ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 672 / C&RL News ■ O cto ber 2002 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors C e n te r fo r W a te rs h e d P ro tec tio n . A c­ cess: http://www.cwp.org/. Fo u n d ed in 1992, th e C en ter fo r W atershed P ro te c tio n (C W P ) p ro v id e s in fo rm a tio n an d tech n ical to o ls for small w atershed p rotection. W a te rsh ed s a re re g io n s o f la n d th a t c h a n n e l rainwater into streams, river systems, and lakes. U rban spraw l and p o o r c o m m u n ity development plan- n i n g t h r e a t e n th ese fragile land­ scap e features. B e ­ c a u s e d a m a g e to sm all w a ters h ed s adversely affects the quality o f our drinking w a­ ter, im pairs recrea tio n a l a n d c o m m erc ia l fish ­ ing, contributes to s ev ere flooding, an d threat­ en s fragile eco system s, re sp o n sib le w atershed m a n a g e m e n t is a c ru c ia l c o m p o n e n t o f c o m ­ m unity developm en t planning. A n onprofit corporation, CWP dissem inates m ultidisciplinary te ch n ica l to o ls an d info rm a­ tion design ed to h elp p rotect small w atersheds “from th e detrim ental e ffec ts o f sp raw ling d e ­ v e lo p m e n t.” T h ro u g h w o rk s h o p s , articles o n cu rren t w a tersh ed p ro tectio n research , d evel­ o p m en t o f plans to p ro tect an d re sto re w ater­ sh eds, re sp o n s e to req u ests fo r w atersh ed ad­ v ice, an d a d v o ca cy fo r im proving lo ca l d evel­ o p m en t rules, CWP has a ch iev ed n o ta b le su c­ cess. In the past decade, CWP has trained 15,000 people, completed 30 watershed research projects, disseminated 30,000 cop ies o f technical publica­ tions, and published 150 technical articles. C W P ’s s ite is a ric h r e s o u r c e o f in fo rm a ­ tio n u se fu l in m itigatin g th e im p a ct o f d e v e l­ o p m e n t. T h e s ite w ill b e o f in te r e s t to lo c a l go v ern m en t staff, en vironm en tal activists, stu­ dents, re sea rch ers, an d sm all w a tersh ed m an ­ ag ers. W atersh ed asses sm e n t, w a ter re so u rc e p la n n in g , la n d c o n s e r v a tio n , u s e o f a q u a tic bu ffers, re s p o n s ib le site d esign , e r o s io n c o n ­ trol, storm w ater treatm ent p ractices, co n tro l o f nonstorm water discharges, and w atershed stew­ ard sh ip a re th e fo c u s o f C W P ’s site, p u b lic a ­ tions, an d p rogram s. U niversity, c o lle g e , high s c h o o l, a n d p u b lic librarian s w ill fin d th e site to b e a valu ab le inform ation resource. T h e CWP site is n ew ly d esign ed. Sim ple to navigate, it is w ell organized and attractive. T h e prim ary n avigation to o l is a b a n n e r o f w ildlife p h o to s at th e to p o f th e p a g e ; th e b o rd e rs o f th e b a n n e r co n ta in clearly w o rd ed links to the W eb site’s com p onents. Links o n the h om ep age lea d to in fo rm a tio n a b o u t CW P p ro d u cts an d publications, th e CWP new sletter, and a ca len ­ dar o f curren t w orksh o p s. U n fo rtu n a te ly , th e s ite d o e s n o t p ro v id e links to o th e r usefu l sites, su ch as th e U .S. En­ v ir o n m e n ta l P r o te c tio n A g e n c y ’s W etla n d s, O c e a n s , a n d W a t e r s h e d s s i t e (h ttp :/ / www.epa.gov/owow/), the Am erican Water Re­ s o u rc e s A sso cia tio n (http://www.awra.org/), a n d P u rd u e U n iv ersity ’s “K n o w y o u r W ater­ s h e d ” ( http ://w w w .ctic.purdue.edu/K Y W /). L in ks to m a p s a n d s o u r c e s fo r in fo rm a tio n ab o u t local, state, an d n ational w atershed laws an d regulations w o u ld a lso b e useful. D esp ite th e lim itations inh eren t in self-co n ta in ed sites, the CWP site is q uite useful and is a h ighly re c ­ om m ended resource.— Susan Case, University o f Kansas, scase@ku.edu Je w is h V ir tu a l L ib ra ry . A ccess: http:// www.us-israel.org/index.html/. T h e Je w is h Virtual Library, form erly k n o w n a s JS O U R C E , is a d iv is io n o f th e A m e ric a n - Is r a e li C o o p e r a tiv e (A IC E ). E s ta b lis h e d in 1 9 9 3 , AICE is a n o n p ro fit, n o n p a rtis a n o rg a ­ n izatio n w o rk in g to stren gth en U .S.-Israeli re­ lations. M itchell G. Bard, a fo reign p o licy an a­ lyst, is th e e x e c u tiv e d irecto r o f AICE an d th e Je w is h V irtual Library (JVL). T h e JV L b ills its e lf as “y o u r s o u r c e fo r in ­ form ation a b o u t Je w is h history, Israel, U .S.