History


"American History Online"
http://longman.awl.com/history/home.htm
Educational publisher Longman(an imprint of Addison Wesley Longman) has taken full advantage of the Web by using it both to promote their American history textbooks and to create a database that builds on those texts with interactive practice tests, downloadable maps, primary sources, activities and extensive links to other sites on the Web. A well-designed interface and good search engine make the database easy to navigate and the result is an excellent resource for anyone with an interest in American history--even if they aren't teachers--and a bonanza for students who may need some guidance when searching for material online. (Vol. 2 No. 2, Spring '98)

"History Computerization Project"
http://www.history.la.ca.us/history
The Regional History Center of the University of Southern California and the Los Angeles City Historical Society are building a history information network for the exchange of information between historians, libraries, archives, museums and historical societies. The project employs the History Database program, running on IBM PC compatible computers. The History Computerization Project data will be posted on the Internet, so that those who use the History Database program for their own cataloging or individual research will be able to exchange records with the master database. A free, printed History Database Tutorial can be requested online. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"Center for History and New Media"
http://www.gmu.edu/chnm
The "Center For History and New Media" was established in the fall of 1994 as a collaboration between George Mason University, the American Social History Project, and the Center for Media and Learning at the City University of New York. Among the works created by the center is the CD-ROM "Who Built America?," published by The Voyager Company. The center's website is a useful resource for everybody interested in the relationship between history and new media--the ways in which new technologies challenge us to rethink the research, writing, and teaching of history. Visitors to the site will find information on CD-ROMs, websites, and software, as well as essays on history and new media, and online syllabi and courses. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"National Security Archive"
http://www.seas.gwu.edu/nsarchive/
"The National Security Archive," located in Washington DC, has grown since its inception in 1985 to its current position as the world's largest non-governmental library of declassified documents. It is an unparalleled resource for scholars and anyone interested in the incredible amount of history that can be interpreted from original type documents marked by handwritten notes. The site provides easy access to a number of highlights of the collection, a searchable database, and its most sought-after artefacts: the photographs and documents surrounding the meeting of Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)

"Regarding Vietnam: Stories Since the War"
http://www.pbs.org/pov/stories/
"I want to create spaces for people to think without telling them what to think," Maya Lin, the artist who conceived the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, once said. This site was inspired by her work and developed in conjunction with the PBS broadcast of the Academy Award-winning film about her life. Produced by P.O.V. Interactive in association with PBS Online, the site is intended as a forum for dialogues about the Vietnam War's legacy. The stories posted here have all been hyperlinked, and visitors can contribute to them. "Stories since the War" thus effectively creates a space for dialogue and controversy, and the stories are evolving into an open-ended narrative. (Vol. 1 No. 9, January '97)

"Thomas Jefferson"
http://www.pbs.org/jefferson
Designed as a supplement to Ken Burns' documentary on Jefferson, this site--produced by Corbis in association with PBS Online--has much more to offer than just promotion for the film: visitors may access background information on the making of the documentary (incl. transcripts of 24 interviews conducted for it), a section on Jefferson's life and legacy, an archive of Jefferson's writings as well as a special area featuring materials for teachers and students. (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)


Humanities


"The Stanford Electronic Humanities Review"
 http://shr.stanford.edu/shreview/index.html
"The Stanford Humanities Review" has been providing an interesting forum for everybody involved in the diverse field of the humanities for some time. The SHR is now trying to increase and enrich the dialogue by making that forum electronically accessible. Several issues are up on the virtual shelf, among them "Constructions of the Mind: Artificial Intelligence and the Humanities," a stimulating inquiry into the possibility of using computational models to gain a better understanding of the mind and humanity at large. The articles in this particular issue deal with artificial intelligence as art or philosophical project, as well as topics such as "The man-machine and artificial intelligence" and "AI and the Structure of Knowledge." (Vol. 1 No. 9, January '97)


Information for Educators


"ARNOLD"
 http://arnold.snybuf.edu/
The Academic Resource Network On-Line Database AKA ARNOLD is a useful service for faculty, administrators and staff in higher education. ARNOLD is designed to assist individuals in finding academic partners for collaboration in instructional and research projects, or in locating partners with similar credentials for a temporary exchange of employment sites. (Responsibility for finalizing arrangements--exchange, collaboration or employment--are between the two parties involved.) ARNOLD is a program of the Academic Resource Network in collaboration with Buffalo State College and the Research Foundation of the State University of New York. The program also offers assistance in identifying employment opportunities. Until January 1, 1997, there's no user fee for ARNOLD, so take advantage of this freebie. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)

