Sorry to jump into this problem so late.  I remember about a month or so
ago there was a discussion on one of the newsgroups about a WWW browser
suitable for a kiosk and I believe the consensus was that there was not,
although one of the major browser developers was working on it as an option
(I believe it was Netscape)
 
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You may want to consider a conventional hypermedia package with hypertext
features such as HyperCard or SuperCard.  Both are readily available
through catalogs and retail outlets.  I prefer SuperCard's user interface
development environment and I feel it is easier to make SuperCard bullet
proof.  HyperCard has better reference books available and for this reason
it is often preferred as a beginner's environment.  Hypertext scripting is
a little tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it is not so bad.
There used to be hypertext programs available on the Mac, but I have not
heard of any recently.  I believe one was called Owl and it was used mostly
for on-line help.   I have never liked Director for this type of problem.
Director is great for presentations, but I have always found it clumsy at
best for information handling.
 
I would also recommend posting this query to the following newsgroups:
 
comp.multimedia
misc.education.multimedia
comp.infosystems
comp.infosystems.kiosks
comp.systems.mac.hypercard
comp.infosystems.www.providers
 
As for the CD-ROM question, you can make one-off pressing fairly cheaply.
Media costs around $10-$15 and you need to find a service bureau or some
other way to access the equipment, which you can usually find laying around
a university.  It is fairly simple to do, although you usually get some
unsatisfactory results until you figure out the quirks of your authoring
environment.  Always remember that you are going to pay a performance price
when you use CD-ROM so you may want to keep this in mind.
 
Keep us posted and good luck,
 
Peter Wehr
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Peter Holben Wehr
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Museum & Education Technology Consultant
(718) 721-3761 * c/o Debra Parkinson * 28-26 47th St Apt 5 * Astoria NY 11103
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