The "Bend in the Road" CD-ROM,
which was produced in 2000 by the L. M. Montgomery Institute at the University
of Prince Edward Island as "An Invitation to the World and Work of L.
M. Montgomery." It is both engaging and content-filled. Divided
into sections on "Life," "Works," "Impact," "Learning," and "Credits," the
CD-ROM is truly an invitation to Montgomery fans. The images and audio
clips are extensive, including galleries of photos of her and by her, the
first edition covers of her novels, a genealogy, and clips showing her
scrapbooks, clothing, needlework and personal belongings. My favorite
portions was the timeline and the video clips of Dr. Epperly viewing Montgomery's
scrapbooks. It is evident, that
a huge amount of time went into production of the CD-ROM, gearing it towards
fans, scholars and educators.
In spite of these attributes, the CD-ROM had a number of problems for me:
First and foremost, the CD-ROM is not available for MAC users. That's a
real disappointment. Apparently, nothing has been done to remedy this and
make a second version available. Thumbs down for that!
Going through it, I had the CD-ROM crash at least three times. I don't
know what caused the errors, but they disrupted my experience considerably. Even
though I tried to go through the CD-ROM in an orderly manner, I am sure I missed
have still missed viewing and reading much of the content. At one point
I thought I was still going through the "Life" section, and I realized
I was somewhere in "Impact." Then I noticed that the subheadings
changed for each screen and linked to the other sections, so I tried to use the
back button instead to navigate. Still, I think I missed a great deal of
the content.
Lastly, it's too bad the CD-ROM URL links were not accessible when in use. Indeed,
that feature would have made it a more useful interactive tool.
For those keenly interested in learning more about Montgomery's life, the CD-ROM
is a useful and desirable purchase, but at $46.95 (US Dollars), this is no minor
purchase for a fan interested more in Montgomery's books than in her life. Books
are more affordable and have more accesible content for most purposes.
External Links (will open in a new window):
The University
of Prince Edward Island Bend in the Road Webpage
Last Updated 03.28.04
© An L.M. Montgomery Resource Page and TickledOrange.com