Philosophy


"Web Links in Philosophy"
http://www.umassd.edu/1Academic/CArtsandSciences/
Philosophy/PhilontheInternet.html
The University of Massachusetts created a page that features links to dozens of philosophy sites on the Web--among them The University of Chicago Philosophy Project and Waterloo's extensive list of websites--as well as to electronic philosophy texts (approximately fourty, from Aristotle to Thoreau). (Vol. 1 No. 1, April '96)

"The Study Place"
http://www.ilt.columbia.edu/academic/index.html
Deleuze & Guattari, not Plato, might be the first pick of many web-users who are also readers of philosophy, but this site takes the reasonable strategy of beginning its expanding archive with works by authors such as Aristotle and Rousseau. Part of what makes this site promising and already exceptional is that it appears to be driven by a "philosophy" about how philosophy can be presented at a website. The site is a project of the Institute for Learning Technologies at Columbia University.(Vol. 1 No. 4, July/August'96)


Photography


"Photoforum"
http://www.rit.edu/~andpph/photoforum.html
The Rochester Institute of Technology - School of Photographic Arts and Sciences hosts this email-based discussion list to serve the photographic and imaging communities and provides a databank of files covering a wide variety of related subjects. The website itself is a basic index with just the archives of the email list, a small revolving members gallery and a Web Bulletin Board for announcements. Though there is a great deal of useful information available at the site, it is probably more of a network to join and meet others than a quick resource for specific questions since there is no search engine and questions tend to be debated as much as answered. The list members include photography instructors and students, amateurs, and professionals, and there are also links to associations and institutions worldwide.


Physics


"Beam Line"
http://www.slac.stanford.edu/pubs/beamline/beamline.html
This site might be a valuable supplement to every particle physicist's reading list. "Beam Line" is a quarterly periodical of particle physics published by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. It is distributed free of charge. The last six issues of Beam Line can be downloaded from the website in PDF format. The download times are short (ca. 1-3 minutes), but the resource would be more user-friendly if one could take a look at the table of contents for each issue before starting the download. (Vol. 1 No. 10, February '97)

"Relativity Group"
http://jean-luc.ncsa.uiuc.edu/
This well-organized site presents work based on a collaboration between the NCSA/University of Illinois Relativity Group, led by Ed Seidel, and the Washington University Numerical Relativity Group, led by Wai-Mo Suen. The group uses supercomputers to study phenomena predicted by Einstein's Theory of General Relativity. The site features 11 basic areas, among them 'Group Projects,' 'Papers' (e.g. on black holes and gravitational waves), 'Movies' and 'Exhibits', including Spacetime Wrinkles, an extensive exhibit on Einstein. (Vol. 1 No. 2, May '96)


Psychology


"Psycoloquy"
http://www.princeton.edu/~harnad/psyc.html
"Psycoloquy"--sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA)--is an electronic journal covering topics ranging from all areas of psychology to cognitive science, neuroscience, AI, robotics/vision and more. The international, interdisciplinary journal publishes brief reports and peer commentary, as well as book reviews. Due to the wide range of topics, the content may seem to be eclectic at times; but since all target articles, commentaries and responses are accompanied by a short abstract and limited in length, this e-journal offers a good survey of the field and an effective gateway to interdisciplinary studies. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)


Reference


"Education Internet Guide: Sources for Theory, Practice, Teaching and Research"
http://www.library.usyd.edu.au
This guide from the University of Sydney Library in Australia is intended as a starting point for anyone who needs to identify resources on education on the Internet. The section titled "Using the Internet as a Research Tool" takes the user step-by-step through the often perplexing tangle of search engines, directories, conferences and forums and offers pointers on how to use them more effectively when conducting online investigations. As might be expected, the lists tend to be oriented to Australia and the UK but in general this is one of the most complete guides available for education and useful, too, for other areas of research. The interface may be confusing at first because of its depth but the site includes a text-based version as well as an Infoseek search engine for the Library itself and a comprehensive index of Internet search tools.

"Logos"
http://dictionary.logos.it/literature/literature.html
"You can tell a word by the company it keeps" is an appropriate motto for this site--"Logos" is a dictionary that allows users to look up words in their specific contexts. After receiving your query (word or phrase), "Logos" searches the Wordteque, a massive database containing multilingual novels, technical literature and translated texts and highlights hits in context windows that can be expanded up or down. By clicking on its title (displayed on top of the context window), users may also access the full text of the source. Since lack of context is what most dictionaries suffer from, this site is a useful supplement. (Vol. 1 No. 12, April/May '97)

"National Archives and Records Administration"
http://www.nara.gov/
This site offers a truly dazzling collection of material that can be downloaded. For the casual visitor, it offers well-organized exhibitions around specific themes, such as "Poster Art from World War II." It also contains searchable databases, and, of course, reproductions of famous United States documents. The site is proof again that experienced archivists often know best how to make this feature of the Web sing. (Vol. 1 No. 5, Sept. '96)

"NARA Archival Information Locator"
http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html
This prototype database of the holdings in the National Archives and Records Administration contains textual descriptions and digital images from NARA's vast and varied holdings of United States documents--more than 4 billion pieces of paper as well as sound recordings, films and video from the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the federal government. Although only a small percentage of the documents have been digitized, more material is added weekly. The multi-purpose search engine works well and search results indicate whether the digital record is available on-line. Recent uploads include photographs of salvage operations following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoons of Clifford K. Berryman.

