ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 638 / C&RL News ■ June 2001 Joni Robertsand I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Carol Drost, editors The National Park Service: ParkNet. Access-. http://w w w .nps.gov/. With 384 parks, monuments, battlefields, seashores and other areas, 15,000 employ­ ees, and 90,000 volunteers, the National Park Service (NPS) is a large operation, with a Web site to match. Well designed, with liberal use of color and black-and-white photos, this site is enjoyable to use and informative. It is aimed at the general public, but parts of the site also serve park employees, with links to items such as search and rescue forms. “Visit Your Parks” provides detailed infor­ mation for each park: activities, fees, camp­ ing, lodging, maps, news, volunteer informa­ tion, activities for kids, park bookstores, and much more. “ParkSmart” offers NPS back­ ground information and educational materi­ als. In “Links to the Past,” users will find a wide array of historical and cultural resources. For information on air quality, wildlife and plants, water resources, geology and people in the national parks, click on “NatureNet.” On this page, “Data/Science” offers items of particular interest to academics, such as sum­ maries of research projects in the national parks, research opportunities, guidelines, and permit information for conducting scientific studies. Extensive GIS data is available and information on the Sabbaticals in the Parks program. Apply now! “Info Zone” includes the Reference Desk, with a searchable staff directory and park sta­ tistics. Also in the “Info Zone” are job an­ nouncements, information on NPS planning, budget, mission, and history. The legislation section includes links to recent laws related to NPS and announcem ents of upcoming hearings on the NPS budget. “Press Room” includes recent press releases, interesting bits of news from parks around the country, and daily news compilations with everything from fire updates to train derailments in national parks. As of this writing, a special section focuses on African American history in the national parks with photo archives, writings, speeches (such as Martin Luther King Jr.’s), and links to readings and related educational materi­ als. One of the goals of Robert Stanton, the recently retired director of NPS, was to in- crease diversity in the NPS and among park visitors. Although many of the pages on this site have been recently updated, many pages have no dates, while others were last up­ dated just before the 2000 election. Since a new NPS director has not been appointed at this writing, it remains to be seen how this site m ight change u n d e r the new administration.—Susan E. Clark, University ofWashington, seclark@u.washington.edu The Urban Institute. Access- http://www. urban.org/. For researchers engaged in projects related to public policy on social and economic is­ sues, publications of research institutes (or think tanks) can be valuable sources of sta­ tistics and expert analysis. These sources may be discovered in the course of index and li­ brary catalog searching, so an awareness of access tools provided by the institutes them­ selves is helpful. A nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization based in Washington, D.C., the Urban Institute’s (UI) “goals are to sharpen thinking about society’s problems and efforts to solve them, improve govern­ ment decisions and their implementation, and increase citizens’ awareness about important public choices.” In pursuit of these goals, UI produces reports about economic and social issues and makes these available online at no charge. It also collects and publishes statistical Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian fo r public services and collection developm ent a t W illa m e tte University, e-mail: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian fortechnical services at Willamette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu http://www.nps.gov/ mailto:seclark@u.washington.edu urban.org/ mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu C&RL News ■ June 2001 / 639 information through two centers: the Federal Justice Statistics Resource Center and the Na­ tional Center for Charitable Statistics. Since its inception in 1968, much of the institute’s work has involved governm ent-funded projects. Current government partners include “more than 45 states and 20 countries.” For researchers looking for UI publications available online, there is a prom inent menu labeled “Research.” Although the rest of the homepage appears otherwise cluttered with icons, they are grouped broadly into catego­ ries such as “Special Projects,” “News,” and “Forums.” This treatment highlights notable individual publications, events, and commen­ tary—all of which are useful for serendipi­ tous browsing rather than systematic access. To gain a sense of the site’s overall organiza­ tion, it is easiest to choose the “Site Map.” Within “Research,” documents may be re­ trieved from a topic or author list or via key­ w ord searching. The major topic areas are federalism, economics, social welfare, and community building, with several subtopics listed for each. Most documents are avail­ able in both text and .pdf format. In addition to the online material, UI also produces print publications, which may be explored from the UI Press link. Of most interest to individuals seeking origi­ nal research and statistics for economic, social, and public policy topics, the UI site provides ac­ cess to a universe of research that is not easily accessible elsewhere.— CherylGunselman, Wash­ ington State University, gunselma@wsu.edu Editor’s note: UI informs us that they will be releasing a revised version of their site in the near future. Women's Health Interactive. Access: http://w w w .w om ens-health.com /. Women’s Health Interactive (WHI) is a commercial site established in 1996. Its mis­ sion is “to be a unique, interactive learning environment w here w om en gain knowledge an d m astery o f their health th rough the multidisciplinary resources that are offered for consumers and w om en’s health profes­ sionals.” The bulk of the site’s information is in ten different “Health Centers,” covering topics such as mental health, infertility, head­ ache, and menopause. These Health Cen­ ters include quizzes to determine indi­ vidual learning needs, informational con­ tent, FAQs, discussion boards, and an “Ac­ tion Plan”—an online form for setting and track­ ing personal goals. Video Webcasts consisting of panels of experts are available for some topics. The main menu also includes “Women’s Services,” “Resources,” and “Affiliations,” which provide links to other sites, health care pro­ viders, and medical associations. A search of the entire site is also available. The information is presented in a straight­ forward and attractive m anner and is aimed at health consumers. Although w om en’s health professionals are part of the mission statement, very little professional-level information is pre­ sented. There are advertisements and some health-related retail “alliances,” but they are not intrusive. Users must create an account to use some of the services, such as action plans and consumer surveys. The WHI privacy policy is well stated and readily available. The WHI site seems surprisingly unfin­ ished for one that has been around for so long. While some of the Health Centers, such as Reproductive Health, contain significant amounts of information, the Nutrition Center offers only brief information on “nutrition for a healthy heart.” The discussion section con­ tains only seven groups, the busiest of which had only eleven posts in six months. Some internal links w ere invalid, and a developer’s note (“I recom m end a picture here … ”) ap­ peared on one of the pages. Links enabling the user to return to previous pages or sec­ tions sometimes aren’t present. WHI provides a good introduction to many w om en’s health topics appropriate for a gen­ eral audience. It is a promising site with some bright spots, but substantial growth would help it become a more complete resource. They do plan to continue adding more informa­ tion and additional Health Centers. Comparable sites are the National Women’s Health Informa­ tion Center (http://www.4woman.gov/) and allHealth.com (http://www.allhealth.com/).— D eAnne Luck, Austin Peay State University, LuckDL@apsu.edu ■ mailto:gunselma@wsu.edu http://www.womens-health.com/ http://www.4woman.gov/ allHealth.com http://www.allhealth.com/).%e2%80%94 mailto:LuckDL@apsu.edu