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Brave the Wave: Using the Internet for Student Research
Elizabeth Saliba
Federal Documents Librarian
Mesa Public Library
Kellie
Shoemaker
Young Adult Librarian
Mesa Public Library
Copyright 1997, Elizabeth Saliba and Kellie Shoemaker. Used with permission.
Abstract
This paper offers practical help to the busy professional who lacks the
time to search the Internet for authoritative and appropriate
information. The intended audience for this presentation ranges from
upper elementary to junior college school librarians, public librarians,
and teachers who are interested in using the Internet to help students
with reports and homework assignments. The focus is on hard-to-find
information, and the factors that were considered in selecting the sites
were currency, availability, reading level, language, source reliability
and subject popularity. All the sites that were selected for the
presentation were evaluated by librarians who work in a large public
library, using guidelines established by professional sources.
Introduction
The Internet is not an easy tool to use at a reference desk. While
offering seemingly limitless information, search results are not always
comprehensive, readily found, or easily validated . Speed of connectivity
and a lack of organization also present challenges. However, what makes
it worthwhile in the reference arsenal are the benefits it offers over
traditional sources: breadth (not aways depth), currency, statistics, and
primary sources. Consequently, a busy library must determine how to use
the net's strengths without being snared in its problems. One answer is
to impose a structure based on your organization's reference needs.
At the Mesa Public Library, a large public library system serving 300,000
people, we determined that students would be a perfect target group for
Internet use . These patrons often present the greatest challenges to
both adult and youth services reference staffs. Many students are
assigned the same topics at the same time, and their research often
requires numerous sources in different formats. Because of this, students
often encounter significant obstacles to completing their work. Materials
are frequently checked-out, current information may not yet be published,
and budgetary restrictions can limit collections, especially at branch
libraries.
To assist librarians, we compiled a comprehensive hypertext
bibliography covering the most common and frustrating questions posed by
students. Three steps were involved in compiling these internet
resources: assessing which subjects to cover, searching for sites, and
evaluating those sites for inclusion in the bibliography.
Assessment
The subjects included below were selected after surveying reference and
youth services librarians in the Mesa Public Library system. They were
asked to list topics that students commonly needed but were unable to
obtain due to high demand, specialized subject matter or limited
availability. Some subjects that fit these guidelines are not included
in this list, however, because we could not find an adequate resource on
the web. Dinosaurs, marine life, the Vietnam and Revolutionary wars, and
adoption are a few examples of subjects for which we could not obtain
comprehensive, informative web sites. In most cases, we attempted to
locate "one-stop" resources - web pages that provided a wide scope for
the topic covered, but we often list more than one citation for each area
because each site added a little something that the others lacked.
Searching
Our research required many hours using search engines, virtual library
links, and specialized online subject bibliographies. We also used web
evaluation tools, including books like Internet Kids Yellow
Pages (Polly, 1996) and Internet 101: a College Student
Guide (Glossbrenner, 1996) as well as online sites like Cyberhound
and Lycos' Five Star Sites. Search engines and subject bibliographies were
the most helpful in assessing sites. Most evaluation tools available on
the internet itself were not helpful, since they frequently overrate
colorful sites while neglecting less visually interesting pages containing
more substantive information.
Evaluation
It seems as though everyone has a web site these days. There are pages
for businesses, the government, organizations, associations, universities
and your next-door neighbor who wants to show off his new car. How does
an information professional decide which internet sites offer helpful and
accurate information for the student who needs it? In many cases, the
criteria used to evaluate web resources is the same that is used to judge
reference materials, but the very nature of the internet makes evaluating
it as a reference source difficult and time-consuming. Many sites don't
list the author, let alone the sources used to compile the page or the
organization that sponsors it. At the same time, the ease and
accessibility of the web make it an exciting and innovative resource for
information that has not previously been available to the vast majority
of us.
First of all, it's important to emphasize the need for knowledgeable
professionals to evaluate internet resources. The quantity of sites
alone, estimated to be anywhere from 400,000 to over one million, makes
it necessary to sift, deselect and choose the most likely-looking
candidates from any hit list. This can take hours using different search
engines and search terms, pursuing links, and reading lists. In his
article, "Beyond Cool: Analog Models for Reviewing Digital Resources,"
James Rettig concludes that the reviews and relevancy rankings many
search engines and directories provide is uneven and superficial, based
mostly on levels of "coolness," which is usually not defined (1996).
