[by John Lawrence, co-editor of H-PCAACA]
"Electronic Resources <commercial> for the Study of Popular
Culture," a presentation for Panel 133, Culture, Technology and
Popular Communication at PCA/ACA Meetings, April 12-15, 1995.
Philadelphia
I. Networked Electronic Sources
1. OVERVIEW. _Netguide_ (N.Y.: Random House, 1994; 336 pages +
20 page index; $19 pb) Chapters on BBS/Usenet groups--Examples:
"1: Arts & Entertainment," "6: Games, Sports & the Outdoors,"
"10: Public Affairs, Politics, & the Media." In treating "Comics
and Cartoons," it describes about 50 E-sites at America Online,
Compuserve, Usenet, Fidonet , etc. _Netguide_ is now available as
a monthy magazine. Subscriptions available through Compuserve <GO
NETGUIDE>.
2. Bibliographical and Review Sources at Compuserve
DIALOG/Knowledge Index, several important indexes <retrospective
to 70s for most> available at $24 per hour, 9600 baud
transmission, including
--_Magazine Index_: indexes hundreds of periodical
--_McGill's Cinema_: includes excellent unsigned
interpretive essays and review bibliographies
--_Electronic Books in Print_: includes short reviews
_Roger Ebert's Film Reviews_: includes hundreds of film
lists, assorted top ten lists, a film glossary, etc.
2. Fan Gatherings, Trade Lists and Reviews at America Online
_Entertainment Center_: info about current releases in
movies, television, games, books, magazines, laserdiscs,
music, etc.
_Critics Choice Reviews_:
Unlimited number of hobbyist groups, fan forums for
celebrities, groups, studios, etc. (parallelled at
Compuserve, Delphi, Prodigy, et. al.)
3. Other sources
--Infotrac: scope of journals similar to Magazine Index;
incorporates Humanities Index, which indexes Journal of
Popular Culture, Journal of American Culture, other
periodicals of the Bowling Green State University Popular
Press; retrospective indexing for a five year period.
CARL's Uncover/Reveal Service: a newer service that is free
and available by telnet <TELNET DATABASE.CARL.ORG or TELNET
PAC.CARL.ORG>; linked to a delivery-by-fax service on listed
articles; retrospective indexing lacks the depth of Magazine
Index.
II. Some Important Comprehensive Resources in CD-Rom Format
These sources are naturally less current, but far less expensive
if used intensively. CD-Rom is currently not well standardized
and some programs will damage your operating system software,
requiring debuggging, reinstallation. Tape backup units highly
recommended as a means of recovering from CD-Rom induced software
problems.
_People: 20 Years of Pop Culture_. New York: Voyager, 1994.
Contains the full text for the entire history of People, with the
covers for each issue. Also includes illustrative music, video
clips. Intensive demands on hardware--MPC2 level for Windows.
(486/33sx, 8mRam, 2x speed drive with sound card, 256 color SVGA
with graphics accelerator recommended)
_Cinemania_. Microsoft, 1992, 1995. <Windows and Mac> Contains
hundreds of short, capsule reviews, a lesser number of extended
narrative and interpretive summaries (all unsigned). Includes
actor and director biographies, Academy Award Lists, film stills
with short sound clips in '92 edition.
_Roger Ebert's Deluxe Computerized Movie Home Companion_. (DOS
format.) 1300 reviews of films available in video format +
assorted information about stars, producers, etc. Available from
Surplus Software (1-800-753-7877) for $9.95 + shipping.
_Time Almanac: Reference Edition_. Compact Publishing Co.,1993,
1994, 1995. Contains the full text of all articles, reviews back
to the beginning of the magazine. Includes a selection of covers
plus full motion video clips of important historical speeches
(Truman's speech about the dropping of the atomic bombs, Nixon's
Checkers Speech, etc.) The text is searchable and can be printed
or saved as a file. Annual release pattern is that '93 edition
contains all articles through '92. The '94 edition contains all
articles through 93, etc.
Trend??--for more/all major popular publications to release their
complete back lists in CD-Rom
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Presenter of this information--
John S. Lawrence, Professor of Philosophy, Morningside College,
Sioux City, Iowa 51106-1751 712-274-5310
JSL001@chief.morningside.edu
List Moderator of H-PCAACA@msu.edu
Sincerely,
Sharon D. Michalove
Assistant to the Chair for Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of History, UIUC
309 Gregory Hall, 810 South Wright Street, Urbana, IL 61801
217-333-4145 mlove@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu
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/\_/\ Observe a cat entering a room for the first time: it searches
( o o ) and smells about . . . it trusts nothing until it has
==_Y_== examined and made acquaintance with everything.
`-' Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
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