Pop Culture Universe: Icons Idols Ideas.

Pop Culture Universe: Icons Idols Ideas (PCU) covers numerous people and topics, many of which have become known or important via the influence of mass media in Western culture. Primarily focused on the decades of the twentieth century and beyond, PCU also has content from earlier eras of U.S. history. There are some international pop-culture subjects, but most of these are from the mid–twentieth century to the present, often consisting of entries from the six-volume set The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture (2007).

PCU’s home page has a fun vibe that should attract users, especially if elements are changed frequently. There are a variety of graphics, colors, and fonts; mouse-over decade images and highlights (e.g., Rosie the Riveter, Nixon); the latest entries from the PCU Blog, with commentary, YouTube videos, and photos; and lists of most-viewed pages and top searches. Blog posts, which can be bookmarked, link to relevant content from within and outside the database. Educators will like the Skills Center, a separate site with 25 lesson plans and student activities (e.g., “The Television Show The Simpsons as a Snapshot of America”); full-text books on such topics as plagiarism and information literacy; and student-oriented Research Tutors and Wizards.

PCU entries are drawn from “307 books, 4,133 book chapters, 17,322 encyclopedia entries, and 6,621 images,” most published by Greenwood. A Title List provides direct access to content from each original source, though titles are not always complete. For example, the “Ecology and Environment” section of The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Regional Cultures: The Great Plains Regions is left out since it is not about popular culture per se. In any case, there is a wealth of information derived from such reference and monograph sources as The Great Depression in America: A Cultural Encyclopedia (2007); Pop-Porn: Pornography in American Culture (2007); Encyclopedia of Latino Popular Culture (2007); and Encyclopedia of Junk Food and Fast Food (2006), to name just a few.

From the Home page, click on a decade from the 1920s to the first decade of the twenty-first century, and you’re in the thick of it, with an events ticker scrolling at the top. Decades pages, with content adapted from various Greenwood sources, are organized into Overview, In the News, Major Awards, Fads, New Products and Businesses, Discoveries and Inventions, New Words and Phrases, Clothing and Appearance, Sports, and Obituaries. Text appears in the middle of the page on a lightly colored background, and a column to the right gives Best of the Decade picks in categories such as Film, Movies Stars, and Books.

For other content, several access options are available: a quick keyword search; an advanced Boolean search with limits by subject, people, place, or time period; and a browse by subject category, decade, source title list, or an index that lists entries by heading. Image and link indexes lead to internal graphics and vetted sources. Broad subject categories, which can be selected from the home page, group articles under Arts and Visual Culture, Business and Advertising, Ethnic and Group Culture, Fashion and Appearance, Film, Food and Drink, Literature, Music, Politics, Recreation and Leisure, Religion and Spirituality, Sports, TV and Radio, and Technology and Media.

Keyword search was often satisfactory for single-word topics we tried, including tattoo, tango, and television. For a phrase or a name (e.g., Mathew Brady, Gone with the Wind), we found it’s usually better to put the words in quotes or perform an advanced search using specific fields. Results are displayed under tabs for Full Text, Biographies, Image, and Resources (Web sites and other nonbook material). For context, entries have links to their sources’ full content on the left and to related entries (Find More Stuff) on the right. Entries can be e-mailed, printed, and permalinked, though not saved.

Given its nature, Pop Culture Universe has something for everyone and is appropriate for high-school, public, and undergraduate library collections. Subscription costs start at $495 depending on type and size of library. (Last accessed September 8, 2008.)