Print review sources provide good information about web resources, but
the number of available reviews falls far below the number of sites that
need evaluation. Children and young adults are even more short-changed.
The review sources for youth generally discuss fun, unusual or "cool"
sites without considering the helpfulness for their research and homework
needs.
As stated earlier, most web sites are reviewed with the same criteria
used to evaluate print materials, with some modifications to allow for
the importance that graphics, access and ease-of-use have for this
particular medium. Boyd Collins summarizes these criteria in six
standards that have been developed for his reviewing of internet
sources: content, authority, currency, organization, search engine, and
accessibility (1996). Carolyn Caywood also judges web sites with these
criteria but groups them in three general areas: access, design and
content. Caywood, however, allows for more flexibility by stating that
"few sites meet all criteria, so the benefits must be weighed against the
lacks" (1996). It is certainly true that we demand more from the
internet than it is able to provide, so "good" sites are simply the best
we can find on a needed subject at the time.
The wonders of cyberspace lead to a discussion of the many possibilities
inherent in the medium itself and how this impacts the criteria used in
reviewing internet sites. In the past, publishers served as gatekeepers
of information because they decided how, when, and even if materials
would be published. Authors were screened, books were edited and
reviewed and articles were given to peers to be checked before they were
even available for the general public to review. The internet has
changed the way we get our information because authors can now bypass
publishers and reviewers, making their ideas, views and opinions
available to us all. Although this, in fact, is what makes evaluating
web resources all the more necessary, it brings up an interesting element
to the reviewing: alternative viewpoints. Whether these are minority
voices, revisionist history proponents, religious zealots, left-wing
militants, or cultural elitists, they contribute much to a free exchange
of ideas in our diverse society. The Native American and Social Problems
are two examples of areas that have typically been censored or
misunderstood in the publishing world. They are also some of the most
needed subjects for student research. See each section for a detailed
description of the special challenges in evaluating them.
When we selected the sites to help with students' research questions, we
primarily looked at several criteria: content, authority, currency,
organization, search engine, accessibility, graphics, and extra features
on the site (see Appendix A). Not every site fit every one of the
components, but we tried to find the best site possible for each subject
listed. We divided the subjects into twelve general categories:
Careers, Geography, Government, History, Literature, Mathematics,
Medicine, Native Americans, News, Science, Social Issues and Statistics.
The sites were selected and intended for students in upper elementary
grades through junior college for use with homework and research needs.
Internet Sites for Student Research
Careers
Most career sites on the internet focus on resumes, career guidance and
job searching, but these give helpful summaries of specific careers that
students need for reports.
- 1996-97 Occupational Outlook Handbook
- {http://www.bls.gov/oco/}
The first choice for government information about a variety of careers.
- About Work: Career Database
- {http://www.aboutwork.com/career/alphasearch.html}
Whatisit like to be an accountant or a baseball player? Find out on this
site, which provides plenty of careers to choose from.
- JobSmart--Specific Career Information
- {http://www.jobstar.org/tools/career/spec-car.cfm}
Links to internet sites for specific career guides. Some are more useful than others, but the variety of jobs is good.
- Michigan Occupational Information System - Careers by
Cluster
- {http://isd.ingham.k12.mi.us/mois/clusters.htm}
Similar to the OOH, but this has some careers not listed there, including
many unusual jobs.
Geography
Our goal in isolating sites was finding the most comprehensive single
site for a topic. If this was impossible, we attempted to locate a
combination of sources which provided balance to the subject. An example
of this is found in the "Geography" category. Here, the different sources
provide complementary information on countries, which should yield
comprehensive reports. Background Notes and World Information (which
links to the CIA's World Factbook), provide current and concise
governmental, economic, and social information. In comparison, the
Library of Congress's Country Studies are compiled by scholars and
contain in-depth information regarding history, societal, and political
structure for more than 70 countries. Under the category "Culture",
Berkeley Public Library's links are a good place to investigate the
religion, social customs and arts of a particular region. Global
Gastronomy produced by Yale University provides direct access to
information on food and recipes for most nations. Finally, the Census
International Database provides demographic and socio-economic statistics
for countries of the world. The Census Bureau compiled information from
various governments' censuses and surveys in providing current, historic
and future population counts.
