H. P. Karr's Lexikon Der Deutschen Krimi-Autoren

I. BRIEF OVERVIEW OF STRUCTURE AND CONTENT:

H. P. Karr's Lexicon der deutschen Krimi-Autoren documents the lives and works of over 120 German-speaking mystery writers. The database includes information on film, radio and television authors, as well as those writing in more traditional forms. It aims to give the first complete overview of crime literature in German, including authors from both the old and the new German states, as well as those from other countries writing in German. For each author, the database gives the following information: Name; pseudonym(s), if used; short biography, including prizes and distinctions; works, both in mystery and in other genres; work in radio, T.V., film and other media. All authors are listed by the name under which they publish. If this is a pseudonym, the reader is referred to a real name as main entry.

II. STARTING UP THE LEXIKON DER DEUTSCHEN KRIMI-AUTOREN:

To access the database, type "Lexikon," then hit [Enter]. Press any key to continue.

You will get a menu that lists commands for the database in general on the left-hand side, and for the Author's biographies of the right-hand side.

III. USING THE LEXIKON DER DEUTSCHEN KRIMI-AUTOREN:

The database commands are:

[PgUp] to scroll back.

[PgDown] to scroll down.

[UpArrow] to go to the previous entry.

[DownArrow] to go to the next entry.

[Enter] to display text.

[F1] for help.

[Esc] to end the program.

The commands for the Author's biographies are:

[Esc] to get back to the database module.

[PgDown] to scroll down.

[PgUp] to scroll up.

[-] to move down 1 line.

[+] to move up 1 line.

[F1] go to the index of authors.

[Tab] jump back to previous screen.

The bottom of the screen describes the program in general, which consists of three parts:

1. The database module

2. The Author index

3. The Author biographies.

Reading and Searching

Press any key to continue. You will then be in the database module. The first available author's name will be displayed in a window in the center of the screen. You can scroll up and down or access biographies as described previously. At the bottom of the screen, you will see a list of possible commands:

[F1] Help.

[F2] Information about the Lexikon. This contains a description of the database, as well as instructions for loading it onto your computer, and registration and copyright information. You can read through each of these sections by scrolling with [PgDown], returning to the mini-menu containing the three options by hitting [Tab].

[F3] "Krimi-Preise" is a listing, by country, of all prizes available to mystery writers. The German prize list appears last, and includes a listing of all winning authors and works, as well as the monetary amounts of all prizes.

[F10] "Autoren-Index" gives you a list of all authors included in the database. You can scroll through the list using [PgUp] and [PgDown], use the arrow keys to highlight particular authors, and press [Enter] to read their biographies. You can also search for particular authors by hitting the space bar, typing in a name, and pressing [Enter]. This will bring up the desired author's biography if your search was successful. If your search was unsuccessful, it will simply disappear. (N.B.: Be very careful of your spelling, as no search will be successful unless it duplicates exactly the form of the author's name given in the database!)

IV. EXITING THE LEXIKON AND REMOVING THE CD-ROM:

To exit the programm, hit [Esc] until you hear a "beep" and a blue box ("Programm beenden!") appears in the centre of the screen. Hit [j] to exit, [n] if you change your mind and wish to continue searching.