ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 372 / C&RL News ■ May 2002 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Robertsand Carol A. Drost, e dito rs ECHO Science & Technology V irtu a l C e n te r. Access.- h ttp ://e c h o .g m u .e d u / center/. Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Founda­ tion, the ECHO Science and Technology Vir­ tu a l C e n te r is b a s e d at G e o rg e M ason University’s Center for History and New Me­ dia and provides an excellent entry into this w ide-ranging field of study. The authors clearly identify three primary audiences for this eclectic, interesting, and m any times en­ tertaining site: historians of science and tech­ nology seeking further information on the use of technology to assist in crafting similar projects, the hum an subjects responsible for m uch of this know ledge—those living scien­ tists and researchers w ho have contributed so m uch to the w orld’s current base of scien­ tific knowledge, and students and others in­ terested in this subject. Due to its broad na­ ture, I w ould also suggest the site as a gen­ eral reference starting point for librarians seek­ ing science-related materials. ECHO might serve purely as a quality Web subject directory for m any academic librar­ ians seeking enhanced access to scientific materials and topics, although the site’s defined purpose is m ore specialized than this. ECHO w ould m ake a w onderful addition to any academic librarian’s Internet search page. The authors classify the site according to a num ber of broad categories, including but not limited to the earth, physical, life, and m edicine/behavioral sciences, aviation, engi­ neering, and computers. All entries within categories are alphabetical and the majority of them include annotations. Many of the links are housed on Web servers running from aca­ demic institutions and professional organiza­ tions. Using ECHO, one can locate informa­ tion on topics ranging from enzyme nom en­ clature databases to classifications of flower­ ing plants to a “D eterm ination of Latitude by Francis Drake on the Coast of California in 1579.” O ther useful links include lists of aca­ demic program s in the history of science, e- mail lists on scientific topics, and the current featured site— “The Barbara McClintock Pa­ pers: A Profile in Science at the National Li­ brary of M edicine.” The ECHO Science & Technology Virtual Center will prove invaluable to a w ide range of academic audiences. Its excellent structure, clearly written pages, and exem plary Web links provide a valuable service to anyone seeking scientific information, from student library users to teaching and research faculty. And an added bonus— it is simply interesting and fun to explore.—John Creech, Central W a s h in g to n U n iv e rsity , J o h n .C r e e c h @ cw u.edu The Costume Gallery. Access: http://www. costum egallery.com /. Bringing the long-standing print tradition o f c om piling fash io n illustrations to the Internet, the Costume Gallery contains “over 1,000 Web pages and 2,500 images of fash­ ion and costum e.” Intended for use by au­ thors, screenwriters, educators, and students, fashions on the site range from the Byzan­ tine and Medieval eras through the 20th cen­ tury and cover all corners of the world. Penny E. D unlap Ladnier, a costum er by education and vocation, first created the His­ toric Costume Research Web site “to educate people about costum es” while a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in the mid- ’90s. After she graduated, she m erged the ear­ lier site into the Costume Gallery. The Costume Gallery is divided into five parts. O f m ost interest to librarians are “Li­ brary ,” “P roduct P alace,” and “D esigner’s Hall.” “Library” is divided into three shelves: “Fashion Articles to Research” which includes a few sew ing reference books, but is mostly a handful of m agazines from the turn of the Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian fo r public services and co lle ctio n d e ve lo p m e n t a t W illa m e tte University, e-mail: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian fortechnical services at W illamette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu http://echo.gmu.edu/ cwu.edu costumegallery.com/ mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu C&RL News ■ M ay 2002 / 373 century such as Ladies H om e J o u rn a l and Delineator, “Portfolio of Costumes,” and “Re­ search by Time and Topic.” The third shelf is probably the most useful to librarians, as it provides links to fashion