Christmas Around the World
- Yahoo!- Christmas:Christmas Around the World
- {http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Holidays_and_Observances/Christmas/Christmas_Around_the_World/}
Some useful links can be found here, especially the "Christmas 'round the
World" site.
Cities
- Arizona Dept. of Commerce- Community Profiles
- {http://www.commerce.state.az.us/fr_comm.shtml}
These 1-2 page reports describe the economy, history, population, and
scenic attractions of the cities around Arizona.
- County and City Data Book
- {http://www.census.gov/stat_abstract/ccdl.html}
Provides lists of city rankings based on population, housing, poverty
level, education, etc.
- Excite City.Net
- {http://www.city.net/}
A comprehensive site for cities of the world with a population of 100,000 or more.
- Visit a City with CityLink
- {http://usacitylink.com//visitcity.htm}
Here is a source which links to various cities' and chambers of commerce
homepages. The information presented complements the coverage of CityNet
and Arizona Community Profiles.
Countries
- Background Notes - US Dept. of State
- {http://www.state.gov/www/background_notes/index.html}
This source provides 3-5 pages of current demographic, political, historic, statistical and social information regarding various countries. Also available here are reports on global terrorism, human rights and international trade.
- Berkeley Public Library - Cultures
- {http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/bpl/bkmk/cultures.html}
Not just a culture stop, this site also provides excellent links to all
aspects of the typical country report: history, government, and current
events. Countries are indexed alphabetically past the "Cultures of the
World" section.
- Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments
- {https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/world-leaders-1/index.html}
Provides a list of current elected and appointed officials for various countries, including UN representatives and the US ambassador.
- Census International Database
- {http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbsum.html}
This is a source of demographic and socio-economic statistics for all countries of the world. The source combines country sources (censuses and surveys) with projections providing information from 1950-2050.
- Country Studies / Area Handbooks
- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html
These are indepth reports written by scholars at the Library of Congress
on various countries. Information includes extensive history, social
structure, religion, education and regional issues. The dates for these
publications run from 1988-present.
- Flags of all Countries
- {http://www.wave.net/upg.immigration/flags.html}
Full color illustrations of flags from every country.
- Foreign Governments
- { http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/internat/foreign.html}
This resource is maintained by ALA's GODORT International Documents Task Force and Northwestern University Library. It provides links to various governmental bodies for other countries.
- VirtualTourist II World Map
- {http://www.excite.com/travel/}
This is the map based interface to CityNet which is one of the most comprehensive regional information sources on the Web. By searching from the world map, one can obtain maps and information on government,culture, and tourism for different countries.
- Web of Culture
- {http://www.worldculture.com/index.html}
This site has some useful, hard-to-find country details on topics
such as currency, gestures and body language, travel advisories, as well
as links to other international WWW sites.
- World Information
- {http://www.classnet.com/world/}
This site contains links to World Factbook, world holidays, and a
"country" search mechanism.
Cultures
- All of the Embassies in Washington D.C.
- {http://www.embassy.org/embassies/}
Country reports often require a description of the country, including its culture and places of interest for tourists. Embassies are an excellent source for these questions, especially for smaller countries.
- Berkeley Public Library - Cultures
- {http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/bpl/bkmk/cultures.html}
After the first section "Cultures of the World", this site is indexed
alphabetically by country. It provides historical, governmental, and
general country information links.
- The Global Gastronomer - Cuisines of the World
- {http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/hupfer/global/gastronomer.html}
This source links to recipe sites around the world. For those country reports on Cameroon or Guyana, look no further.
- Yahoo!- Society and Culture:Cultures
- {http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Cultures_and_Groups/}
An extremely comprehensive source which provides links to many different cultures. It is indexed alphabetically by country and can provide 3-6 pages of information on such topics as traditions, history, music, and food.
Holidays
- World Holidays Calendar
- {http://www.classnet.com/holidays/}
This source will list the dates and major holidays for each country.
