History Channel: The Ellis Island Experience
by SouthPeak Interactive

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Software Reviews of History Channel: The Ellis Island Experience

Customer Review: Brings the Ellis Island Experience to life in a new way
Summary: 5 Stars

It takes a full two hours to view this CD if a person would view it all at once, but of course it can be returned to again and again. There's a lot of information here, but, more than that, it is an experience. We hear the sound of the steamship whistles, we see rare films and photos of the immigrants, we listen to oral histories, learn about the Old World and its political upheavals, the challenges the immigrants faced, the whole story of immigration.

Perhaps it was the intent of the program, but I found it impossible to view this in a logical order. I just clicked away in a variety of areas which kept opening up to deeper and deeper layers of historical fact and insight. Some of it could be absorbed quickly, such as the wonderfully interactive portion where a short re-enacted film shows immigrants walking up to inspectors. The viewer can vote "yes" or "no" and then see what the actual outcome would likely be. There are other parts though that require a lot of reading and patience.

There is always something new to learn and even though I think I know a lot about Ellis Island, I must say that I learned some new facts, especially since the easy navigation on this software allowed me to click on the things that interested me the most. The one thing I didn't like about the program was the musical score in the background which I found brooding and distracting. Please understand though that I'm a person who complains about background classical music in restaurants.

I am definitely enthusiastic about this CD-Rom and recommend it highly. And for those of you who might never have tried a CD as an educational tool before, I say "Try it; you'll like it."

Description of History Channel: The Ellis Island Experience

The CD-ROM's artistic interface looks great, and the slick presentation never gets in the way of accessing the reams of information squeezed onto this program. The content is broken into five main sections, arranged chronologically and covering topics ranging from what the immigrants packed to essays explaining the political climates of various time periods. Everything is organized well, and it is equally fun to access the topics in the order they are presented or just peruse subjects that look interesting at the moment.

One nice feature is "The Experience," a section containing interactive videos that re-enact scenarios faced by immigrants (and the officials charged with determining who could stay). Some of the re-enactments are dull, but several are fun to participate in and provide some fascinating insights into the history of the U.S. immigration process. Our favorite is a hearing that let us choose the line of questioning to give to a potential immigrant and then let us vote on his acceptance into the country based on his answers.

It's disappointing that the program must be run at low resolution to fill the majority of the screen, but that's a small price to pay for a chance to investigate an interesting period of history in such detail. One warning: many of the links on this CD-ROM lead to Web content, so be prepared to access your Internet account while the software is running. --T. Byrl Baker

History Software

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