"EPICenter"
http://www.epicent.com
The Education Process Improvement Center supplies schools with methodologies to improve both their curriculum development processes and their administrative functions. The site provides information on the "Curriculum Improvement Model" and the "Management Improvement Model" as well as information on educational software and on the latest research in the effective use of technology for education. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"Florida A&M University College of Education"
http://www.famu.edu/ced/index.htm
At its website, the college lists two reasons for existing: "(1) it assumes leadership responsibility for the selection, guidance, and professional preparation of students who will teach in the elementary and secondary schools of Florida and the nation; and (2) it provides an adequate foundation for advanced study for students to continue their education preparation." This is a new site that does a great job of expressing enthusiasm and pride in the school's mission and its accomplishments. It's a great change from institutional sites that frequently seem to downplay the importance of people. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"H-NET Humanities Online"
http://h-net2.msu.edu/
This is an outstanding resource for scholars to communicate with peers in subject-oriented discussions by way of e-mail. Discussion groups--or "lists"--are monitored to keep up the quality and filter out flames. Many of the lists featured at the site are connected with sponsoring professional groups. H-Net is international, with participants from over seventy nations. This is an easy way for people with little technical knowledge beyond how to use e-mail and a web browser to get started with the Internet; they can quickly turn their computer into a gateway to a breadth of scholarly discussions comparable to the range Dante imagined being available to Virgil. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"InSITE"
http://teach.virginia.edu/insite
This site maintained by the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) is dedicated to exploring ways in which the Internet can benefit teacher education programs around the world. It provides access to a comprehensive list of sites for teacher educators, technology coordinators, and other educational professionals. It also features links to professional organizations as well as to electronic journals and publications for teacher educators. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"NASSP--National Assoc. of Secondary School Principals"
http://www.nassp.org
The website of NASSP is designed to provide information for all leaders in middle level and high school education. It's a very useful resource for everybody involved in this level of education, offering a well-organized directory of various services--ranging from assistant principal and career services, and convention, meeting and travel services, to editorial and legal services and corporate and international partnerships. The Department of Student Activities (DSA) of the NASSP sponsors a variety of programs for students and advisers in secondary schools nationwide. The website is a very good place to go for orientation about existing programs and contact information. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"National Center for Education Statistics"
http://www.ed.gov/NCES/
Statistics remain a recurrent source of knowledge about which way to go. Where to go for statistics regarding education in the US is this site, run by the US Department of Education. The design of this site is friendly to people who need quick information: the site includes a section labeled "Education at a Glance," which provides statistical snapshots of education in the U.S. according to a number of influential factors. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"National Library of Education"
http://www.ed.gov/
This site is the U.S. Education Department's official site for providing educational resources addressing the K12 age group. Forget whatever you might expect in the way of government inefficiency, this site has justly gained high points for being well-organized and inclusive. One of the site's most attractive features is a clickable U.S. map, allowing visitors to find educational resources in their own location. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"National Middle School Association"
http://www.nmsa.org/
A high level of talented thinking about design has gone into this association's website. The association's accomplishments listed at the site include becoming an "umbrella organization" intended for "all professionals and person interested in the developmental and educational needs of young adolescents." The site is a good source of information about the association, its activities and history. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)

"Web Sites and Resources for Teachers"
http://www.csun.edu/~vceed009/
This is a great example of what just two people dedicated to offering something of value on the Web can do. Two professors of elementary education at California State University, Northridge, Dr. Vicki F. Sharp and Dr. Richard M. Sharp, have pooled together their knowledge of resources on the Web that may be of value to K12 educators and for kids. One resource that is available here is a database serachable by subject of lesson plans; a teacher looking for a way to structure a class on creative writing, for example, can find the outline of such a structure by visiting this site. (Vol. 1 No. 4, July/August '96)


Information Technology


"AgentNews"
http://www.cs.umbc.edu/agents/agentnews/
If you want to find out more about the (secret) life of intelligent agents, search no more. "AgentNews" is an electronic newsletter published at the UMBC Lab for Advanced Information Technology and edited by Tim Finin. The webletter provides information about the development of Internet and related agent technologies, the newest agents on the Web and agent events. (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)

"Center for Intelligent Information Retrieval"
http://ciir.cs.umass.edu/
The CIIR-located at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst-is funded by the National Science Foundation to develop tools for access and analysis of text and multimedia databases throughout businesses and government. Some of the areas of investigation at the Center include 3D interfaces, translingual retrieval, image retrieval by appearance and the indexing of images and text. Its INQUERY full text retrieval system is used by the U.S. government to provide Internet access to Congressional documents as well as the multimedia American Memory collections of the Library of Congress. Project demos at the site give visitors an insiders' preview of how we may soon think of information in entirely different forms. (Vol. 2 No. 2, Spring '98)

