ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ June 2003 / 413 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors M u lt i m e d i a E d u c a tio n a l R e s o u rc e f o r L e a r n in g a n d O n l i n e T e a c h in g (MERLOT) . Access: http://w w w .m erlo t.o rg /. H ie MERLOT project is a successful a n d gro w ­ ing international c o o p era tiv e o f quality m ultim e­ d ia le a r n in g m a te ria ls fo r h ig h e r e d u c a tio n . MERLOTs m issio n is “to im p ro v e th e e ffective­ n e s s o f t e a c h i n g a n d lea rn ­ ing b y e x ­ p a n d i n g the q u antity a n d quality o f p e e r-re v ie w e d o n lin e learning m aterials that c a n b e easily inco rp o ra te d into faculty-designed courses.” M ERLOT’s fo c u s e x te n d s b e y o n d a s im p le gatew ay o r repository o f m ultim edia learning m a­ terials. MERLOT links a n d organizes a high-qual­ ity c o lle c tio n o f p e d a g o g ic a lly s o u n d re so u rc e s d e liv e re d in th e c o n te x t o f a n “o n lin e c o m m u ­ n ity .” In th is c o n te x t, M ERLOT’s m e m b e rs a re n ot m erely passive users, b u t are invited to b e full participants as scholarly contributors, researchers, a n d p e e r e valuators. In ad d itio n , th e p ro je c t as­ sures a h ig h level o f integrity th ro u g h adm inistra­ tive s u p p o r t a n d s p o n s o rs h ip b y d is tin g u is h e d higher e d u c a tio n institutional partners, consortia, a n d pro fessio n al o rg anizations th at h a v e h e lp e d fund a n d s u p p o rt this a m bitious initiative. MERLOT leads users to o v e r 8,500 W eb-based digital learning materials, w h ic h are available from W eb sites a ro u n d th e w orld. T his site se lv e s as a sophisticated cle arin g h o u se o f selected m aterials as m a n a g e d b y MERLOT’s discipline-based edito­ rial boards. M aterials a re o rg a n iz e d in to “discipline c o m ­ munities,” such as biology, business, history, infor­ m ation technology, m athem atics, m usic, tea ch e r e d u c a tio n , a n d w o rld lan g u a g es. In a d d itio n to URL a n d a u th o r/d e v e lo p e r inform ation, e a c h re­ source m ay contain a p e e r review, u ser com m ents, starred ratings, links to re la te d c la ssro o m /la b as­ signments, screen shots, a n d a descriptive abstract. Material types include simulations, anim ation, drill a n d practice, lectu re pre sen ta tio n s, tutorials, a n d o th e r form ats. Searching across discipline com m unities is also effective as lib ra rian s w h o se a rc h fo r “in fo rm a ­ tion literacy” re so u rc e s will d isc o v er o v e r 60 rel­ e v a n t offerin g s g a th e re d fro m a v ariety o f disci­ p line com m unities. A n yone c a n search MERLOT a n d tak e ad v an ­ tag e o f its c o llected re so u rce s w ith o u t registering for m em bership. Simple a n d a d v an c ed searching, subject brow sing, a n d result ranking are provided. T hese tools a re available to visitors a n d m em b e rs alike a n d allow an effective range o f desired search specificity. H ow ever, o nly m em b e rs m ay contrib­ ute resources for p e e r review, p ost com m ents, a n d offer related assignm ents. M em bers also m a y take a d v antage o f th e abil­ ity to create “p ersonal collections,” d e v elo p course “e P o rtfo lio s,” a n d se a rc h a n o n lin e d ire c to ry o f m e m b e r profiles fo r professional n etw o rk in g o p ­ portunities. A s ip o f th is v in ta g e MERLOT o ffe rs a r o ­ bust, h eady, y e t full-bodied re so u rce w h e re e d u ­ cators a n d students are likely to u n c o v er g em s for im m ediate u se in the classroom or, perhaps, redis­ c o v e r favorite sites a n d