- Yahoo!- Society and Culture:Holidays
- {http://dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Holidays_and_Observances/}
A great spot for information on the traditions and history of various holidays including Cinco de Mayo, Christmas, and Chinese New Years.
International Organizations
- Background Notes - US Dept. of State
- {http://www.stat.gov/www.background_notes/index.html}
Background Notes can provide information on international organizations
such as the United Nations, Organization of American States, and more.
- Multinational Organizations
- {http://www-lib.ipfw.indiana.edu/pirs/international/Multinational.html}
Provides information on G7 countries, Organization of American States,
and more.
- Northwestern Library's International Organizations
- {http://www.library.northwestern.edu/govpub/resource/internat/igo.html}
A comprehensive set of links to various significant political, economic, social and health organizations. This is definitely the place to start when looking for information about a particular organization.
Maps
- How Far Is It?
- http://www.indo.com/distance/
Calculates the distance between places worldwide.
- National Geographic Map Machine
- {http://www.nationalgeographic.com/resources/ngo/maps/}
A decent source for country and state maps but requires a laser printer for clarity when copying.
States
- State Search- Sponsored by NASIRE
- {http://www.nasire.org/ss/index.html}
Provides links to many states' homepages. Also allow access to available
state laws.
- Statistical Abstract of the U.S.
- {http://www.census.gov/statab/www/}
Provides some state rankings regarding population, health, education, social statistics.
- Yahoo!- Government:U.S. States
- {http://dir.yahoo.com/Government/U_S__Government/State_Government/}
A great place to start looking for state government information. Contains links to various state governments' information sites.
History
Good overviews of historical periods are hard to find on the internet,
but specific topics are easier with search engines. Wars, either world
or American, tend to focus on comrade searches or specific battles, which
is why only the Civil War is included below. The US Civil War Center
site has organized links for every aspect of the war, which makes it
ideal for students with a wide variety of assignments. There are a few
commercial sites included because they provide solid overviews of
selected subjects.
Ancient Egypt
- Ancient Egypt--Culturenet
- {http://www.idsc.gov.eg/culture/index.htm}
Covers most aspects of ancient Egypt, including pyramids, religion,
education, art, hieroglyphics and artifacts.
- NOVA Online/Pyramids/Table of Contents
- {http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/textindex.html}
Cool graphics (including diagrams and tours inside the different pyramids) and lots of solid information on pyramids, hieroglyphs and ancient Egypt.
Ancient Greece
- MEDEA, THE MUSICAL - Greek / Attic / Hellenic Links
- {http://www.webcom.com/shownet/medea/grklink.html}
Numerous links to ancient world, including Greece, divided into categories. Areas of special note: classical maps, museum collections,
literature and mythology.
- The Ancient Greek World Index
- http://www.museum.upenn.edu/Greek_World/Index.html
Daily life, economy, time periods, religion and mythology, athletics,
death, and nice graphics of life in ancient Greece.
Black History
- African American Pamphlets Home Page
- http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html
Primary documents spanning 100 years from the early 1800s through the
early 1900s. Language barriers make this more appropriate for high school
and college students.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University
- {http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/}
Solid biographical information mixed with King's writings and civil rights work. Helpful links to other black history sites, too.
- Slave Narratives
- {http://vi.uh.edu/pages/mintz/primary.htm}
Riveting first-hand accounts of slaves in the United States -- the writings of Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman are included.
- The African-American Mosaic
- http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html
Lengthy articles and original documents dealing with colonization,
abolition, migration and the WPA.
- The Faces of Science: African Americans in the Sciences.
- {http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/}
Mathematicians, inventors, geneticists and oceanographers are just a few of the categories featured here. Both historical and contemporary biographies are included, some with pictures.
Civil War
- The US Civil War Center
- { http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/}
Hundreds of links to civil war information grouped by subject. Short
biographies, flags, battles (by state), and three pages of general
information links are included.
Colonial America
- An Outline of American History -- The Colonial Period
- {http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/chap1}
12 chapters with information and illustrations. Links to maps and related
terms and people are included.
- Colonial Williamsburg Almanack
- {http://www.history.org/almanack.htm}
Biographies, trades and crafts, religion, food and other aspects of
colonial life are explored here. Excellent graphics!
