Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is very well-rounded, as it contains a wide range of detailed information. It has applications in school, business, home, and for the traveler. Korea was given a number of entries equal to that of the United States. However, Korea was given very few maps, pictures, movies, statistics, and music in comparison to the United States, as well as to other countries.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Comments:

Good pictures. Great traditional music. Great overview of Korea in the text. Describes many characteristics of Korea very well. The map of Korea is not very detailed, and its shape is awkward. On the extensive world history timeline, Korea is ignored throughout. The Korean War, certainly a major world event, is not mentioned, while the "invention" of the watermelon is.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM focused more on visuals (pictures and movies) than on text. There is quality information about each country and it is geared toward students looking for general information. The entries do not take into account important persons, cities, etc. within each country. Korea was given average treatment in pictures and movies.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Comments:

60^th birthday is hwan'gap no hangab. Ch'unhyangjon is "The Story of Ch'unhyang," not "the Story of Spring Fragrance." The statement that men marry at 21 and women marry at 18 is grossly inaccurate. Men marry in their late twenties, women in their mid twenties.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM contains text taken from a series of books called A Country Study: [a country]; in the series each country has its own volume. The books each contained detailed, accurate information about the individual countries; however, the text for Korea was originally published in 1982. An updated version would be more appropriate for a CD-ROM published in 1991. Because each country was depicted in the same format, treatment was uniform for all countries.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Comments:

Mostly just text with very few, poor quality pictures. Both the text and pictures are taken from a book called Foreign Area Studies/The American University, A Country Study: South Korea. The book was published in 1982. The same information is published on this disc in 1991, with having been updated.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is targeted at high school students and families. Korea was given an extremely small amount of text in comparison to the other countries. There were several maps for each country, in various formats, i.e.; multimedia maps that combined video and narration, city maps, country and region maps, and a map of the world. Since each country was represented a number of times, we counted only the maps that dealt with Korea (12).

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

= The music section did not devote any selections to individual countries, so no tally was counted.

@ = Six video sections: US Presidents, Space Exploration, Science & Technology, Animal Life, Historic Events & People, and Plants & Fungi. Since no cultural, societal, or everyday-life topics were covered, no tally was counted.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
There are many pictures from Japan and China, but only a few from Korea. These pictures are predominantly of important people in Korea. Only one shows anything related to culture or society: a picture of a rice field. On the timeline, Japan and China are mentioned extensively but Korea is only mentioned once; in the U.S. section, for the Korean War.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This is a three CD set; one for America, one for Asia, and one for Europe. The America Alive CD covers only the United States. These CD-ROM's are oriented toward travelers as local customs, currency, bank hours, sights, climate, tours, dining, hotel, and other visitor information is given . Korea was given equal coverage in relation to the other Asian countries; however, Korea was given less coverage in relation to the European nations and the United States. The text contains good information on the people and culture, local customs, industry and trade, currency, things to know, and useful phrases. In all other categories Korea was given equal coverage.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Comments:
"Hang-Gang River" should be Han River. Errors in language: Yoboseyo = hello (only used on the telephone); Aninyo = no; Ch'oum poep gessoyo = how do you do?

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is clearly geared towards students, with its abundance of text. As is evident from the totals, all Asian nations were given disproportionately small numbers of text references in relation to their rankings. Furthermore, there were not any maps or movies devoted to Korea.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

# = This CD was formatted from several reference books. Pictures of prominent individuals from some of the countries were included, but there were no pictures highlighting culture, society, history, or geography.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
All the information comes from a dictionary, a thesaurus, some quotations, an encyclopedia, an atlas, a chronology, and an almanac. Contains many tidbits of information. The actual entry for Korea was quite short. It covers very few aspects of Korea. Seoul's population is outdated (based on 1985 statistics). The country's populations are based on 1994 statistics.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

This CD-ROM is primarily a collection of maps and would be good for those interested in geography. It also has a section devoted to the languages of the world that could be helpful to a traveler. There is a section that gives a brief written description of each country. Some countries were given quite a bit of coverage in comparison to others. In regards to numbers of maps, Korea was given a uniform amount of coverage. There were no pictures, music, movies, etc.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
There are not pictures, slides, or music. Although brief, there was a good overview of Korea in the text. There are several beautiful, real pictures of the earth taken from space. The section on language is very well done.