m aterials e n ric h e d w ith com m entary a n d linked to usefùl assignm ent ideas. — M a rk A . Smith, N e w York State College o f Ceram ­ ics a t Alfred University, m smith@alfr ed.edu S p in e - h e a l t h .c o m . A ccess: h t t p : / / w w w . spine-h e a lth .c o m /. T h e sta te d m issio n o fS p in e -h e a lth .c o m is to educate users a b o u t spine anatom y, disorders, a n d treatm ent in a c o m p re h en siv e , im partial m anner. T h e site is in d ep e n d e n tly m a n a g e d b y a g ro u p o f sp in e specialists a n d d o e s n o t re c o m m e n d o r e n ­ dorse a n y products. T h e h o m e p a g e is d iv id e d into five categories: “F in d a D o c to r,” “S p in e T o p ic s ,” “R e s e a rc h ,” “B ack T alk,” a n d “M arketplace.” “F ind a D o c to r” is a se a rc h a b le directory o f W eb p a g e s p ro d u c e d b y b o a rd certified spine specialists. T h e specialists Joni R. Roberts is associate unive rsity lib ra ria n fo r pub lic 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 fo r technical services a t W illa m e tte University, e-mail: cdrost@ willamette.edu http://www.merlot.org/ mailto:nismith@alfied.edu health.com health.com/ health.com mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu 414 / C&RL News ■ June 2003 lis te d p a y a su b s c rip tio n fe e to b e in c lu d e d , so w h ile th e directory is useful, it is n o t c o m p re h e n ­ sive. “Spine Topics” provides tutorials o n th e causes a n d tre a tm e n t o f b a c k a n d n e c k p a in , w h ic h are w ritte n sp ecifically fo r th e site a n d a re p e e r r e ­ v ie w e d b y th e S p in e -h e a lth .c o m M edical A dvi­ so ry B oard. T h e a d v iso ry b o a rd is c o m p ris e d o f professionals in th e fields o f ne u ro su rg e ry, o rth o ­ p e d ic surgery, p sy c h o lo g y , c h iro p ra ctic, s p o rts medicine, physiatry, radiology, neuroradiology, and physical therapy. Spine-h ealth.com claims that all c o ntent m eets th e q u a lity c riteria o f t h e N a tio n a l In stitu te s o f H e a lth a n d th e U.S. D e p a rtm e n t o f H e a lth a n d H u m a n Services. A u th o rs’ c re d e n tia ls a n d c o n ­ tact inform ation are p ro v id ed . U seful b lack-and- w h ite a n d c o lo r line d raw ings, p h o to g ra p h s , CT scans, a n d MRI im ages su p p le m e n t th e texts. “Re­ s e a rc h ” offers articles e x p lo rin g sta te -o f-th e -a rt tre a tm e n t o p tio n s. Item s in this se c tio n u n d e rg o the sam e p e e r review process as the tutorials. “Back T alk” contains a n a n n o ta te d list o f links, a sign u p form to subscribe to th e Spine-h e alth .c o m n e w s ­ letter, a n d a n o p e n b a c k a n d n e c k p a in m essa g e board. “M a rk etp lac e ” is a p ro d u c t a d s section. F rom th e h o m e p a g e u se rs c a n also v ie w a series o f so ­ phisticated, interactive a n im a tio n m o d u le s illus­ tratin g s o m e o f th e m o s t c o m m o n s p in a l d iso r­ ders a n d treatm ents. B ecause alternate treatm ents are outlined (such as chiropractic vs. surgical), Spine-health .c o m is a useful, u n b ia s e d in tro d u c to ry r e fe re n c e fo r th e trea tm e n t o f c o m m o n spinal d iso rd e rs a n d is a p ­ p ropriate for stu d en ts n e w to m edicine. A lthough th e text is g e a re d to a novice audience, th e g ra p h ­ ics a re u seful to all levels o f e x p ertise in d e m o n ­ strating spinal a n ato m y a n d treatm ent tec hniques n o t easily exp la in ab le w ith narrative. T h e a n im a ­ tio n m o d u le s a lo n e m a k e this site a v aluable tool fo r th o s e tea ch in g in th e h e a lth care p rofessions. Spine-h e a lth .c o m a lso serv es a s a n e x ce lle n t e x ­ a m p le o f a h ig h c a lib e r p a tie n t in fo rm a tio n site fo r s tu d e n ts w h o w ill o n e d a y b e e d u c a tin g p a ­ tie n ts .