Form Function in Architecture
Kehoe, Scott
Library Journal; Jun 1, 1999; 124, 10; ProQuest
pg. 194
DATABASE&DISC REVIEWS
problems with a powerful search engine
and elegant interface. Highly recom­
mended for public, academic, and science
and engineering libraries.—John Carper,
Cabot Science Lib., Harvard Univ.
FORM FUNCTION IN
ARCHITECTURE
Univ. of Michigan Pr. (734-764­
4392; umpress-www@umich.edu).
www.press.umich.edu/hille/form.html
Windows/Mac. 1998.
ISBN 0-472-00240-6.
Price: $69.95 each.
This two-disc set by architect R. Thomas
Hille is an attempt to explain the rela­
tionship between form and function in
architecture by looking at specific build­
ings. Case studies of the work of six lu­
minaries of modem architecture are ex­
amined, among them Le Corbusier,
Alvar Aalto, and Louis Kahn.
The presentation on each work is
in-depth, illustrated by vivid and appro­
priate color photographs supporting the
author’s thesis. Each study includes
plans and elevations as well as a t4plan-
imation，’’ or overview， of the building’s
form and functions presented in basic
geometric shapes. There is good back­
ground information and insight into the
architect’s intention.
Unfortunately, the technology used
to present these ideas is dated. This
product is essentially a slide show with
a generous amount of text to read on
screen. There is no sound or animation
and no automatic advance through the
studies. The cases involve over 40
screen shots, and all that individual
mouse clicking makes for tired fingers.
The menu system used to navigate,
while stylish, is confusing. There is no
index or keyword search ability, nor can
you print any of the text or photographs.
Most disappointing is the primitive
way this product performs on Windows
platform computers. You must manual­
ly set the display to 640 x 800 resolution
and 256 colors or the program will not
start (automatic on a Macintosh). Sim­
ply running the program in Windows is
difficult. You must enter Windows Ex­
plorer and find the correct folder and
double-click an .EXE file to start the in­
troduction or any of the six individual
case studies. While it is easier to start on
a Mac, this sort of unnecessary manipu­
lation, coupled with the drudgery of
reading lengthy narratives on screen
while continually clicking a mouse,
makes for a trying interactive experi­
ence. This product would have been
much more enjoyable, and informative,
if it had some narration and allowed the
194
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
user the ability to advance automatical­
ly through the case studies.
The Bottom Line: This is a lecture
and slide show in “disc’s clothing.” It is
not a standard reference tool, nor would
it be something you'd keep on a refer­
ence workstation or as a networked re­
source. Of interest to libraries with solid
architecture emphases and circulating
CD-ROM collections, or to armchair ar­
chitects, but overall this product does not
function well in this form.— Scott
Kehoe, Frances Loeb Lib./Graduate
Sch. o f Design, Harvard Univ.
關 GODEY’S LADY，S BOOK
Accessible Archives (800-772­
8937; sales@scholarly.com).
www.scholarly.com
Windows. 1998.
Price: $2500.
Accessible Archives has a grand idea
here: to make available Godeyys Lady's
风9说 for the years 1830-45. G odej、 a
very influential 19th-century magazine
for women, included extensive informa­
tion on fashion, food and recipes, dance,
music, and health. One of Godey's
strengths was its illustrations, which
ranged from hand-colored fashion
plates, mezzotints, engravings, and
woodcuts to chromolithographs. Each
printed issue also included two pages of
sheet music for pianoforte.
The disc's main screen offers infor­
mation about Godey's, an Index, a List of
Plates, and an Index of Keywords. Un­
fortunately, these sections usually pro­
duce less than they promise. The index
is volume-by-volume but lacks links to
the text. The list of plates works a bit bet­
ter, listing the plates by volume. Resolu­
tion is good, as is the capability to en­
large and zoom. The real misnomer is the
Index of Keywords. These keywords are
Biography, Book News and Reports,
Color Plates, Editorials, Engravings, Po­
etry, Sheet Music, Travel, and Woodcuts.
Using these lists to access the text, all
one can do is scroll through the entries,
a frustrating and time-consuming activi­
ty. And the Folio Views search interface,
which looks very dated by today's stan­
dards, makes any specific searching (for
authors, subjects, etc.) much more com­
plex than necessary.
The Bottom Line: Godey's ondisc
is not as accessible as electronic products
should be: it is poorly designed both for
browsing and searching. There is an ad­
vantage over the microfilm, since users
LEGEND
tTO Web-based Database ihib:川 CD-ROM
LIBRARY JOURNAL/JUNE 1, 1999
search the files, but this fails to take ad­
vantage of the medium. Recommended
only for collections in dire need of access
to the title, lacking the original print, es­
pecially at this price.— — Ed Tallent, Re­
search Instruction, Harvard Coll Lib.
圖HELECON ONLINE
Helecon (+358 943238428;
library@hkkk.fi).
helecon.hkkk.fi
Date reviewed: 4/8/99
Price: Scima $480/yr; Asia
$240/yr; Scanp $280/year.
Helecon Online Services offers access
to several databases of interest to busi­
ness and economic libraries. A few of
these databases are subsets of CD-
ROMs previously reviewed in U . The
Asia database includes periodical arti­
cles, research reports, and books on
business, management, and economics
with the main focus on East Asia and Pa­
cific regions. The 50-plus journals range
from easily available, news publications
(Far Eastern Economic Review) to more
scholarly publications (Journal o f Asian
Business, Management Review). Most
citations contain abstracts, and the most
recent book references include table of
contents. If the full-text document is
available on the Internet, references in­
clude a URL link to the site where it can
be obtained (not necessarily for free).
This database, and all Helecon web
databases, can be searched in Basic free
text, Advanced (using combinations), or
by browsing the Indexes. Access in this
database is supplemented with map
searching (just click on a country for ar­
ticles about it).
Scanp was part of the Helecon In­
ternational disc (CD-ROM Reviews, LJ
2/1/98) and is produced on a cooperative
basis by Nordic business school li­
braries. Essentially a database of Scan­
dinavian periodical articles and univer­
sity research reports whose focus is
Nordic, it includes over 9000 items in
English, 12,000 Norwegian, and 16,000
Swedish. Subjects covered include na­
tional and business economics, manage­
ment, marketing, accounting, and trade.
Scima is even more international. It is a
database of over 170,000 records on