-Is- ra e li r e la tio n s , th e J e w i s h H o lo c a u s t, a n ti- Sem itism and Ju d a ism .” W ith a c ce ss to ca teg o ­ ries ranging fro m “T h e Library” and “N ew This M o n th ” to th e “Virtual Israel E x p e rie n c e ," o n e h a s th e a b ility to e x p lo r e n u m ero u s a re a s o f Jewish/Israeli inform ation. R ecen t additions to Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian fo r public services a nd c o lle c tio n d e v e lo p m e n t a t W illa m e tte University, e-mail: jroberts@ w illam ette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian f o r technical services a t W illam ette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu http://www.cwp.oig/ http://www.epa.gov/owow/ http://www.awra.org/ http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/ mailto:scase@ku.edu http://www.us-israel.org/index.html/ mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu C&RL News ■ October 2002 / 673 the “New This Month” section include “Myths and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict” and “The Bush Peace Plan.” Prior editions to this section are archived for easy access. T he “Virtual Israel E x p erien ce” is an amazing en coun ter for the viewer. From check in g for an El Al flight to traveling the roads to Jeru salem and Caesarea, one can feel the history and culture in this ex ­ traordinary country. T he virtual travel e x ­ p erien ce is very realistic due to the e x c e l­ lent descriptive text and superb pictures. Links within the text lead to additional in­ form ation on the country and culture. “The Library” is the “most comprehensive online Jewish encyclopedia in the world,” ac­ cording to the Web site. The 13 sections of “The Library,” including “Biography,” “Refer­ ence,” “Maps,” “Israel,” “Women,” and “The Holocaust,” contain a wealth of information for the researcher or lay person. Although “The Library” contains more than 8,000 articles and 3,000 photographs and maps, locating material is easy. For example, the section on “Women” contains subcategories on “Women in Israel” and “Women in Judaism.” Additional aspects o f the JVL include a “Glossary.” Here one can locate terms from A to Z on all aspects of Jewish history and cul­ ture, from proper Hebrew terms to a succinct definition o f Zyklon B (the gas used at Auschwitz). The “Bibliography o f Web Sites” and “Breaking News” round out the vast amount o f information available. This is a comprehensive Web site on Israel, Jews, and Jewish culture; no attempt is made to shy away from uncomfortable subjects within the history or current events o f Jew ish life. If you are looking for easily accessible, balanced information, this site is worth a visit.— Karen Evans, In d ian a State University, libevak@ isugw. indstate.edu E c o n o m i c P o l i c y I n s t i t u t e . A ccess: http://www.epinet.org/. The Econom ic Policy Institute (EPI) is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute (or think tank) engaged in research, analysis, and advocacy. Its stated mission is “to provide high- quality research and education in order to pro­ m ote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable economy.” Frequently labeled “liberal” or “pro­ gressive” when referred to or quoted in the news media, EPI is especially well known for its research on issues related to working people and labor markets. As is the case with many think tanks, its publications are often impossible to locate us­ ing reference tools such as indexes; this may cause them to be overlooked by students and other researchers who are not aware o f EPI’s presence on the Web. EPI’s five primary areas of research include “Living Standards and Labor Markets,” “Govern­ ment and The Economy,” “Trade and Globaliza­ tion,” “Education,” and “Sustainable Economics.” Icons across the top of the homepage provide access to research in these areas, including links to publications and a section called “Datazone,” which includes statistics on topics such as the labor market, family earnings, wages, and con­ sumer prices. These statistics are available in ei­ ther PDF (for individual tables) or Microsoft Ex- cel format. In all five research areas, EPI pro­ duces publications o f various types, many of which are available on the site in full-text at no charge (an important exception is its best-known title, a biennial publication called The State o f Working America, which appears to be available only in print). Navigation o f the EPI site is straightforward. A menu on the left side of the homepage facili­ tates access to research content through the fol­ lowing links: “Search,” “Publications,” and “Web Features.” All three of these are valuable tools for investigating the content o f the EPI site. The “Search” and “Publications” features are simple and self-explanatory, and especially useful for topical searching. The “Web Features” section facilitates browsing for particular types o f docu­ ments such as “Issue Guides,” “Economic Snap­ shots,” “ Viewpoints, “Datazone,” “Economic in­ dicators,” and “The Pulse.” With substantial free content, the EPI site is an appropriate and convenient resource for investigating facts and statistics, along with in­ terpretation and policy recommendations. In addition, the center section o f the homepage is devoted to selected issues o f current inter­ est, with links to EPI documents; this feature makes the site useful for maintaining current awareness as well as investigating specific top­ ics.— Cheryl Gunselman, Washington State Univer­ sity, gunselma@wsu.edu ■ http://www.epinet.org/ mailto:gunselma@wsu.edu