ACRL College & Research Libraries News

Association of College & Research Libraries

Internet Reviews

Sara Amato, editor

CLNet. Access:http:// latino.sscnet.ucla.edu/. CLNet, directed by librarian Richard Chabran of UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center and managed by computer resource special- ist and librarian Romelia Sali- nas, is the premier Internet site for U.S. Latino informa- tion. The site provides ac- cess to print and electronic resource materials in the hu- manities, social sciences, and sciences, with an emphasis on Chicano (Mexican American) re- sources. There is sporadic coverage of infor- mation specific to Puerto Ricans, Cuban Americans, and other Latinos; most text is in English. CLNet began in 1993 as a gopher-based information service and transformed in late 1994 into the current Web site. Although the gopher is still available, only the Web site contains the most current information.

The homepage organizes information in ten main sections. Of special interest are an employment center, a museum, and a community center. Elsewhere there are links to information about student scholarships and financial aid, and demographic data and statistics. The “Bronze Pages” section invites Latino faculty, staff, and students to develop and link their own personal pages to the site, thereby creating a unique listing of academic colleagues, resource people, and role models. For most librarians, students, and faculty, however, the focal points of CLNet will be its library and research center.

The library section of this site identifies major Latino research collections and archives, and offers telnet sessions to the online catalogs of selected libraries. There are a number of helpful subject-oriented bibliographies that point to print reference materials. A listing of Latino- related listservs here is dated, however, and includes groups that rarely discuss U.S. Latino issues, if at all. The library also leads to numerous electronic publications, publishers, and online bookstores. The research center organizes a massive collection of text files, gopher and

Web sites, and searchable databases. Topics range from affirmative action, health, Chicana studies, di- versity, and a collection of documents relating to the use of the Internet by Latinos. Reports and statis- tics here have been culled from familiar sources such as the Eric Clearinghouse for Urban Education, the Cen- sus Bureau, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Other in- formation has been provided by organizations such as the Inter-University Program for Latino Research and MCLR (the Midwest Consortium for Latino Research), em- phasizing the fact that CLNet is very much a cooperative effort among librarians, other pro- fessionals, and Latino organizations.

The producers of CLNet note that one unexpected result of the popularity of their site is the growing number of Internet training sessions they’ve been invited to present. Besides promoting computer literacy in this way, the site also functions as a curricular tool for teaching users about the Chicano experience, and the research process itself. Syllabi, reading lists, and excellent guides on refining a research topic can be found, along with the bibliographies already mentioned. For our profession, CLNet is overall an excellent example of the expert role subject-specialist librarians can take in organizing, utilizing, and teaching the Internet to patrons. Anyone interested in Latino issues will want to explore the many strands of this complex Web site.—Susan A. Vega Garcia, Iowa State University; savega@iastate.edu

The Fashion Page. Access: http://www.charm. net/~jakec/contents.html.

Fashion Net. Access:http://www.fashion. net/.

The fashion field is showing a strong presence on the Web, and these two sites provide information for both fashion enthusiasts and those working in the fashion industry.

The Fashion Page‚ a Web magazine, is created and written by Lynda Stretton, a former buyer. The homepage is categorized by “seasons,” “esoterica,” “reviews and overviews,” and “reference.” Within these categories are analyses of current fashion trends, interviews with designers, and reviews of fashion films and television programs. Some of Stretton’s articles cover such topics as Afro deco and urban glamour fashion trends, as well as overview articles on the history of underwear and corsets, body piercing, and tattooing. Images are appropriately incorporated into the text, adding value to the information. The site is well organized and the material easy to access, though some of the links need to be updated and new articles added. The Fashion Page is a unique site that draws those interested in fashion to the creative and well-written articles.

Sara Amato is automated systems librarian at Central Washington University; samato@tahoma.cwu.edu

The goal of Fashion Net, produced by the Fashion Industry Network, is to provide information to two different audiences: the general public and the fashion industry. It accomplishes this by dividing its Web site into two sections focusing on each group. The first section, “Fashion and Style,” is for the general public and includes a wealth of hypertext links to fashion designers, fashion sites, modeling agencies, and fashion photographers. The second section, “Fashion Industry,” links to the Fashion Yellow Pages (a global directory for the fashion industry), a portfolio presentation service, other industry sites, a bulletin board of job postings, freelance services, and other opportunities. This site is current, comprehensive, and utilitarian and the design is simple and functional. The value of this site is the multitude of fashion links in one place and Fashion Net is the place to visit to begin exploring fashion on the Web.— Monica Fusich, University of North Texas; mfusich@library.unt.edu.

On-Line Literary Resources. Access;http: //www.english.upenn.edu/~jlynch/Lit/. Although created specifically to highlight available Internet resources pertaining to English and American literature, On-line Literary Resources provides links to a wealth of humanities materials, and will be of interest to academic librarians, humanities faculty, graduate students, and upper-division undergraduates. University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate in English Jack Lynch created and maintains this quick-loading, no frills meta-index to Web-based research materials.

Lynch divides the homepage into 16 subject areas of literature, from classical and biblical, medieval and Renaissance sources, to contemporary British and American, theater and drama, literary theory, and women’s literature and feminism sites. Subject categories begin with a compilation of scholarly listservs relevant to the area, followed by a “Calls for Professional Papers” list that typically includes deadlines for submissions of papers, names and addresses of contacts, and suggested topics. Next comes extensive lists of course syllabi submitted by university faculty from across the United States.

The heart of this resource, however, lies in the many links to sites devoted to both general topics and to specific authors within each subject area. Bibliographies abound throughout the pages of this resource, as do a surprising number of scholarly articles written by university subject specialists. Included in the Victorian pages, for example, is a link to Brown University’s Victorian Web, and to an article, complete with bibliography, entitled “Racism and Anti-Irish Prejudice in Victorian England,” by Anthony Wohl, professor of history at Vassar College. Surprisingly, too, there are a number of excellent literary chronologies now available online via this source.

Numerous recurring links lead one to other equally invaluable literary sites, including the Carnegie Mellon University English Server, the University of Virginia’s Electronic Text Center, and the University of California-Santa Barbara Voice of the Shuttle Project. Included within nearly all categories are links to thousands of electronic texts: the full text of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey; Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales; Milton’s Paradise Lost; the complete works of Shakespeare; the poetry of W. B. Yeats; and Bulfinch’s Mythology, to name but a few. Lynch additionally includes a link at the bottom of the homepage to an integrated list of electronic texts available online.

Finally, On-line Literary Resources might prove to be an excellent and enjoyable means of introducing humanities faculty new to the Internet to a wealth of content-based materials migrating to the World Wide Web. Recommended.—John Creech, California State University at Monterey Bay; john_creech@monterey. edu. ■