ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


942 /  C&RL News ■  N ovem ber 2000

I n t e r n e t  R e v i e w s Joni Robertsand Carol Drost, editors

ARTFL P r o j e c t . Access: http://humanities. 
uchicago.edu/ARTFL/ARTFL.html.
Scholars in the humanities are often char­

acterized as reluctant to adapt to the increas­
ingly electron ic nature o f inform ation re­

sources, yet it seems clear 
that the Web offers the po­
tential for exciting new ap­
p ro a ch es to  sch olarship , 
particularly in textual analy­
sis. The ARTFL Project is an 
e x ce llen t exam ple o f  the 
power o f technology in en­

hancing scholarship in the humanities.
ARTFL, American and French Research on 

the Treasury o f the French Language, is a co ­
operative project established in 1981 by the 
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 
(CNRS) and the Division o f the Humanities 
and Social Sciences at the University o f Chi­
cago (UC). Based at UC, the project has devel­
oped an impressive database o f full-text re­
sources in French, as well as a Web site with a 
variety o f resources for francophiles.

ARTFL’s main database includes nearly
2,000 texts written betw een the 13th and 20th 
centuries, ranging from classic works of French 
literature to various kinds o f nonfiction prose 
and technical writing. The collection covers a 
broad range o f disciplines, including religious, 
philosophical, political, and scientific works. 
A bibliography o f the main database is avail­
able for browsing or searching. More special­
ized databases have been added as well, in­
cluding databases o f Provençal poetry and 
w orks b y  F ren ch w om en authors. D enis 
Diderot’s monumental Encyclopedie is also 
available as a separate searchable database.

U s e r s  e x p lo r e  th e  d a ta b a s e s  u s in g  
PhiloLogic, a search engine designed by ARTFL 
for easy yet powerful searching o f large full- 
text databases. Extensive help is available on 
each o f the search pages, including instruc­
tions on use o f accents and special characters, 
and database-specific details on problems or 
idiosyncrasies. Users may search for a single 
word, word root; prefix or suffix, or a list of 
words in a single text, full database, or subset. 
The combination o f this powerful software with

the breadth o f the collection offers exciting 
possibilities for textual analysis.

Access to the ARTFL databases requires an 
institutional subscription, but the ARTFL page 
includes many freely accessible resources. The 
ARTFL Reference Collection, may be o f inter­
est to undergraduate students o f French, with 
a searchable collection o f classic French dic­
tionaries and a verb conjugator. A list o f col­
laborative projects includes intriguing resources 
for historians, such as digitized pamphlets and 
periodicals o f the French Revolution.

The ARTFL Project site is well organized 
and easy to navigate, with quick links to re­
sources and clear paths to background infor­
mation. Contact information for the authors is 
readily available. It is difficult to determine the 
currency of the pages, as dates o f updating 
are not provided; this would b e  a useful addi­
tion to an oth erw ise ex ce lle n t site.— Lori 
Robare, University o f  Oregon, lrobare@oregon. 
uoregon.edu

S c i Q u e s t . c o m .  Access: http :/ / w w w . 
sciquest.com/.
SciQuest.com is the rich virtual presence 

o f SciQuest.com Inc., based in Research Tri­
angle Park, North Carolina. “T h e Internet 
Source for Scientific Products,” the site is in 
essence a huge e-market for scientific prod­
ucts used w orldw ide by p harm aceu tical, 
chemical, biotechnology, industry, and edu­
cation organizations. More than 840 suppliers 
offer customers an extensive line o f products 
in this efficient, online marketplace for labo­
ratory products and services. Customers can 
search alphabetically or via a text-based search 
to locate products by supplier or category, then 
complete their online purchases. Categories, 
when selected, automatically offer a selection 
o f narrower subcategories so users may truly 
refine their product searches.

