DataJEM CD-ROM
Zvi Inbar, Director, Joint Program, and Dr. Motti Friedman, Director, Pedagogic Center, of the Joint Authority for Jewish Zionist Education, recently announced the release of the first English CD-ROM version of DataJEM, the bibliographic database of Jewish Educational Materials. DataJEM contains over 3,500 reviews of items suitable for use in Jewish educational settings, on a wide range of subjects including Israel, Shabbat & Hagim, Holocaust, Tanach and Teaching Hebrew. Each review includes an abstract, bibliographic information and comments and notes by an experienced Diaspora educator. The hope is that the database will serve as a valuable resource in assisting both formal and informal Jewish educators, in a variety of settings, in locating appropriate materials on a wide variety of subjects. Growth is planned, with updates being developed to meet changing needs and realities.
This CD-ROM edition is for IBM compatibles running Windows. Searches for material can be conducted in a number of fields, and there are various approaches to accessing the wealth of information in DataJEM.
A complimentary copy of DataJEM CD-ROM is being made available to agencies working in formal or informal Jewish education, and is intended to be shared by all relevant staff of schools, pedagogic centers, libraries, youth movements, etc. In return, the Pedagogic Center asks that users become familiar with its features, utilize it, and then provide feedback on its functioning and usefulness. A reply questionnaire is included.
Requests for copies must include name, title, institution and full mailing address, and can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
DataJEM, Attention Josie Arbel, Coordinator Pedagogic Center, Kiryat Hahinuch Rehov HaAskan 3, 93780 Jerusalem Fax 972-2-675-9133 Email address: datajem@jajz-ed.org.il
The Joint Program and Pedagogic Center hope to have the next edition also available on the Internet.
Israeli Cartoons Go Global
An Israeli technological start-up needs low overhead, personal financial investment, and a lot of luck, says Daniel Singer, owner and founder of CD ROM producer Impact Plus Multimedia Concepts & Solutions.
Despite the challenges of a product that requires long-term production and a market loaded with competitors, Impact has introduced three new products in the last three months of '96. Interactive storybook Noah and the Rainbow, hit the Israeli market in mid-September along with "Mitz Petel," a well known children's story about a rabbit who lives in a yellow house. The animated, interactive programs for kids aged 3 to 8 are Impact's second and third product launches since the company added off-the-shelf title production to its tailor-made CD ROM business.
Local comic strip artist Yaacov Kirshen, known for his Dry Bones strip is currently teaming up with Impact to develop a full line of multimedia products based on the cartoonist's story of the Bible.
Arabic Writer
With a lead in the Israeli Hebrew-language word-processing market, Dvir Software Products, the developer of the QText word-processing software is moving into the Arab-language market with version 6.01, providing full support to Arabic-language editing. The new version includes a special ASD mechanism enabling the user to control the position of each letter within the word. This is crucial in Arabic word processors since letters' typographical appearance change according to their position in a word . The software understands Arabic ligature movements and works under Hebrew and US Windows 3.x, Windows NT and US Windows 95. It can handle up to 19 languages (now including Arabic) in one document at the same time. (See the feature application review in this issue.)
Conference Caller
VocalTec, the Israeli Internet telephone company that shook the international telecommunications world a year ago with its invention that allows Internet subscribers use the Internet for international phone calls paying only the price of a local call, has come out with a new product: Internet Conference. Designed to run over dial-up and direct Internet connections, Internet Conference (available both in professional and personal editions) enables users to hold on-line group discussions. Users can view and mark-up documents together with multi-participant white-boards and annotation tools; surf the Web together with collaborative HTML viewing capabilities; and exchange photos and other graphic files quickly and easily. Integrated audio technology enables simultaneous voice and data communication over a single line, eliminating costly long distance phone calls. The Internet Conference is initially available only for PC users.
EXODUS 1947: THE SHIP THAT LAUNCHED A NATION A New One Hour Documentary, narrated by Morley Safer
EXODUS 1947 is the true story of how American Jews secretly financed and crewed the Exodus 1947, the most famous of the Aliyah Bet (illegal immigration) ships that tried to run the British blockade of Palestine--and captured worldwide attention in the process. In the summer of 1947, this aging Baltimore steamer crewed with an odd assortment of former Jewish-American GI's took on a cargo of 4,500 Holocaust survivors in France and sailed for Palestine. After a bloody battle with the British, the immigrants were sent back into Displaced Person camps in Germany. The newsreel and print media seized on Exodus 1947 as a symbol of Jewish struggle and the aborted voyage galvanized international support for the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Eyewitness testimonies and interviews with scholars are incorporated with newsreel footage and recently declassified documents to reveal how American ships, crew and financiers played a vital role in undermining British control of Palestine during the turbulent time between the Holocaust and the creation of the State of Israel--even though such involvement was contrary to U.S. government policy.
"This splendid, carefully researched and assembled documentary is chock-full of fascinating details as it recalls a courageous, complex and dangerous mission with immense consequences." - Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times, 11/96
EXODUS 1947 USA 1996 60 minutes Color English Video; Directed by Elizabeth Rodgers and Robby Henson
A video copy, for classroom/library use only, is now available for purchase from:
THE NATIONAL CENTER FOR JEWISH FILM Brandeis Univ. - Lown 102 Waltham, MA 02254 617-899-7044 fax: 617-736-2070 email: ncjf@logos.cc.brandeis.edu
For public performance rights information contact the NCJF.