 hours of
    audio.

    I was overly impressed with this CD-ROM. There were many people
    responsible for this program, and each deserves a pat on the back.
    When you have so many people working together on a program, and the
    end product is so well constructed, it is a joy to use. It took me
    several hours after installation, before I started this review. I
    was so caught up in the CD that time just flew by. It was very
    enjoyable. But, as a precaution, please "Do Not Feed The Animals!"



                          Product Information

                     The San Diego Zoo Presents...
                              The Animals!

                          List Price -- $99.95

                      The Software Toolworks, Inc.
                           60 Leveroni Court
                            Novato, CA 94949
                              415-883-3000
