Who Built America?

Note: This CD-ROM works only on a Macintosh computer; it is currently installed on the iMac (the aqua colored Macintosh near the door).

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:

Who Built America? is a CD-ROM "expanded book" which provides hypertext links between related areas of text, graphics, movies, and audio clips. The main text is a social history of the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. "Excursions" supplement the text with sound, films, charts and graphs, images, additional texts, and games.

II. STARTING UP WHO BUILT AMERICA?:

Take the Who Built America? CD-ROM from its case and place it in the CD carrier of the computer. Double-click on the following icons:

The CD ROM PROGRAMS folder icon;
The who built america folder icon;
The Who Built America? icon.

If you do not see these icons, please ask a staff member for assistance.

The CD-ROM should begin with ragtime music and an image of women in hats. The copyright page will then appear, followed by the Contents page. To proceed, click on a chapter heading (this will take you directly to the page you selected) or click on the bookmark icon at bottom right (which will deposit you at the last page used.)

III. USING WHO BUILT AMERICA?:

The CD-ROM can be navigated in several ways:

By selecting items directly from the Contents page.
By using the Tool Palette. If you don't see the palette, press [apple-T].
By pressing the right or left arrow key on the keyboard.
By dragging the mouse across the progress gauge at the bottom of the screen. If you don't see the progress gauge, press [apple-G].

If you click on the small, black-and-white pictures in the text, you will see full-page, captioned, grayscale images.

Clicking on the Source button reveals the source of the image (clicking the button again hides this information).
If you see a magnifying glass icon, you can click on the image to enlarge a section. Reset returns the image to its original size.
To return to the original text page, click Return.

If you click on a geographical name underlined in gray, you will see a map indicating that location. Clicking Return returns you to the text.

Several useful features may be selected from the Books drop-down menu at the top of the screen. NOTE: If the drop-down menu bar is not visible, move the pointer to the top of the screen and it will appear.

Selecting Who Built America? takes you back to the introductory screen.
Annotations makes annotations visible; words underlined with gray may be clicked to activate these links.
Help ([apple-?]) accesses a menu of help topics.

Summary of Tool Palette Items:

Page: the Page button at the top of the tool panel allows you to "turn" pages either forward or backward by clicking on the arrows either left or right (you can also proceed by clicking the right or left arrow keys on the keyboard.) To get to a distant page immediately, click on the Page button, which will open a window allowing you to select the number of a new page.
Chapter: the Chapter button allows you to skip forward or backward by larger increments. To move several pages at a time, click on the arrows either left or right. To see an overview of all the chapters, click and hold on Chapter; move to the chapter of your choice and release the mouse to go to that chapter directly. Chapter is the most helpful compass for navigating through Who Built America? It is the only way to summon an overview of the material from any location.
Find: the Find button allows you to search the entire CD-ROM for specific words in different types of documents. Click Find on the tool palette or press [apple-F] to perform a keyword search.
Mark: the Mark button allows you to bookmark pages. To mark a page, click on Mark. You can return to these pages by clicking and holding the mouse on the Mark button or by clicking on the corresponding arrow keys. These bookmarks will be saved.
Retrace: the Retrace button allows you to review your preceding steps and return to any spot you've visited in the CD-ROM. To review or to retrace your steps, click and hold the mouse on Retrace, which unfolds a list of your steps. To return to a previous page, select that page from the menu.
P, B, and U: These buttons allow you to format text as plain, boldfaced, or underlined. Select the text with the cursor and block it out, just as you would with a word processor. Then click on P, B, or U to format the text. These formatting changes will be saved.

Special Features:

Excursions are denoted by a train track symbol, usually at the lower right corner of the screen. When you click on this symbol, you will see a menu of items related to the main text. Click on any item in the list to proceed.

To close a window and return to the main text, click on the small white box in the top left corner of the window.

The WBA Menu, located on the pull-down menu at the top of the screen, contains many helpful features. If you don't see the pull-down menu, move the pointer to the top of the screen and it will appear.

Timeline: a year-by-year listing of key events and categories. Click on a topic in a year that interests you to see a list of key events.
Resource Index: provides direct access to all the source documents, or excursions, in the CD-ROM. Click on a title to see the document. To return to the main text, click Return.
Maps: Maps of the United States in 1876, 1900, and 1914, and a map of the world in 1900. To return to the main text, click Return.

IV. EXITING WHO BUILT AMERICA? AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

Exit the CD-ROM by choosing File from the pull-down menu at the top of the screen (if you don't see this menu, move the pointer to the top of the screen and it will appear). Then choose Quit Hypercard. This will retrace your CD-ROM start-up steps, bringing you to the window containing the Who Built America? icon. To remove the CD-ROM from the computer, drag its desktop icon (on the far right of the screen) over the trash can. The CD should eject from the machine. Please place the CD back in its case and return it to a member of the Etext Center staff.