ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


678 /  C&RL News ■ N ovem ber 2003

I n t e r n e t  R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors

N a t io n M a s t e r .c o m . Access: http://www.
nationmaster.com/.
Gathering statistics from a variety of sources 

and presenting them in an easy-to-use and 
interesting graphical format is the purpose 
behind NationMaster.com. Designed by a Web 
publishing company in Australia and launched 
in May 2003, the site is an excellent ready- 
reference resource for teachers, students, and 
librarians. Self-described as “a massive cen­
tral data source,” the developers bring together 
information found in a wide range of docu­
ments, including the C en tral In tellig en c e 
A gency World F act B ook  and various United 
Nations reports and surveys.

The large numerical database is used as a 
basis for interactively generating charts and maps 
that rank countries in a number of topic areas.

In addition to lists of prepared country 
rankings, such as “Richest” (Luxembourg) 
and “Most Trigger Happy” (South Africa), 
users may also take advantage of the site’s 
scripting language to select from the more 
than 600 statistical variables available to cre­
ate customized charts. Whether the top five 
countries for life expectancy or the bottom 
five countries for winter Olympics medals, 
rankings and bar graphs appear instantly. 
Broad subject categories range from “Crime,” 
“Currency,” and “Democracy” to “Religion,” 
“Sports,” and “Transportation.”

Other features of the site include simple 
but legible political maps and national flags, 
as well as a keyword search engine. An 
online encyclopedia (Wikipedia) gives addi­
tional background, definitions, history, and 
facts. The encyclopedia articles are embed­
ded within regional and country profiles and 
are not independently searchable from 
within the NationMaster.com site. Discussion 
forums based on geographical or topic in­
terest have also been established. Links to 
ads are present; however they have been 
unobtrusively integrated into the site.

Sources for all facts and figures are cited, 
which researchers will especially appreciate.

While most statistics come from international 
agencies, such as the U.S. Census Bureau 
and UNESCO, other sources include various 
think tanks, advocacy organizations, com­
mercial entities, and, in one case, an indi­
vidual with subject expertise. There are some 
inconsistencies in providing statistical defi­
nitions for all data and not all countries ap­
pear in all data results. There are a few link­
ing errors to incorrect pages.

A relatively new site, the information 
found here appears to be current and accu­
rate. Although not completely authoritative, 
the easy user interface gets researchers 
quickly to informative data. This well-de­
signed site, whose motto is “Where Stats 
Come A live!” d eserves a lo o k .— L in d a  
F red eriksen , W ashin gton  State University, 
fr ed er ik @ v a n co ιw er. w su.edu

O m n ig lo t: A g u id e  t o  w r itin g  s y s te m s .
Access: http://www.omniglot.com/.
Simon Ager, a multilingual Web developer, 

created Omniglot to provide information about 
all languages with a written form. Omniglot 
guides users to over 160 different alphabets, 
syllabaries, and other writing systems.

The site also provides a small bibliogra­
phy as well as links to language-related re­
sources, such as sites to download fonts, 
electronic dictionaries, and online language 
courses.

Omniglot contains details of many writ­
ten languages. The writing systems are di­
vided into five categories: alphabetic, syl­
labic, logographic, undeciphered, and al­
ternative. Each writing system page includes 
information on origins, notable features, 
characteristics, the languages for which the 
system is used, the alphabet (and often times 
numerals), and links to other online sources.

The site also includes pages featuring 
numerous languages. These pages include 
a brief history of the language, the alphabet,

Joni R. Roberts is associate university lib ra ria n  fo r  public 
services and 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
http://www.omniglot.com/
mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu


C&RL News ■ N o v e m b e r 2003 /  679

transcriptions and pronunciations using the 
International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), a 
sample text with translation, and links to sites, 
such as newspapers and radio stations in 
that language.

Ager assures users that the site is a work 
in progress. He encourages submissions of 
invented writing systems and languages, with 
12 writing systems invented by visitors to the 
site already present.

Another feature of Omniglot can be found 
at “Tower of Babel.” The Biblical tale of the 
Tower of Babel offers one explanation of 
why there are so many different languages 
in the world. The story is available in 50 
different languages from this page. Ager ex­
plains, “having a single text in a variety of 
languages is a good way to see similarities 
and differences between those languages.” 

A navigation bar is available on every 
page allowing the user to jump to the writ­
ing systems, as well as to pages such as the 
“Book Store,” “Language Learning,” “Tower 
of Babel,” “Puzzles,” “Multilingual Comput­
ing,” downloadable “Free Foreign Fonts,” and 
“Bibliography.” The multilingual computing 
page gives the shortcuts needed for adding 
accents and special characters when using 
a Mac, Windows, or editing HTML coding, 
and a news page lets the user know the dates 
when pages were added or updated.

Omniglot has a clean, uniform look. It is 
easy to navigate, with easy-to-read descrip­
tions, cross-references, and graphics, when 
needed to demonstrate a particular writing 
system. The site would be of interest to stu­
dents studying languages and linguistics.—  
C a s s a n d r a  E. Osterloh, University o f  New  
M exico, o sterloh@ u n m .edu

S t . N ic h o la s : D is c o v e r in g  t h e  T ru th  
a b o u t  S a n t a  C la u s . A ccess: http:// 
www.stnicholascenter.org/Brix?pageID=23/. 
This site is the creation of the St. Nicho­

las Center, a nonprofit organization whose 
mission is to share stories and legends of St. 
Nicholas, encourage others to celebrate his 
feast day, and provide resources for educa­
tion. The center also seeks “to help people 
understand and appreciate the original St. 
Nicholas, the only real Santa Claus.”

This site is divided into five main sec­
tions: “Who is St. Nicholas,” “Around the 
World,” “How to Celebrate,” “Events,” and 
“For Kids.”

Sections of most interest are “Who is St. 
Nicholas” and “Around the World.” “Who is 
St. Nicholas” contains a short biography as 
well as legends and stories that attest to his 
character as a “protector” and “helper to 
those in need.” Along the left side of the 
page, there are additional links to informa­
tion about St. Nicholas, including “Origin of 
Santa,” which tells how St. Nicholas came to 
be known as Santa Claus.

“Around the World” shows how differ­
ent countries celebrate St. Nicholas Day with 
their own customs and traditions. Twenty 
countries, including the United States, are 
represented in this section. Younger users 
will be interested in the “For Kids” section, 
which contains stories, poems, legends, pic­
tures, games, and activities.

Researchers will want to visit “Gallery.” 
This section offers a colorful collection of 
images from around the world such as fres­
cos, icons, stained glass windows, coins, 
book illustrations, and ceramics that feature 
St. Nicholas.

Searching this site can be done in one of 
three ways: by clicking on one of the main 
sections or topics, through the search box, 
or via the site map. Navigating around the 
site is fairly easy as links, a search box, and 
a site map are available on every page.

St. Nicholas: Discovering the Truth about 
Santa Claus is an up-to-date site with plans 
to add more content. Some of its pages, such 
as “St. Nicholas and the Origin o f Santa 
Claus” list sources cited, while others such 
as “Who is St. Nicholas,” don’t. A partial bib­
liography of sources used to develop the 
site is available in the “Related Info” section.

Overall, it is a fun and easy site to visit 
and learn more about St. Nicholas and Santa 
Claus; art historians, religious studies stu­
dents, and general users will find this site of 
interest.— Carolyn Piatz, University o f  Port­
land, piatz@ u p .ed u  ■

mailto:osterloh@unm.edu
mailto:piatz@up.edu