The Chemistry Video Consortium: Southampton, UK. £39.95.

This two-disc CD-ROM was produced by Tony Rest at the University of Southampton (UK) in conjunction with the Chemistry Video Consortium, an alliance consisting of several university chemistry departments in the UK. The price is fairly reasonable for a two-CD set; it is cheaper and much more useful than many VHS chemistry videos I've seen in catalogs.

It is evident that thorough planning and high-quality production have been applied to this project from beginning to end. There are 13 sets of clips that illustrate techniques from solution preparation to solvent extraction. At first glance, one might believe that many of these techniques are suitable for only organic chemistry. However, clips illustrating titrations, the uses of a buret and a pipet, and the preparation of solutions certainly are applicable in a general chemistry laboratory. The explanations are clear and helpful. The script of the video clip can be shown simultaneously, with the current portion of the script highlighted on the screen. I find that to be helpful to those who have hearing impairments. Each technique includes a 10-question true/false quiz; the options allow for tutoring or testing mode while taking the quiz.

The minimum system requirements recommend a Pentium 200-MHz processor running on at least a Windows 95 operating system with 800 x 600 monitor resolution. Following the directions, there should be no problems installing the software onto the local computer. While the 650-MHz Pentium III in my office had no problems running the CD-ROM, there were errors that would not allow me to run the program on my 200-MHz Pentium II computer at home, even after multiple installations. Therefore, I recommend more than just the minimum system requirements to run the CD-ROM.

Because of the price (allowing for currency conversions, approximately $60), I do not recommend that individual students purchase the CD-ROM. However, I definitely recommend that college chemistry departments buy copies to show in their general and organic chemistry prelab sections. Ordering information must be obtained from the Chemistry Video Consortium: consult their Web site.