"CITI"
http://www.citi.columbia.edu
Founded in 1983, The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI) is an independent university-based research center focusing on strategy, management, and policy issues in telecommunications, computing, and electronic mass media. At its site, CITI provides access to "The Virtual Institute of Information" featuring a Press Room, communication news, a searchable database of papers as well as discussion forums and a job board. CITI considers research collaboration among academic, corporate, and public sectors as vital to analyzing the complex problems associated with managing communications systems, and their site is a good place to start networking. (Vol. 1 No. 8, December '96)

"Digital Media"
http://www.lib.uiowa.edu/gw/comm/digitalmedia/
The "Digital Media" pages of the University of Iowa are an excellent directory covering topics ranging from hypertext, cybernetics, and cyborgs to virtual realities and digital communities. Visitors will find information on multimedia production, networks and industry, as well as critical theory and links to zines and related resources. The directory may be selective, but it is a good place to start a critical exploration of digital media. (Vol. 2 No. 1, Fall '97)

"First Monday"
http://www.firstmonday.dk/
The medium quite literally is the message here: "First Monday" is a peer-reviewed online journal about the Internet, publishing original articles about the Global Information Infrastructure. "First Monday" is worth a bookmark for everybody interested in general issues surrounding the Net. The journal appears in three formats: as an electronic mail posting from the "First Monday" Listserver, at their website--where you'll find all the back issues plus additional files and text--and as an annual CD-ROM containing all articles published in a given year. If you want to use "First Monday" online you must key in a user name, your e-mail address, and choose a keyword. (Vol. 1 No. 8, December '96)


"The Noam Chomsky Archive"
http://www.worldmedia.com
"The Noam Chomsky Archive" is brought to you by New World Media, a service inspired by the works of Noam Chomsky and dedicated to building a digital infrastructure for global social information sharing. The online archive includes a large selection of Chomsky's articles and interviews (some of them available in RealAudio) as well as excerpts from his books. Also available at the site is the companion book to the award-winning film "Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media;" users can scroll through the script and listen to RealAudio files (so far, sections I and II are complete). (Vol. 2 No. 1, Fall '97)


International Studies


"Cold War International History Project"
http://cwihp.si.edu/default.htm
As part of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C., CWIHP provides public access through this site to historical materials pertaining to the Cold War as well as new information recently obtained from the former Communist bloc. A simple registration procedure is required in order to enter the library and discussion groups but once access is obtained, the interface is extremely efficient and documents are easily located by using a variety of index "views" (keyword, subject, year, etc.) or the site's search engine. The subject matter may be too specific for the general public but anyone with even a casual interest in Cold War politics will find this site of great value. (Vol. 2 No. 2, Spring '98)

"The Human Rights Library"
http://www.umn.edu/humanrts/
The University of Minnesota Human Rights Center has developed a vast online library of materials on human rights. The searchable archive includes U.N. documents, U.S. human rights documents, regional materials--e.g., from the African Human Rights Resource Center, the European and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights-- materials on asylum and refugee issues, bibliographies as well as a section on human rights education. (Not all of the documents are available in English.) (Vol. 2 No. 1, Fall '97)

"Praxis"
http://caster.ssw.upenn.edu/~restes/praxis.html/
Maintained by Prof. Richard J. Estes of the University of Pennsylvania, "PRAXIS" is a directory of links that provides access to an impressive array of archival resources on international and comparative social development. "PRAXIS" focuses on the promotion of positive social change through informed action and has been specifically designed to meet the informational needs of social work educators and students with international interests. It is a tremendous resource for everybody requiring assistance in locating national and international reference material on social and economic development. (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)


Internet Culture


"Net Wars"
http://www.nyupress.nyu.edu/netwars.html
Not many book publishers have jumped at the chance to give their products away for free on the Internet. But NYU Press has taken the plunge and presents as its first offering "Net.Wars" by Wendy M. Grossman simultaneously in print and online. The author, who also writes for Wired Magazine, is well-versed in the more arcane aspects of net culture--from copyright conflicts to free speach and encryption debates. The site is well-designed and easy to use, if a bit too print-inspired. Traditional page-length texts and the lack of a search function make reading the entire book online or printing it out inconvenient, so in the end interested readers would probably opt for the print version anyway (which, conveniently, may be ordered from the publisher). Reader feedback and responses by the author as well as outside links to the Web where appropriate are some of the benefits of the site. Whether this initial foray will lead to more books being made available for free, or whether it signals the testing of a pay-for-view approach to reading online once the technology is in place is yet to be determined.