The Multimedia Guide to the Non-Human Primates

Frances Burton & Matthew Eaton. Prentice Hall Canada Inc: Ontario ISBN 0132071681 £56.95. 1995

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This CD-ROM with manual set (published in 1995, but not available until 1997) is a high-tech version of Napier's Guide to Living Primates. Burton and Eaton propose the Multimedia Guide to the Non-Human Primates as a primary instruction tool or a reference for instructors and students of primatology. As lecturers who teach undergraduate primatology courses we have evaluated this package from the point of view of both teachers and students. There are both Windows and Macintosh versions available. The Macintosh version recommends at least 8Mb ram, operating system 7.x and a 13" colour monitor. The Windows version requires at least a 386 processor and 4Mb ram, with an SVGA monitor, capable of 256 colours at a 640 by 480 resolution. Installation (on our Windows version) is simply a matter of "point and click" and can be run either from the CD or directly from the hard drive. The manual is a 70 page soft back document, primarily containing screen shots, with simple operating instructions, one per page. It also includes a 3 page instructor's guide, and at the back of the manual there is a rather uninspiring list of possible assignments for students.

On loading the CD the user is presented with a title page which transforms into a contents page with a click of the mouse button. The contents are divided predictably into 4 subheadings; apes, new world monkeys, old world monkeys and prosimians. Clicking on any of these headings takes one to a further contents page listing family groupings. The facility to quit, return to previous page, and go to the index, is available from all contents pages. When one has chosen the desired primate family a click on the family name opens a page depicting the species heading the family list where all members of the family are listed alphabetically rather than taxonomically. The alphabetical species list can also be accessed directly by clicking on the Order name from the contents page. When a particular species has been selected a multi-frame "species" screen opens revealing an image of the selected species, a map of its world-wide, rather than local, distribution, Latin and common names, and a menu leading to further information on the species "attributes", "behaviour", and "ecology". By clicking on the photo one can obtain a full-screen image and if more than one photograph of a given species is available an icon allows you to scroll through the images. While recognising that the images are not the work of professional photographers, given the aims of the Guide we found the quality of some of the images to be disappointing. Many shots depicted primates in the far distance with less than adequate focus and resolution which disappointed some of our students hoping to use the guide to familiarise themselves with species differences. As researchers who have also tried to photograph primates in the wild (and have our own collections of pictures of small blobs up trees!) we realise good quality images are expensive and difficult to come by, however our students were expecting pictures of the quality found in Napier's classic volume.

Returning to the menu of further information on the chosen species, "attributes" provides the options of exploring "taxonomy", "fossils", and the vaguely titled "features", while "behaviour" provides a choice of further information on "lifecycle", "communication", and "social dynamics", and "ecology" leads to summaries of "habitat", "foods and diet", and "conservation". The amount of detail of information provided in any of these sub-sections is highly variable. By way of a demonstration we detail the information provided on the two species we are most familiar with; Cercopithecus diana (Hill) and Macaca mulatta (Ball).

Diana Monkeys - one rather dark photograph of a captive animal is available. We acknowledge that there is relatively little published literature available pertaining to this species. However, certain aspects of the material provided seemed particularly thin, namely information about appearance, vocal communication and dietary ecology.

Rhesus Macaques - two reasonable photographs of animals that appear to be from provisioned colonies. Information about aspects of behaviour is very generalised. With the wealth of literature available on rhesus monkeys it is surprising that no mention is made of the variability of aspects of social life (such as group size) and ecology, given that adaptability is one of their fundamental attributes.

It is possible to click on a button and view the bibliography from which information about each species was sourced, although it is irritating that sources are not cited in the information text (or links provided). The information relies upon a preponderance of review chapters and articles, and very little use of primary research literature. The authors also seem to have relied heavily on several general primate text books and edited volumes as the sources for their materials. In our view this would have been a prime opportunity to introduce students to some of the engaging debates and issues and stimulate them to research further.

Few pedagogic principles have been applied in the design of this Guide. Initially we were very excited at the idea of this package when we first saw it demonstrated at the American Physical Anthropology annual meetings in Oakland California, four years ago. Unfortunately after lengthy production delays we finally got our hands on a copy only to be disappointed by the final product. The quiz facility which asks students to type in Latin names of species displayed on the screen is of little value for teaching or self-learning - a more useful quiz facility would have included questions about ecology, behaviour, taxonomy etc.. There is a limited "search" facility that allows the user to identify species that display a particular attribute, e.g. animals that include fruit in their diet but it is a laborious process to identify all fruit eaters across all species rather than just fruit-eating species within a particular family. The guide has been available in our library for a year yet students appear to have made little use of it when searching for information for their essays and project work, reportedly because of the lack of detailed information contained within it, thus it is of little use to them.

This package might be useful for students who have no prior knowledge of primate distribution, ecology or behaviour, and who wish to learn to recognise various species, and acquire basic information about how and where they live. However, they would probably learn more by looking at any one of the various introductory text books available. It is certainly unlikely to be of use or value to anyone who is already familiar with this basic level information. Sadly this package did not live up to our expectations.