- Plymouth: Its History and People
- {http://Pilgrims.net/plymouth/history/}
Information on Plymouth, the Mayflower, pilgrims, and biographical sketches of influential colonial people.
General
- HyperHistory
- http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/History_n2/a.html
Good source for world history, timelines, people (with some portraits),
maps, events, wars and more.
- Index of Resources for History
- {http://www.gzg.fn.bw.schule.de/faecher/links/ressourc.htm}
More than 1700 links to history sites, arranged alphabetically by subject and name.
- Notable Citizens of Planet Earth
- {http://www.tiac.net/users/parallax/}
Contains short biographical entries on over 18,000 people from ancient to
modern times. Can be searched using keywords, dates or name variations.
- US Historical Documents
- {http://www.law.uoknor.edu/ushist.html}
Documents include charters, constitutional items, biographies,
proclamations, treaties, and inaugural addresses, arranged chronological
by century.
Holocaust
- Holocaust Glossary: Terms, Places and Personalities
- {http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/resources/glossary/index.html}
Short definitions of important Holocaust terms.
- The Holocaust: a Historical Summary
- {http://www.cs.washington.edu/homes/tdnguyen/holocaust.txt}
This historical overview, from the Israel Information Office, provides
the context and background for studying the Holocaust.
- United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
- http://www.ushmm.org/
For good historical information, see "Learning About the Holocaust" on
the home page.
Middle Ages and Renaissance
- NetSERF
- {http://www.netserf.org/}
Has direct links to sites relating to medieval studies, with information
on architecture, literature, religion, music, law and art.
- Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc.
- http://www.sca.org/
See "Arts and Sciences," "Customs," and "Chivalrous Arts" for the most
information relating to the Middle Ages.
- Virtual Renaissance
- {http://www.twingroves.district96.k12.il.us/Renaissance/VirtualRen.html}
See the Renaissance world through the eyes of different characters in this fun and informative site. Produced by students and teachers with full bibliography provided.
Witchcraft
- Salem Witch Museum Education - Salem, Massachusetts
- {http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com/learn.html}
Historical information about the witch trials, Roger Conant and Salem.
- Salem Witch Trials Chronology
- {http://www.star.net/salem/memorial/default.htm}
Also see links to the Salem witch memorials for pictures and more
information.
Literature
Literature abounds on the Internet - and most of it can be downloaded
full-text! Criticism, biographies, author pages, comparisons, essays, and
more - and it's all relatively easy to find. We've isolated some of the
most comprehensive sites to help the most-often asked questions from all
ages of students.
General
- Beyond the MLA Handbook (Harnack/Kleppinger)
- {http://falcon.eku.edu/honors/beyond-mla/#citing_sites}
Gives the proper way to cite internet sources and CD-ROMs, including www,
gopher, ftp, and more.
- Book Stacks - Author's Pen
- {http://www.books.com/scripts/authors.exe}
Need information about authors who aren't in standard sources? This site
has links to more than 675 author pages.
- Campfire Stunt and Skit Book
- {http://www.melborponsti.com/scouts/skits/skitbook.htm}
Contains complete scripts to five pages of lists.
- Children's Authors & Illustrators, and their Books
- {http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~dkbrown/authors.html}
The place to start for children's literature studies, authors and resources on the web.
- Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature
- {http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3}
Author information, criticism and texts of novels, short stories and poetry from works written in English, including British, American, Australian, Irish, African and more. Spans medieval to contemporary literature.
Mythology and Folklore
- Bulfinch's 'The Age of Fable' - Table of Contents
- {http://www.bulfinch.org/}
The classic is now available on the internet -- with illustrations.
- Greek Mythology
- {http://www.intergate.net/uhtml/.jhunt/greek_myth/greek_myth.html}
Another source for Greek mythology, this site has smaller entries and fewer
illustrations, making it more concise and easier to use than some.
- Mythology, Folklore, and a little bit of Religion
- {http://www.su.swin.edu.au/~abaddon/myths2.html}
Links to everything -- grouped by country, region and theme, both for
general and specific sites.
- Of Gods and Men: the A to Z of Mythology and Legend
- {http://www.clubi.ie/lestat/godsmen.html}
Encyclopedia entries encompassing many cultures and stories, with some illustrations. Excellent site for Greek Mythology.
