ACRL College & Research Libraries News

College & Research Libraries News

Internet Reviews

Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors

National Partnership for Women & Families. Access:http://www.nationalpartnership. org/.

The National Partnership for Women and Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the lives of women and families. Formed in 1971 as the Women’s Legal Defense Fund, the National Partnership focuses on issues relating to work and family, health care, and workplace fairness. To promote awareness and educate the public, the National Partnership’s site provides advice, topical essays, fact sheets, and contacts.

The features of interest on this site are the “Newsroom” and “Publications.” The “Newsroom” has a chronological listing of current press releases and an archive of press releases dating back to 2000. The organization’s newsletters, from 2000 to the current issue, are available as HTML full text. The National Partnership offers guides through the “Publications” section. Although free print copies can be ordered, selections from the guides and their endnotes are available on the Web site. The guides vary from research on the depiction of work/family issues on television to questions and answers on the Family Leave Act.

There are a variety of methods to navigate this site. Users can search by keyword, browse the site map, or use the menus. Also, there are links to site content organized by program area: “Health Care,” “Work and Family,” and “Workplace Fairness.” Within each topic area, there is a side menu with a table of contents. Extensive “Resource Links” within each of the program areas guide users to other related Web pages. At the time of review, all 34 links in the Health Care section were active except one.

The essays and fact sheets available on this site are valuable, offering advice and information not easily found elsewhere. However, with the exception of “News Alerts,” much of the content is not dated and authors’ names for most of the guides and fact sheets are not provided.

This site’s target audience is the general public, specifically those with concerns on discrimination, reproductive rights, family leave, sexual harassment, and health care. Undergraduate students looking for information on these issues may find this site useful.—Kimberly Bartosz, University of Wisconsin-Parkside, banosz@!uup.edu

Nutrition.gov. Access:http://www.nutrition. gov/.

Nutrition.gov is an initiative of the U.S. federal government, however it is somewhat unclear which agency is actually responsible for the site. The introductory information indicates that the site is meant to serve as a portal to nutrition information across government agencies and that its development was spearheaded by U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Susan Blumenthal.

There seems to be a strong connection between this site and the Department of Agricultures Food and Nutrition Center, but the relationship between the two sites is not explicit. In fact, at first glance, the purpose of this site seems to duplicate what can be found at the Food and Nutrition Center. Both sites are well organized, user focused, and provide access to an extensive collection of government nutrition resources. However, upon further inspection, it becomes clear that the focus of the two sites is quite different.

The aim of Nutrition.gov is more than simply providing access to nutritional information. The promotion of healthy eating and healthy living seems to be the underlying agenda of the site. The site’s main focus is the prevention and control (through healthy eating) of a variety of health conditions, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, eating disorders, stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. A review of the site’s various subsections clearly supports this focus. The information found in “Food Facts,” “Food Safety,” “Lifecycle Issues,” “Health Management,” “Food Assistance,” and “Research” all support the promotion of healthy eating and the use of food for preventing and managing disease. Of particular interest is “Lifecycle Issues,” which presents specialized information for different segments of the population (infants, seniors, women). Although the site is intended to act as a portal, much of the information that has been incorporated into Nutrition.gov is valuable unto itself.

Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public services and collection development at Willamette University, e-mail: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical services at Willamette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu

The intended audience for this site is any member of the general public wishing to learn more about how nutrition and healthy eating can contribute to his or her overall health and well-being. Even the research section points to consumer health information rather than reporting on original research findings.

The site bills itself as a “new federal resource,” however there are few clues to indicate the currency of the information. No copyright, last modified, last reviewed, or file saved data is provided. A more precise indication of the currency of the site would be welcome. The presentation of information on the site is straightforward and easy to use. The only multimedia component is the introduction page (requiring Flash), which is attractive, but adds no real value.

Overall, Nutrition.gov makes a good impression. It points to valuable, reliable, and readable sources, and its overall focus is well-articulated. Its contents are particularly valuable to individuals looking for easy access to consumer health information related to nutrition and healthy eating. Nutrition.gov’s greatest flaw, however, is that it is not entirely clear who is in charge of the site or how frequently they plan to update it.—-Jennifer McKmnll, McMaster University, mckinn@mcmaster.ca

HistoryCentral.com. Access.-http:// www.multied.com/.

HistoryCentral.com is a free resource produced by MultiEducator, a New Rochelle, New York- based publisher of CD-ROM educational software. Billed as “History’s home on the Internet,” the site is targeted toward high school students.

HistoryCentral.com contains an extensive range of primary and secondary source material. Main categories include “World History Chronology,” “America’s Wars,” “Election Central,” “20th Century Almanac,” “Primary Documents,” “History Maker Biographies,” and aviation, naval, and railroad history.

Within these broad categories are well-organized subdivisions with links to full-text material. A collection of over 400 primary source documents on American history includes such basics as the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution along with selected presidential addresses, court decisions, and legislation. Biographical information includes all U.S. presidents and a list of 500 people selected by reader nomination as the most important of the 20th century. There are also links to other history sites maintained by the company.

One of HistoryCentral.com’s most glaring shortcomings is a significant number of typographical errors and misspellings, including names of prominent people, battles, and cities. A main purpose of the site is to push sales of the company’s products; most pages contain advertising and links to the company’s ordering information. The interface is a bit disorganized and confusing, and the layout of the main pages is amateurish. Improvements could be made with an eye toward readability.

The site is being updated. The primary source documents in “Today (1974-2002)” include George W. Bush’s speech on the Columbia disaster, his 2003 State of the Union speech, and Colin Powell’s response to Hans Blix’s report to the United Nations on Iraq. However, at the time of this review, under Iraq in the “Nation-by-Nation” section, the only two “News” links are to CNN stories from 2000, one of which describes the opening of an Internet café in Baghdad.

Overall, the site is a useful research tool for younger students and teachers. Its main attraction for librarians will likely be the collection of source documents, but this is not comprehensive and should be treated with some caution.—Mark A. Stoffan, University of North Carolina-Asheville, mstoffan@bulldog.unca.edu