Taebaek sanmaek is written as "Taebaek Sanmaek mountain range." Sanmaek means mountain range by itself, so a more appropriate translation would just be "Taebaek mountain range."

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM was geared towards those interested in brief synopses of each country of the world. For each country, there is a brief description of the people, economy, land, history, and politics. The textual treatment is uniform for each country; however, in terms of maps, pictures/slides, and music, Korea was given poor coverage, as were other Asian countries.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
The language sample has many phrases to choose from, but some are awkward or inaccurate. The speech is very slow, and detracts from the aesthetic value of the Korean language. Although few, the pictures are a good, general representation of Korea.

Strange translations:

Please = chebal (chebal is rarely used, it is more like "I implore you"). Sister = önni, [elder sister of a female speaker] and brother = oppa [elder brother of a female speaker] (a more generic term like hyöngje [brother] and chamae [sister] should be used. My name is…= che irumum Kim Ch'ol-su imnida (The "my name is…" part of this needs to be set off from the example name given). Hello = Yoboseyo (only used on the phone; otherwise, it means "hey, look here!")

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

As stated in the title of this CD-ROM, it is mostly maps and statistical data about each country. This could be used by students, or anyone that is interested in finding out about the current affairs of a given country. Each country was given equal treatment. and each country was given its own map. There were also political, physical, statistical, and group maps. Also included is information on each country's age distribution, agriculture, children, cities, crime, economy, education, etc. There are also profiles on cities, statistical charts for age distribution, agriculture, children, crime, demographics, economy, etc. World rankings are given in various areas such as; city population, river lengths, and mountain heights. Flags and national anthems are also given for each country.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Comments:
Great maps. Good statistics. Very extensive in coverage of the various areas of Korean society. Nice, aesthetically pleasing colors. The timeline for South Korea stops at 1987, but North Korea goes on up to 1993. No mention of the 1988 Olympics, or other recent, significant events in South Korea is a major flaw. The CD is quite easy to use. Population figures given in the text are outdated. Good for maps and facts only, as the name would imply.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

This CD-ROM is good for those that are interested in general history; but, not necessarily the history of a given country, as there are no sections devoted to individual countries. It simply covers events and people in history. The pictures are of people or events in world history taken from their respective countries. There were no pictures devoted to Korea, nor was there any mention of the Korean War, a major event in world history.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
Basically all history text; on culture, no pictures (of Korea), no movies, etc. All of the text is excerpted from several books. Korea is not mentioned once on the timeline - not even for the Korean War.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is geared towards those interested in visually experiencing what a country is like. There is no text about the countries; however, there is a map for each country. The maps treat the countries relatively the same, except for the map of the United States, which was much more elaborate. Clearly, Korea, along with its neighbor Japan, was given poor coverage in pictures and slides.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Comments:
There are not pictures from Korea. There is one short film about Seoul, which is a good representation of Korea. Good statistics on crime in Korea - not found on other discs.

Kyöngbok-kung palace should be Kyöngbok palace. Namdaemun should be pronounced like "dae," not "die." Yui Island should be written as Yöui Island. Tumch'on-ni is Tungch'ön-ni. Haemgon-ni is an error; the romanization is inconsistent with Korean sounds.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM was geared towards students and adults that are interested in a general overview of the countries. Korea faired quite poorly in the amount of text devoted to it as a country. It received less than half the amount that was devoted to Switzerland, and less than that in comparison to other countries. Korea also was not given a large number of pictures, while other countries were given many.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
There are only four pictures, but they are large, and give a good representation of Korea. There is only one music sample, but it is a good representation of traditional Korean music. All of the information is easily accessible.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is most useful for those interested in visiting a particular country. It is set up to facilitate access to the maps of all the countries in the world. There is a great deal of information on cities and features, such as rivers, national parks, industrial centers, etc. It was excellent in its effort to show details of each country's features. There were no pictures, movies, or any text to be counted. Overall, it seemed to treat all countries equally.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
No pictures or videos. There are several really good, detailed maps with lots of options, such as zoom in/out.