Web sites by time period, culture, and fashion designer. “Prod­ uct Palace” lists links to “businesses that pro­ vide products and services related to the cos­ tum e” while “Designer’s Hall” lists “websites ow ned by costume designers.” In addition, “Costume Classroom” offers online classes on how to make costumes and “Courtyard” pro­ vides recreational fun with costuming such as fashion postcards and paper dolls and an an­ nual online costume ball. Searching the Costume Gallery is straight­ forward, but not always easy. The categories are broad and require users to browse a hier­ archy to find what they need. Many icons that seem like they should provide navigation links go nowhere, so it can be awkward to move from page to page, especially since there is no search mechanism. Each link opens a new browser window, so users can very quickly be working with a dozen open pages. As with quote books, the best resource for costumes is the one where you find the cos­ tume that you need. The Costume Gallery is in fact one of the best available on the Web, and it complements the traditional print reference sources very nicely. For a list of more costume Web sites to consult if the costume you seek is n o t in th e C o stu m e G a lle ry , c o n s u lt “GladRags.com,” a guide to fashion and cos­ tume compiled by Monica Fusich for C&RL News in April 1999 (http://www.ala.org/acrl/ resapr99.html).—Mark Emmons, University o f New Mexico, emmons@unm.edu American Museum o f Natural History| Congo Expedition 1 9 0 9-1915. A c­ cess: http://diglibl.am nh.org. The Congo Expedition 1909 to 1915 Web site is produced by the Digital Library of the A m e ric a n M u seu m o f N a tu ra l H is to ry (AMNH). It provides a unique and informa­ tive venue for researchers, educators and stu­ dents alike. The site details the Congo Expe­ dition carried out by AMNH scientists Herbert Lang and James Chapin from 1909 to 1915. The expedition’s mission was to gather bio­ logical and ethnographic materials to be dis­ played at the museum. Many of these materi­ als, along with diaries, field notes and photo­ graphs, have been digitally docum ented and made available to the public. The site is designed to interest both the lay­ person and the scholar. “Introduction,” “Read­ ings,” and “Gallery” offer an array of stimulat­ ing multimedia, including stereophonic pho­ tographs, video and audio clips, and interac­ tive Geographic Information Systems. Many of these features require a plug-in, which may be easily downloaded. “Scientific Publications,” “Search,” and “Resources” primarily serve the scientific community, offering several avenues for research into the AMNH’s archival databases. The narrated slide show in the introduction provides historical context for the Congo Ex­ pedition and sets the m ood for the highly in­ teractive nature of the site. This is worth the few minutes it may require to load. Other large files in the site load faster. The Map Gallery, for instance, uses TilePic and quickly displays historical maps of Africa and the Congo Re­ gion. The primary database is accessed through the search section of the site. The search capa­ bility is relatively sophisticated, offering nine search fields and the option to limit by mate­ rial type. Among the digitized materials fea­ tured are Lang and Chapin’s diaries and field notes, which have been reproduced digitally and transcribed for indexing; 2,000 of the 9,000 photographs taken by Lang during the expe­ dition; and descriptions of more than 4,000 an­ thropological objects, over half of which have been photographed. The AMNH’s Digital Library should be com­ m ended on its efforts to provide a stimulating learning environment, a well-indexed and fully searchable archival database, and com prehen­ sive bibliographies. These materials have tre­ mendous educational, historical, and scientific value. The site however, does not meet the Priority One Accessibility checkpoints estab­ lished in the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. In spite of this, the site is highly recom m ended for the student, educator, sci­ entist, or historian.— Sheri Webber, Purchase College, SUNY, sheri.webber@purchase.edu ■ ( “Washington Hotline ” continued from page368) H ollings’s bill is c o sp o n so re d by Ted Stevens (R-Arkansas), Daniel K. Inouye (D- Hawaii), Jo h n B. Breaux (D-Louisiana), Bill Nelson (D-Florida), and Dianne Feinstein (D- California). ■ http://www.ala.org/acrl/ mailto:emmons@unm.edu http://diglibl.amnh.org mailto:sheri.webber@purchase.edu 374 / C&RL News ■ M ay 2002