- The Encyclopedia Mythica
- {http://www.pantheon.org/}
Mythology, folklore, legends and more, with short entries.
Shakespeare
- Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
-
{http://www.palomar.edu/Library/shake.htm}
A guide to Shakespeare resources including biographical materials, his works in
full-text, criticism, the Renaissance, and Elizabethan performance.
Mathematics
Under the category " Mathematics", two sites help with a wide range of
typical questions - from fractions to calculus - based on grade level.
The History of Mathematics sponsored by the University of St. Andrews in
the United Kingdom is especially useful for the information on famous
mathematicians and common report subjects such as the history of prime
numbers or the development of pi.
General
- Ask Dr. Math
- {http://mathforum.org/dr.math/}
Indexes commonly asked math questions and answers by grade level: grade school, high school, and beyond. The information covers everything from fractions to calculus.
- Mathematics Archives WWW Server
- http://archives.math.utk.edu/index.html
This site offers a search mechanism by which one can enter keywords to
locate links to relevant sites. Each search result is designated by
information levels, from high school through college in assisting with
the ever-challenging math reference questions.
History
- History of Mathematics
- http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk:80/~history/
Sponsored by the University of St. Andrews in the United Kingdom, this
source provides a wealth of information on the subject of the history of
mathematics including basic subject such as pi and prime numbers. The
most helpful sections include the "history" and "biography" search
mechanisms.
Medicine
Medicine is a challenging topic for the nonscientist and young students
because the information generated, especially for uncommon conditions,
often is extremely technical. Under the "Medicine" in this bibliography,
some sites contain exclusively nontechnical sources, while others provide
a combination of basic and technical material. The disease sites include
three excellent links that often use simple language and trustworthy
sources in explaining concepts. Jonathan Tward's Multimedia Medical
Reference Library is a commercial site sponsored by a medical software
company and compiled by a physician. The indexing is facilitated by an
alphabetical index of medical categories and a general search mechanism
for the site. Searching under the heading "comprehensive information",
one can choose a category such as "infectious diseases" to investigate
frequent student topics on subjects such as cholera, hepatitis, and AIDS.
Furthermore, the information is provided by quality sources (medical
school, hospitals, and governmental departments of health) often on a
patient's reading level. The Kidshealth link is produced by a foundation
operating the DuPont Children's Hospital in Delaware. The site links to
fact sheets written for parents covering illnesses common to children (as
well as younger students' report topics), such as chickenpox, measles, and
ringworm. The World Health Organization complements the coverage of the
previous two sources by reporting information on emerging and communicable
diseases occurring internationally, such as the ebola virus or
diphtheria.
AIDS - General Info. & Statistics
- Center for Disease Control - AIDS/HIV
- {http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/dhap.htm}
An excellent source of current AIDS information including both statistics and general information. However, many files require Adobe Acrobat PDF reader which can be downloaded free from the Internet.
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease
- {http://www.niaid.nih.gov/publications/aidsfact.htm}
Provides good medical information on the subject of AIDS/HIV including vaccines, research, and treatment.
Dental Health
- American Dental Association
- {http://www.ada.org/public/index.asp}
Here are different articles dealing with general aspects of dental health such as nutrition, gum disease, and dental procedures.
- Healthtouch- Dental Health
- {http://www.healthtouch.com/bin/EContent_HT/SUB_HD.asp?goto_type=2x5-Grid&index=118165&title=Dental+Health&cid=HT}
This site describes general subjects from plaque to braces. Provides basic but useful information.
Diseases
- Internet Mental Health - Disorders
- {http://www.mentalhealth.com/p20-grp.html}
A comprehensive index of mental health disorders. Provides an in-depth definition, treatment, symptoms, fulltext article links and some pamphlets. On the average, this source can provide 3-5 pages of information for each illness.
- Jonathan Tward's Multimedia Medical Reference Library
- {http://www.med-library.com/}
Absolutely the best one stop research site when looking for information
on a particular disease. Select "comprehensive info," then "infectious
diseases" for an alphabetic list which contains links to good sources of
information. One could obtain 1-6 pages of information per topic.
