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Arthur Miller's The Crucible

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:

The Crucible is a CD-ROM "expanded book" which provides hypertext links between related areas of text, graphics, and quicktime movies regarding Arthur Miller's play and its historical context. The CD-ROM is accompanied by a teacher's guide and a printed Penguin edition of the play.

II. STARTING UP THE CRUCIBLE:

Take The Crucible CD-ROM from its case and place it in the CD carrier by pressing the button below and to the right of it. Then double-click on the following icons:

  • The Crucible folder icon which should appear on the desktop once the CD has loaded;
  • The Crucible icon.

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

Once the CD begins running, you should see an image of a theatre lobby.

III. USING THE CRUCIBLE:

If you move the mouse around the lobby, you will pass over several "hot spots," which will frame themselves in yellow as you touch on them. These are links to various sections of the CD-ROM. Click on one of these hot spots to proceed.

Once you have selected a particular "hot spot," buttons will appear at the bottom of the screen. Note that when these buttons are grayed out, they are not available to you at that time. To navigate through the CD, click on the available buttons. Following are descriptions of all the buttons (as they appear from left to right on the screen):

  • Menu: Click and hold on this icon. Then drag the arrow onto other "chapters," or the lobby. The Index subheading reveals a list of "chapter" headings and subsections, and allows you to access those areas directly from the list. This is a useful way to navigate the CD-ROM, as it is the only way to summon a total overview of the material.

  • Bulleted List: Click and hold on this icon to move to other sections within the chapter.

  • Arrows: The right and left arrow buttons allow you to move backwards or forwards in one-page increments. (You can also move through a section in similar fashion by pressing the right or left arrow keys on the keyboard.) The return (middle) arrow key retraces your steps.

  • Red Scroll Bar: To move more quickly through a section, click and drag the red fader on the scroll bar, located just above the arrow keys. The number just to the left of the slider indicates your current page; the one just to the right indicates the total number of pages in the section.

  • Chain: Click and hold on this icon to explore related information.

  • Magnifying glass: Searches for words across all the CD-ROM's texts. Click and hold on the magnifying glass to begin a search. Notice that only the first search result is displayed. In order to call up subsequent hits, click and hold on the magnifying glass; then select "find again."

  • Printer: Prints part of a document. (Note: At the moment, you cannot print from the Macintosh computers in the Electronic Text Center.)

  • Floppy Disk: Saves the on-screen text to a floppy or hard disk. The text will be saved as a generic text file. Click on the floppy button, and select from the subsequent menus that will appear.

  • Film: Starts or stops a video clip on the screen.

Two other important features not found at the bottom of the screen:

  • Volume: The volume for the video sound-clip can be accessed by way of the little loudspeaker icon located to the left of the scroll bar underneath the video image. (Click and hold down the mouse button on that icon until you see another fader (slide bar) displayed just to the left of it. Move the slider up or down to control the volume.

  • Video Scroll Bar: Just underneath the video image is a scroll bar. (Just to the left and attached to it is the the loudspeaker icon.) The arrow to the left of the slider is the play button. The left/right arrows to the right of the slider move the video clip forward or backward. Once you have chosen with the slider where you want the clip to begin, press the play button (the arrow to the left of the slider).

Special Features:

  • To see footnotes, click on the blue text. Click on the note to make it go away.

  • To enlarge a picture on the screen, move the cursor over the image until it turns into a circle with a plus sign inside. Click once on the picture. It will enlarge after a few seconds. Click again on the picture to return to the main text.

  • To access online help, select Help from the Menu icon. This activates the "balloon" help feature: a small text balloon appears as you move the mouse over the icons at the bottom of the screen. To remove this feature, select Help again from the Menu icon.

IV. EXITING THE CRUCIBLE AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

If you are in the lobby, exit the program by clicking on the Exit sign. Otherwise, click and hold on the Menu icon at the bottom left corner of the screen. Then select the Quit option. This will return you to the Macintosh desktop. To remove the CD-ROM from the computer, drag its icon over the trash can and then release the mouse button. Remove the CD from the carrier tray by pressing the button below and to the right of it. Place the CD back in its case and return it to a member of the Etext Center staff.