— S u s a n M . F rey, D e P u y O rth o p a e d ics, speyl@dpyus.jnj.com U.S. I n s t it u t e o f P e a c e . A ccess: h t t p : / / w w w .u s ip .o tg /. T h e U.S. In stitu te o f P e a c e (USIP) is a f e d e r­ ally f u n d e d th in k ta n k th a t w a s c re a te d in 1984 “to p ro m o te th e p re v e n tio n , m a n a g e m e n t, a n d p e a c e fu l r e s o lu tio n o f in te rn a tio n a l c o n flic ts .” W ith a b u d g e t o f approxim ately $ 11 m illion a n d a staff o f 60, th e institute p ro v id e s re se a rc h grants, fellow ships, professional training, e d u c a tio n p ro ­ g ra m s fro m h ig h s c h o o l th ro u g h g ra d u ate school, c o n f e r e n c e s a n d w o r k ­ shops, library services, and publications. As a n o n p a r­ tis a n o rg a n iz a tio n , USIP avoids advocacy o n policy issues. In fact, w h e n C ongress f o u n d e d th e insti­ tu te in 1984, it re q u ire d th a t n o m o re th a n e ig h t m e m b e rs o f th e 1 5 -m e m b e r b o a r d b e fro m th e sam e political party. B oard m em bers are appointed b y th e P re s id e n t o f th e U n ite d S tates a n d c o n ­ firm e d b y C ongress. T h e y a re a m ix o f a c a d e m ­ ics, l e a d e r s f r o m n o n p r o f i ts , a n d p u b l ic fig ­ ures. A ccording to a recent article in the W ashington Post, USIP “h a s g e n era lly k e p t a lo w p rofile a n d d e v e l o p e d a re p u ta tio n as a n in stitu tio n th a t is solid, m id d le -o f-th e -ro a d a n d e v e n s o m e w h a t b o rin g .” P erfectly re fle ctin g that, th e USIP W eb site h a s a p lain d esign. In c ontrast to m a n y o th e r p e a c e -re la te d sites o n th e Internet, th e USIP site c o n ta in s n o a n ti-w a r b a n n e rs o r flash in g p e a c e sym bols, b u t rather substantive m aterial o n p e ac e issues. It p rovides straightforw ard inform ation o n the program s offered b y the institute, such as w ork­ shops, g rant aw ards, fu nding for h igh school a n d co lle g e p ro g ra m s a n d curricula re la te d to p e a c e studies, a n d a national p e a c e essay contest for high school students. A s o f t h is w r i t in g , t h e U S IP s i t e is h i g h ­ lig hting in fo rm a tio n a b o u t th e situ a tio n in Iraq. T h e r e is a “S p e c ia l R e p o r t ” o n I ra q , p l u s e x ­ te n s iv e lin k s to W eb re s o u rc e s , a n d a d d itio n a l f u l l- t e x t r e p o r t s a n d e s s a y s . U SIP h a s b e e n c o n d u c tin g a “S p e c ia l Initia tiv e o n th e M uslim W o rld ,” a n d t h e W e b s ite p r o v i d e s e x te n s iv e re p o rts a n d in fo rm a tio n o n to p ic s s u c h as m e ­ diatio n , h u m a n rights, a n d Islam ic p e rsp e c tiv e s o n p e a c e a n d vio le n c e. T h e U.S. In stitu te o f P e a c e h a s a n e x te n siv e p u b lis h in g p ro g ra m a n d a n y o f th eir re p o rts a re fre e ly a v a ila b le o n t h e USIP W eb site. A n o th e r u seful fe atu re o f th e site is th e digital d o c u m e n ts fo u n d u n d e r “Library a n d Links,” w h ic h includes th e “P e a c e A g re e m e n ts D igital C o lle c tio n ” a n d th e “T ruth C om m issions Digital C ollection.” This site is re c o m m e n d e d for students looking fo r in fo rm a tio n o n p e a c e initiatives a r o u n d th e world.— S u sa n E . Clark, University o f Washington, seclark@uwashington.edu ■ health.com health.com health.com health.com health.com mailto:speyl@dpyus.jnj.com http://www.usip.otg/ mailto:seclark@uwashingfon.edu