CM Magazine: Klondike Gold Rush

________________ CM . . . . Volume III Number 14 . . . . March 14, 1997

cover Klondike Gold Rush.
History Alive Series.
Ottawa, ON: IDON East Corporation, 1996. CD-ROM, $34.95.

Subject Heading:
Klondike River Valley (Yukon)-Gold discoveries.
Grades 6 - 12 / Ages 11 - 17.
Review by Harriet Zaidman.
**** /4

excerpt:

A Klondike adventurer, Luella Day, commented on the seemingly elusive quality of gold: "it is a curious but a historical fact that either in the frozen North or the pestiferous tropical swamps Nature hides her stores of gold to lure men to seek at the risk of their lives." Whether this statement is universally applicable is impossible to ascertain, but it was certainly true in the Klondike.

Klondike Gold Rush is part of the History Alive Series, published by IDON East Corporation of Ottawa. This series has been planned well. It makes history interesting, informative and appealing to Canadian students. The writing style is appropriate but appeals to a broad range of ages. The information is easy to access, and the presentation of the information is unique and consistent with the subject matter. Archival writing and pictures abound with appropriate explanations, making this one of the better publications on CD-ROM.

Klondike Gold Rush runs on any 386 computer or better, using Windows 3.1, 3.11 or Windows for Workgroups. It requires 4 MB of memory and a VGA display or better.

The material is divided into five main subject areas:

The Yukon and its First Peoples
A Lusterless Kondike - Russian and English Traders
Pioneer Prospectors and the Golden Discovery
Trails to the Golden Mecca of the North
Dawson City - the New Eldorado.

Each main subject area can be explored in seven different ways: Subjects, Overview, Browse, Gallery, Maps, Search, Themes and Timeline. Clicking on one of these icons leads the user into the depths of the history of the Klondike. The user reads both collected historical information as well as archival writings of Klondike adventurers. The publishers have collected a broad array of writings to give a complete picture of the difficult life people experienced in the few years that the Klondike produced gold:

"You had to put up money at Skagway for duties or pay a broker twenty dollars for making out custom papers; then the officer would send a convoy with you at a cost of six dollars a day . . . if you outfitted in the U.S. in Seattle you would have to pay as much as the goods cost you before you got through with the Canadian customs . . . It is a disgrace to see such blackmail covered up with the American eagle and the English crown of King George . . ."

Accompanying quotes, such as the one above, are captioned archival photographs. Accessing the photos or maps is a fairly quick process. The information is presented on a parchment-type or faint, but clear, photographic background. Sound is also available and comes up in a reasonable time.

The Klondike Gold Rush lasted only a few years - a blink in the eye of history. But it is an important part of Canadian history to record. IDON has done an excellent job of collecting and interpreting the material for students of all ages. This CD-ROM would be a positive addition to any school collection.

Highly recommended.

Harriet Zaidman is a teacher-librarian in Winnipeg.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

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