When Digital Zoology first opens, a dendogram (tree) of the major animal and protozoan phyla appears on the screen (fig.1). The cladogram button on the lower right of the title bar gives a cladistic representation of the same material displayed, with a dendogram button to return to the initial screen.

Taxon information box

In either view, selecting the name of one of the taxa opens the taxon information box containing information about that group, along with a randomly selected picture illustrating animals from that group (fig. 2). A scrolling text box includes information on the numbers, relative importance, and unique aspects of how that taxon functions. Blue underlined words in the taxon information box's scrolling dialogue are hyperlinked to an interactive glossary (fig. 2). (In the preview edition the glossary is not complete, with more terms to be added soon.) The bottom of the taxon box includes buttons that open a cladogram, and also lab modules for that taxon. If there is more than one lab module for the taxon, you will need to open the cladogram to access the labs. If the button is "greyed out," there is no additional information available.

Interactive cladograms

The cladogram button appears on the main tree in the lower right hand corner, and also in the taxon information boxes. When you click on the button for the main tree, a cladistic diagram of the major animal phyla appears. Using the cladogram button within a taxon information box will display a cladogram for the classes (or other subordinate taxon) for that phylum. In both cladograms, interactive synapomorphies are represented by question marks which, when activated by the mouse click, open a text box explaining the main evolutionary events at that point (fig. 3). Here again, access to the interactive glossary is available through words that appear underlined and in blue.

Laboratory modules

Laboratory modules consist of different topics, which are further divided into subtopics. For example, the topic "internal anatomy" might contain subtopics on "general features," "anterior structures," and "posterior structures." Or, a phylum may be the topic, with subtopics for different animals within it. The topic list for each lab module is always available on the menu bar at the top of the screen (fig. 4), and the list of subtopics appears to the right of it.

For each of these subtopics, the figure navigation bar notes the number of figures. Its right and left arrows move you forward and backward through the figures. The number of subtopic pages is shown in the subtopic navigation bar, and its right and left arrows can help you navigate through the different subtopic pages that are available.

Interactive quizzes

A number of the laboratory modules have quizzes that test your familiarity with material in that module (fig. 5). Use the quiz button found on the module's navigation bar to start the quiz. The legend for each of the pinheads is given in the list, and below it a set of pinheads with labels is provided. Click and hold the left mouse button down over the labelled pinhead, and drag it into the circle that corresponds to the structure identified in the legend. To change your answer, drag the lettered pinhead off the circle. To check out your identifications, use the "check" button to correct the quiz. Green pinheads appear to show which of your answers was correct, and red pin heads show you the structures that you didn't label properly. Use the right arrow on question navigation bar to move on to the next question. Each time the quiz runs, the questions are slightly different—you might want to try it more than once!

There are other ways that you can use Digital Zoology as a study tool. To test how well you recognize different structures in the lab modules, cover the legend that appears on the lower right corner of the screen with a piece of paper. Write out your own legend based on the labels in the picture and then compare your answers to the original. You can also use Digital Zoology to test your familiarity with key zoological terms. When you read through any of the explanations and see a term highlighted in blue, write out your own short definition. Then click on the word and compare your definition to the one that appears on the screen.

Navigation

Digital Zoology uses navigation in the form of buttons, menu bars, and keyboard short cuts. Use the following list to find out what each button does, or place the mouse pointer over any of the buttons, wait a second, and an explanation of what the button does will appear on the screen.

Buttons

	Cladogram Button: Clicking this button displays the cladogram for the taxon that has been selected. If a phylum's cladogram button is clicked, the cladogram for the classes in that phylum opens. On the main tree, this button switches to a cladogram version of the same material.
	Dendogram Button: Clicking on this button opens the main tree from anywhere in Digital Zoology.
	Close Button: Click on this button to close the taxon information box or the glossary dialogue box. (shortcut ESC)
	Lab Button: When this appears in a taxon information box, it will take you to the corresponding lab module. When this button appears in a lab module, it takes you to the start of the module. (shortcut HOME)
	Quiz Button: The quiz button is found in the lab manuals and will take you to an interactive quiz that tests your knowledge on the material in that lab.
	Movie Button: In some parts of Digital Zoology, video clips are available. Click on this button to start and stop the movie.
	Question Button: Click this button on a cladogram for an explanation of the synapomorphies for that point in the cladogram.
	Explanation Button: You can't click on this one in a cladogram, but it will tell you the point on the cladogram to which the explanation applies.
	Previous Subtopic Page or Figure: Lab modules are divided into topics, which contain subtopics that in turn have figures. Using this button either moves you to the previous subtopic page of the topic (shortcut Down arrow) or the figure on that page (shortcut Left arrow).
	Next Subtopic Page or Figure: Lab modules are divided into topics that contain subtopics, which contain pages that in turn have figures. Using this button either moves you to the next page of the topic (shortcut Up arrow) or the figure on that page (shortcut Right arrow).

Menus

The main menu bar at the top of each module changes depending where the user is in the program. The first item on the left is always "File" with two choices: "File: Back" and "File: Exit Digital Zoology." "File: Back" closes the module that is currently open and returns the user to the module that had previously been opened (the dendogram button is always available to return to the main tree on the opening screen). "File: Exit Digital Zoology" exits the program and closes all the modules.

What appears in the second position of the menu bar depends on where the user is in the program. In taxonomic modules (either cladograms or dendograms) the second item on the menu bar is a list of the taxon modules—either phyla or classes—that the user can open. These correspond to the linked names that appear on the dendogram or cladogram. In Lab modules, the third item on the main menu bar lists the major topics available in the module, and this corresponds to the links that appear on the screen.

In Lab modules, once a topic is chosen, a list of the different subtopics appears in the third position on the menu bar. Each page has a variety of different figures associated with it.

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