SciQuest provides much more than straight

Jon¡ R. Roberts is associate university lib ra ria n  f o r  public 
services and collection deve lopm ent and Carol A. Drost is 
associate u n iv e rs ity  lib ra ria n  f o r  te c h n ic a l services at 
W illam ette University, e-mail: jroberts@ willamette.edu and 
cdrost@willamette.edu

http://humanities
http://www
mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu


C&RL News ■  N o v e m b e r 2000 /  943

commercial product 
and vendor informa­
tion. A significant 
portion o f this site is 
dedicated to provid­

ing re s e a rc h  new s. F o r ex a m p le , in the 
SciCentral gateway, the “W hat’s New" section 
includes press releases from various sources. 
The “Research Highlights” section allows one 
to searching the current contents o f Nature 
magazine and the full text o f news releases 
from various academic institutions. “Science 
in the News” offers the latest science news 
from such news sources as the BBC News and 
Reuters. Sidebars contain links to conference 
and tradeshow directories, scientific databases, 
online funding services, and much more. A 
“Special Features” section highlights a chang­
ing selection o f topics, such as K -1 2  science, 
ethics, and w om en in science. A “Latest Addi­
tions” section alerts users to fresh material.

This is a sophisticated, well-designed site; 
it is streamlined and easy to navigate. For ex­
ample, there are numerous access gateways 
to the same information, from broad subject 
category to the more finely tuned. Despite the 
amazing amount o f information provided in 
its pages, the site does not seem  cluttered and 
is kind to the eyes. It includes an advanced 
search feature, site map, help in its standard 
footer information, and a customer 800 number.

Free registration is required to gain access 
to the Web site’s full features, such as a monthly 
e-newsletter and the personalized news alerts. 
However, one can explore the site and take 
the site tour without registering. While this is 
clearly a commercial site, and probably most 
useful to the serious scientific community, there 
is much here to explore. Anyone with an in­
terest in tracking the latest scientific news, for 
exam ple, will find a visit to SciQ u est.com  
worthwhile.—;Judy Matthews, Michigan State 
University, matthews@pa.msu.edu

International Theatre Design Archive.
Access: http://www.siue.edu/PROJECT2000.
The International Theatre Design Archive 

(ITDA) is an online archive whose goal is to 
provide access to images and information about 
theater productions from around the world. 
To theater faculty, students, and professionals, 
this is an idea that sounds almost too good to 
be true. ITDA is sponsored by the United States 
Institute for Theatre Technology, and is par­

tially funded by Southern Illinois University in 
Edwardsville.

Scenic, costume, and lighting designs are 
submitted to ITDA from professional, regional, 
or educational productions. O nce submitted, 
the designs are reviewed by a panel o f theater 
p ro fessio n a ls b e fo re  b e in g  added to the 
archive. According to a banner on the site’s 
front page, ITDA set a goal o f offering “2000 
Theatre Designs by the Year 2000.” However, 
as o f September 2000, there are a total o f 745 
theater designs available.

The archived production designs fall into 
three categories: “Scene Designs” (428), “Cos­
tume Designs” (256), and “Lighting Designs” 
(61). Each o f the three categories has indexes 
for play title, playwright, designer, and pro­
ducer. Producer in this case means the theater 
group putting on a particular production. By 
selecting one o f these choices, the user is given 
an alphabetical list from which to choose. Click­
ing on an entry, one is given a summary o f the 
production, including the title o f the play and 
production credits. Entries in the “Scene D e­
sign” category may include playwright, direc­
tor, scene designer, lighting designer, and co s­
tume designer.

The images are the most exciting feature o f 
this site. For each production listed, a hypertext 
link leads the user to a Web site that contains 
photographs or drawings o f the various de­
signs. T he peer review process is evident here, 
as the designs are o f high quality, although 
the number o f designs available for each pro­
duction varies greatly. T he user will find these 
images helpful as a source o f ideas for pro­
ductions or as a way to research the design 
history o f a given play.

Unfortunately the site is in need o f updat­
ing, as there are a number o f dead or referred 
links to the image sites. Also, the use o f the 
word “international” in the site’s name should 
b e taken with a grain o f salt. Although pro­
ductions from many countries are included, 
the majority are from the United States.

While the content o f the site falls short of 
its intent, ITDA demonstrates the great poten­
tial for this type o f online archival resource. 
B y no m eans a comprehensive collection of 
productions, it does provide access to images 
and information that will be useful to all those 
involved in theater production.— Ford Schmidt, 
Willamette University, fschmidt@willamette. 
edu ■

mailto:matthews@pa.msu.edu
http://www.siue.edu/PROJECT2000


944 /  C&RL News ■  N ov e m b e r 2000