Review - Road to Citizenship

Library Journal, Volume 126, No. 16, October 1, 2001

Road to Citizenship
CD-ROM

Windows 3.1, 95, 98. 1999
ISBN 0-927365-55-3.
Price: $79.95


How many amendments are there to the U.S. Constitution? How many voting members are there in the House of Representatives? You will find answers to these questions, and a lot more, in Road to Citizenship. Through interactive lessons, exercises, and practice tests, this disc provides start-to-finish assistance to people interested in applying for U.S. citizenship.

The disc is easy to install and includes a 13-page manual in PDF format, which can be viewed on-screen or printed out (the disc comes with Adobe Acrobat for anyone who doesn't already have it). Fortunately, the manual is thorough and practical, as even someone who uses computers frequently will need to review it in order to take advantage of some of the interactive features. For example, you can hear text read aloud if you click on a small and nondescript picture of a man that appears in a corner of the screen.

The disc is divided into nine sections, beginning with "AM I qualified for naturalization?" and ending with "Congratulations!" In between, one can learn how to apply for citizenship, study for the citizenship naturalization ceremony test, practice English, and prepare for the written test, interview, and n The lessons, exercises, and practice tests are helpful and to the point. Menu options (in the form of photographs if roads) are not labeled: you must click on a photo to learn which section of the disc it will bring you to. This might be an obstacle for a novice computer user and should be changed in future versions. Librarians interested in acquiring the disc should be aware of the need to keep the version current: the disc provides names of state senators and the U.S. President, which students need to know for the citizenship exam. The producer provides updates on its web site.
The bottom Line: Road to Citizenship will be useful to people applying for citizenship and to ESL teachers. Recommended for libraries serving these populations.


-- Carrie Macfarlane, Research Svcs., Widener Lib., Harvard Univ.