- Kidshealth- Childhood Infections
- {http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/index.html}
This is a place which provides information on topics from measles to chickenpox. Most childhood illnesses are covered here.
- World Health Organization - Emerging & Communicable Diseases Surveillance and Control
- {http://www.who.int/csr/en/}
Describes various emerging and communicative diseases worldwide, such as AIDS, Hepatitis, Yellow Fever, Influenza. Covers different diseases than the WHO main menu.
- World Health Organization - Main Menu
- {http://www.who.int/whosis/}
Past the "general topics" section, this WHO site offers information on various "emerging" and tropical diseases.
Health
- Dept. of Agriculture - 1995 Dietary Guidelines for
Americans
- {http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/}
Provides the text of the nutritional guidelines produced by the Depts. of Agriculture and Health & Human Services. This site also links to other useful nutrition-oriented sites.
- Dept. of Health & Human Services Consumer Information
- {http://www.healthfinder.gov/}
This is a place which links to various health topics from AIDS to
mentalhealth. The sites to which it links are informational sources
within the federal government and will provide general and in many cases
statistical information on health subjects of interest to citizens.
- Mayo Clinic Library
- {http://www.mayohealth.org/mayo/common/htm/library.htm}
Basic fact sheets are provided by the Mayo Clinic on many general health issues regarding diet, exercise, and health care. [Broken link removed 4/10/01 but note that similar information is available at {http://www.mayoclinic.com/findinformation/diseasesandconditions/index.cfm}]
Physiological Effects
Another popular, yet challenging, report topic is drug abuse. Under the
"Medicine" category the comprehensive Web of Addictions links to fact
sheets on the physiological and psychological effects of various illicit
drugs produced by various reputable drug abuse organizations and research
institutes.
- Schick Shadel Hospital
- {http://aaw.com/schick/index.html}
Schick Shadel Treatment Center offers information on the many popular
drugs of abuse. Articles are thorough in discussing the symptoms and
consequences of abuse.
- Web of Addictions
-
http://www.well.com/user/woa/facts.htm
Contains fact sheets for drugs of abuse from the most esteemed
organizations such as the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the
Addictions Research Foundation. The primary focus is on the physiological
affects of drug use.
Tobacco/Nicotine
- Nicotine and Tobacco Network
- {http://www.ahsc.arizona.edu/nicnet/index.shtml}
This site provides links to information regarding the health
consequences of smoking. "Tobacco Library" is the best place to start.
Potential source of 5-10 pages of information on the subject.
Native American
Native American culture is not a recorded one; most materials on our
shelves are written by Anglos who have observed, studied or read about a
culture that is not their own. There are very few Native Americans who
have the credentials or the "authority" to write books about their own
culture, so traditionally we have had to rely on information that many
Indian tribes would not consider an accurate representation of their
histories. The internet has enabled this group of Americans to organize,
exchange and publish information about themselves, and the sites listed
below are good representatives of this process. Their "authorities" are
the tribes and people themselves. The Compact Histories site, for
example, routinely sends data to specific tribes for revision and accuracy
and invites visitors to the site to submit information for review .
- Compact Histories
- {http://www.tolatsga.org/Compacts.html}
Although this site is not complete, it provides lots of tribal history and culture. A good place to check first for Native American info.
- Indigenous Peoples' Literature
-
http://www.indians.org/welker/natlit2a.htm
Biographies and stories abound on this page -- along with many links to
North and South American Indian sites.
- Native American Home Pages
- {http://www.pitt.edu/%7Elmitten/indians.html}
Provides links to pages sponsored by each tribe or devoted to information
about the tribe.
News
- Christian Science Monitor
- {http://www.csmonitor.com/}
This site allows archival searching for those news events taking place
from the present through the past year. This is especially helpful in
covering the gap between standard CD-ROM periodical indexes and the
current week-only Internet coverage provided by the popular news services
(CNN, USA Today, etc.). The Monitor is best suited for events of
international significance.
- San Francisco Chronicle
- {http://www.sfgate.com/}
Here is where to locate news events of a national focus taking place from
the present back through the past year. Most of the stories covered take
place in California or the US. This, too, is helpful in covering the gap
between the current popular news sites which cover only the present week
and the CD-ROM or paper indexes, which can be six weeks to two months
behind.