"On-Line Reference Works"
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/Web/references.html/
This is your basic meat and potatoes kind of site, a hearty serving of links to your basic reference works on the Web: dictionaries, maps, directories, etc. Maintained by Carnegie Mellon University, this site has no graphics, just the links; modest and soft-spoken, it does its job well and deserves our tanks....we mean thanks. (Vol. 1 No. 3, June '96)

"A Web of Online Grammer"
http://www.bucknell.edu/~rbeard/grammars.html
Taking advantage of the Web's capacity to effectively link vast amounts of information, Robert Beard of Bucknell University has been assembling a directory of all types of grammars (reference, learning and historical), featuring links to online grammars of as many languages as can be found on the Web (including, e.g., Bengali, Kurdish, Samoan and Swahili). Grammars are selected for their accuracy or effectiveness for learning the language they describe. The site is a terrific resource, particularly for those who are doing comparative research and need quick access to resources on several languages (online dictionaries are also accessible from this site). (Vol. 1 No. 11, March '97)


Religion


"Cross Currents"
http://www.aril.org
The Association for Religion and Intellectual Life (ARIL) and its journal, Cross Currents, promote the belief that religious faith can and shall contribute to the common good. The mission of Cross Currents--calming the troubled waters of "that common sea, which is at once the source of life and the immensity in which we might drown"--may sound too "flowery" for some people, but the site is a very good gateway to information about world religions. ARIL has assembled and reviewed a collection of the religious sites on the Internet and provides access to information about world religions, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism and biblical resources. The online magazine features articles, book and movie reviews, as well as poetry and music. (Vol. 1 No. 6, October '96)


Science and Mathematics


"Explorations"
http://www.tc.cornell.edu/er96/science96/Explorations/
Explorations is an online science book created by Cornell Theory Center. Designed as an interactive journey into the world of computational research, it incorporates animations, images, and VRML files based on visualizations from IBM Data Explorer. The content is divided into the main categories "Above and Beyond," "Down to Earth," "Living Things" and "Practicle Particles." So far, there may be only two or three "entries" under each category--e.g. "Sounding Life at Sea" or "Catalyzing Chemistry"--but it is a site worth visiting: "Explorations" makes use of the Web's visual possibilities to explore the area of scientific visualizations. (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)

"Explorer"
http://unite.ukans.edu/
This site contains resources for K12 mathematics and science education. Lesson plans, lab activities and software are available. This is the kind of site whose simplicity of design will be appreciated by many potential users. It is currently under development jointly by the Great Lakes Collaborative and the University of Kansas UNITE group, with funding from U.S. Department of Education. (Vol. 1 No. 4, July/August '96)

"Notre Dame Science Quarterly"
http://www.nd.edu:80/~scienceq/
The range of topics make this an eclectic publication--"Prostate Cancer," "Why your CD-Player may sound so good," etc.--so the lack of hypertextual links within the articles to other relevant material is particularly unfortunate. Unless one's main interest is Notre Dame, it might be hard to know if what you're looking for is at this site... at least so far. (Vol. 1 No. 1, April '96)

"Observatorium"
http://observe.ivv.nasa.gov/
NASA's "Observatorium" is a public access site for Earth and space data, featuring "Tools & Data," games, and more. The "Exhibits" section focuses on planet earth, astronomy, and the technology behind space-based observations, covering topics such as "Spy Satellites" or "Remote Sensing in History." A particularly useful resource is the K-12 education section, which allows the user to search the material by five topics, including aeronautics, land, and water or by grade level. (Vol. 1 No. 9, January '97)

"Virtual Prof"
http://www.virtualprof.com/
Yet another extremely useful help-line on the Web: Real physics and chemistry professors offer real help in a virtual way--the special needs of (pre-)engineering and science majors and of pre-med students taking the required physics and chemistry courses are also addressed. By sending a free registration, users can access the office hours of the "Virtual Prof" and download sets of questions/problems and answers. Paid subscribers are offered one-on-one sessions in physics and chemistry with a professor at a pre-arranged time. (Vol. 1 No. 10, February '97)

"The Virtual Science and Mathematics Fair '95"
http://www.educ.wsu.edu/fair_95/
This site was developed by the College of Education at Washington State University and invites students, from elementary school through universities, to post their research and projects. Abstracts of the projects are linked to detailed descriptions and graphs. Visitors, peers and teachers are encouraged to leave comments and questions for authors on the bulletin board. Information on Fair '96 has been posted. (Vol. 1 No. 1, April '96)