In the text, Seoul is referred to as "Soul." Seoul is the standard spelling. Kwangjo should be Kwangju. There are inconsistent diacritical markings for the romanization. The translation for Kyöngbok-kung (Palace of Shining Happiness) is awkward and should be written according to the standard romanization (Kyöngbok Palace).

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM covers events in world history. The history and economy of Korea received quite accurate and fair coverage. There are also timelines that give equal coverage to all countries. Each country had several pictures, but they only documented historical events, not culture, society, and everyday living. As the CD did not cover these topics, and much of the coverage was regional or dealt only with wars, we did not attempt to count all of the historical pictures for each country. There were six such pictures related to Korea.

Movies were based on major wars in the world's history. Therefore, we found it difficult to assign the movies to individual countries. However, we did note that one movie was devoted specifically to the Korean War.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

Comments:
A timeline is included, but the setup is rather poor and rarely mentions Korea. The color choice for the backgrounds is bad. The same six statistics are given for every country: population, area, GNP, per capita income, imports, and exports. The country maps are not more than simple outlines of territorial boundaries with capital cities marked. There is good overall coverage of Korean history and the economy. Working with the CD is cumbersome. It took some time to figure out how to more between areas of interest, without always returning to the opening screen.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM is geared towards those that are interested in facts about the countries. There isn't any real text on the countries, but there are statistics to go along with each country that cover the same areas. There is also a section on entry requirements and travel advisories. The "Entry Requirements" section gives information on visas and other items important for the traveler. Korea was given an appropriate amount of pictures in relation to the other countries. All other features were standard for each country.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Comments:
Contains only two photos; one of a statue of Yi Sunshin and another of a market place. No real text, but there are many statistics and some good pieces of tourist information such as entry requirements and travel advisories.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM gives a very brief overview about each country. It contains very brief information and simple pictures depicting the countries. Each country was given the same amount of text. The text simply gave a very brief overview of the country. All countries were given similar maps and statistics. Most countries had several pictures devoted to them. However, Korea was given very few pictures in relation to the other countries.

* = An equal amount of coverage was devoted to each of the countries; therefore, we did not count individual totals.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Comments:
Maps are made from satellite pictures that are aesthetically pleasing and offer many options. There is only one paragraph of text. The format of the disc focuses on environmental issues. There is one outdated picture of Seoul. The background music was bothersome after working with the disc for awhile. There is non-standard romanization on map labels.

Weoju should be Wönju. Kwangchu should be Kwangju. The GNP/capita = $6,790 is outdated. 1 won = 100 jeon; Jeon [Chön] is not used anymore. 800 Won = 1 U.S. dollar would be more significant.

Treatment of Korea vs. Other Countries

Comments:

This CD-ROM was a very interesting portrayal of Asia. There was more than 30 minutes of video and more than 600 still photos included in these videos. However, they didn't focus so much on countries, but rather on cultural items that are unique to different parts of Asia. There was no text or maps included.

0 = The CD-ROM did not devote any attention to this particular category.

Treatment of Korea Here vs. Other CD-ROMs

Comments:
The CD-ROM contains several fascination videos on different countries in Asia. Many different subjects are covered, but there is only one video about Korea. There is a discussion of ancient Chinese medicine (hanyak), in the section on China, but it is actually similar to the medicine practiced in Korea. The video gives a good overview of hanyak and has great pictures.