D:\SUNEEL\C.R.L.N\VOL 55\DECEMBER\000\1.pdf


744/C&RL News

Internet
Reviews

Sa ra  A m ato, editor

U.S. E n viron m en ta l 
Protection Agency (E PA ).
Access: gopher: //gopher. 
epa.gov; http: //www .epa. 
g o v ; ftp: //ftp .e p a .g o v .
Owner: Operated by the Na­
tional Data Processing Divi­
sion o f the Environmental 
Protection Agency. Contact:
John Shirey, internet_sup 
port@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov.

The EPA has developed 
a set o f pilot public servers 
for gopher, WWW, ftp, and 
WAIS clients, in order to dis­
seminate agency information to the genera
public. A considerable number o f full-text file
are available, though this represents but a smal
portion o f the EPA-produced printed document
found in depository libraries. Among the mos
useful text files are excerpts from the Federa
Register related to the environment (as recen
as yesterday’s publication), and transcripts o
speeches and press releases by the agency an
other government officials (such as Clinton’
Earth Day speech).

Several other gopher menu categories in
clude a smattering o f reports on topics such a
solid waste, UV radiation, and recycling. Th
Toxic Release Inventory tables, which provid
important data on hazardous substances, mus
be downloaded, uncompressed, and viewe
with a spreadsheet. Although few  items ar
present in some menus, the breadth o f catego
ries and the newness o f the server promise sig
nificantly more material in the future.

Information about the agency itself is quit
useful. Contact names and addresses are pro
vided for many national and regional office
and programs. Descriptions o f grants and con
tracts include a number o f Requests for Pro
posals and examples o f how to submit propos
als to the agency. Additionally, a number o
reports delineate the initiatives and policies th
EPA plans to pursue over the next several years

The EPA servers show  signs o f  bein
thoughtfully installed. The menu structure i
clear, and contents files and “metadata records
give overviews o f most categories. Respons
time via the gopher server is excellent, but th

Sara Amato is systems librarian at Willamette Univer­
sity, Salem, Oregon; e-mail: samato@willamette.edu

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W W W  server is s lo w e d  
down by excessive graphics. 
The intended audience is 
obviously varied, as consum­
ers, businesses, and re­
searchers all have items of 
interest here. Overall, this 
site provides a good sam­
pling o f very recent agency 
material and should supple­
ment an academic library’s 
documents depository col­
lection .— Christopher W. 
Nolan, Trinity University, 
cnolan@trinity.edu

A u stra lia n  N a tio n a l U n iversity  
ArtServe. Access: http: //rubens.anu.edu.au. 
Contact: Michael Greenhalgh, gremarth@ 
fac.anu.edu.au.

The Australian National University’s ArtServe 
is fascinating to explore. Users find digitized 
images for nearly 10,000 artworks along with 
presentations on architectural topics and ac­
cess to 13 W W W  databases on related cultural 
topics. Librarians, scholars, and patrons will find 
this resource useful for reference work, schol­
arship, and browsing as well as a wonderful 
introduction to the possibilities o f such tech­
nologies. Access to ArtServe via W W W  on 
Mosaic is straightforward. Telnet access through 
a public W W W  point is available but slow with 
no ability to view images. Navigation through 
the files presents few difficulties due to excel­
lent organization.

The thumbnail images include 2,800 repro­
ductions o f prints produced from the 15th cen­
tury through the end o f the 19th century and 
2,500 images o f classical architecture and ar­
chitectural sculpture originating from the Medi­
terranean area. By January 1995 the file will 
obtain an additional 3,000 images o f European 
sculpture and architecture from classical times 
through the 19th century. Print images are ac­
cessible through indexes covering artist, sub­
ject, and technique. The sole difficulty encoun­
tered was viewing text for the print’s history 
without images. Also available is a matching 
file for Islamic architecture covering building 
type and site with images and by country and 
site with and without images.

Accompanying these sources are four text 
and image presentations on the Palace o f

http://www.epa
ftp://ftp.epa.gov
mailto:port@unixmail.rtpnc.epa.gov
mailto:cnolan@trinity.edu
mailto:samato@willamette.edu