"The Why Files"
http://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/
Funded by the National Science Foundation and maintained by the National Institute for Science Education, this site is an electronic exploration of the science behind the news. Twice a month, the site strives to explain in detail the role that science plays in events featured in the news. Designed for young students, it concentrates on sciences that explain "nature" not "society"--for the study of which the NSF had its budget cut. The site apparently includes a feature lacking from too many other sites: a regularly recurring input of new material. (Vol. 1 No. 5, Sept. '96)


Special Education


"The Alexander Graham Bell Asociation for the Deaf"
http://www.agbell.org
The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf is a nonprofit organization that in many ways seeks to be constructively involved with the lives of people who are deaf. Among the reasons it lists for its existence are: to "Encourage people who are deaf or hard of hearing to communicate by developing maximal use of residual hearing, speechreading, and speech and language skills" and "Provide inservice training for teachers of children who are deaf or hard of hearing." One of the hotlinks from the homepage of this very useful site is "Financial Aid." (Vol. 1 No. 7, November '96)


Urban Planning


"Urban Planning, 1794-1918: An International Anthology of Articles, Conference Papers, and Reports"
http://www.library.cornell.edu/Reps/DOCS/homepage.htm
A resource for the study of the development of urban planning through the end of World War I edited by John W. Reps, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University. Bibliographies and key word searches make the nearly 200 documents manageable for those doing professional research. For the non-professional, there are many unusual finds such as the utopian social planning proposed in "The Human Drift" (1894) by King Champ Gillette who later went on to invent the safety razor. Many of his ideas anticipated the urban strategies of Le Corbusier and the modern cityscape. (Vol. 2 No. 2, Spring '98)


U.S. History


"Civil Rights Oral History"
http://www-dept.usm.edu/~mcrohb
Staff members of the University of Southern Mississippi's Center for Oral History and Cultural Heritage and the Tougaloo College Archives created this bibliography of oral interviews that pertain to the Civil Rights movement in Mississippi between the years 1954 and 1972 and were deposited in various public archives. Entries are listed by interviewee's last name, collection/archive and subject--useful information for locating sources but not much use for basic student research. A very small number of interview transcripts are available at the site and their presence gives an indication of how valuable a resource this could become.

"United States Civil War Center"
http://www.cwc.lsu.edu/
Created in 1993 at Louisiana State University to meet the needs of all Civil War interests in the United States the Center's website has links to over 1500 related sites on the Internet. A keyword search engine also makes resources on the LSU database available. The declared goal to index all the Civil War links on the Internet is a boon to students, who should, however, be warned to question the authority of the resources they find since these are not under the editorial control of the University. Still, it is an invaluable resource--a Yahoo! for the Civil War--offering a helpful introduction for those doing genealogical research as well as a searchable database of Civil War cemeteries for those trying to verify the whereabouts of long-lost relations on both sides of the conflict.


Wildlife Conservation


"The Crater Mountain Project"
http://math240.lehman.cuny.edu:80/crater/
see article Vol. 1 No. 2, May '96


Women's Studies


"Emma Goldman Papers"
http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Goldman/
Since 1980, the Emma Goldman Papers Project--directed by Goldman biographer Dr. Candace Falk--has collected, organized, and edited tens of thousands of documents by and about Emma Goldman, a major figure in the history of American radicalism and feminism. Selections from this vast body of materials--which also provides insights into social and cultural movements in the late 19th and 20th century as well as documentation of government and press reactions to radicalism--are now available online. The website features excerpts from Emma Goldman's writings, sample documents from the book edition of "The Emma Goldman Papers," as well as historical photographs, personal letters, government documents and other memorabilia from the "Emma Goldman Papers Traveling Exhibition." (Vol. 1 No. 11, March '97)


Writing and Composition


"KAIROS: A Journal for Teachers of Writing in a Webbed Environment"
http://english.ttu.edu/kairos/
"Kairos"--sponsored by the Alliance for Computers and Writing and published 3 times a year--focuses specifically on the challenges of writing in hypertextual environments. The peer-reviewed online journal is designed as a resource for teachers, researchers and tutors of writing at the college and university level. The current issue features a series of reviews, suggestions, and commentary on the present and future(s) of MOO-based writing pedagogies, as well as features such as "Hypertext And/As Collaboration in the Computer-Facilitated Writing Classroom." "Kairos" is an excellent resource for anybody interested in hypertextual writing.(Vol. 1 No. 5, Sept. '96)

"Paradigm Online Writing Assistant"
http://www.idbsu.edu/english/cguilfor/paradigm/
Recently, many university writing centers have gone online, but most of them restrict their services to their own students. Thanks to "Paradigm"--an interactive, menu-driven online writer's guide and handbook--you can get easy access to useful help for free; "Paradigm" is designed for all writers, from inexperienced to advanced. It has been created and developed by Chuck Guilford, an associate professor of English at Boise State University, who has thirty years of experience teaching a variety of university level writing courses. The guide offers help for writing informal, thesis, exploratory and argumentative essays, as well as useful information on organizing, revising and editing your writing. (Vol. 1 No. 10, February '97)