ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


April 1 9 9 5 / 2 7 7

In tern et 
Review s

Sa ra  A m a to, editor

United Nations G opher.
Access: g o p h e r:/ / g o p h e r. 
undp.org. Contact: UNDP 
gopher administrator, root@ 
undp.org.

E l e c t r o n i c  a c c e s s  to 
United Nations d ocu m ents 
has two obvious advantages 
over print: tim elin ess and 
ease o f  d is trib u tio n . T h e  
United Nations g o p h er rep ­
resents a c o m m itm e n t to 
both and, although still rela­
tively sm all, p rom ises im ­
proved access to information 
generated by and about this important interna­
tional body.

T he o p en in g m enu features 14 ch oices. Al­
though there is n o m enu item offering a key­
word search o f  the directories, files, or c o n ­
tents o f the U.N. gopher, the available categories
are clearly labeled  and organized. T h e first—
“The United Nations, w hat it is and w hat it
does”— provides the full text o f  the U.N. Char­
ter, the Statute o f  the International Court o f  J u s ­
tice, and the Universal D eclaration o f  Human
Rights, as well as folders o f additional material
describing the U.N. system , organization, re­
sources, and p ea cek eep in g  functions.

T he seco n d  item o n  the op en in g m enu links
the user to the daily journal and to press brief­
ings and releases, current-year Security Coun­
cil resolutions, and statem ents by the Secretary
General. Users with only a vague idea o f w hen
the Security Council passed a particular resolu­
tion may find the chronological ordering cum ­
bersom e as they w ork first through filenam es
such as “94-03: March 94/” and th en  through
files labeled with resolution numbers rather than
with topical keyw ords. T he rapid availability
o f the resolutions p robably outw eighs such in­
c on ven iences for m any researchers, how ever.

M enu categ ories for G en eral A ssem bly and
Security Council material and d ocu m ents from
such w idely pu blicized  m eetings as the Inter­
national C on feren ce o n  P opulation and D evel­
opm ent contribute to th e g o p h er’s usefulness.
The United Nations Econ om ic and Social Coun­
cil has its ow n spot o n  th e m enu; it includes a
link to the Com m ission o n  Sustainable D evel­

Sara Amato is automated systems librarian a t Central 
Washington University; sam ato@ tahom a.cw u.edu

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 

o p m e n t g o p h e r c o m p le te  
w ith  a n  e x c e l l e n t  u s e r s ’ 
manual. Another main menu 
h e a d in g , “U n ited  N atio n s 
D e v e lo p m e n t P ro g ra m m e 
(U N D P) D o c u m e n ts,” p ro ­
vides the UNDP’s statem ent 
o f  purpose, a description o f 
the organization, a w ell-or­
ganized collectio n  o f state­
m ents by officials, and simi­
la r d o c u m e n ts . T h e  U.N. 
g o p h er also m akes it easy to 
c o n n e c t to the gop h ers o f 
the International Atomic En­

ergy Agency, International T elecom m unication 
U n io n , N orth A tlan tic T reaty  O rg an izatio n , 
U nited  N ations C h ild ren ’s Fund, th e W orld 
Health Organization, the W orld B ank, etc.

T w o items on  the U.N. G o p h er m ain m enu 
lead to directories and  a telecom m unications 
catalog for ph on e numbers and e-mail addresses 
o f individuals affiliated w ith the U.N. Selections 
for environm ental inform ation, o th er gop h er 
servers, and external public d atabases provide 
c on n ectio n s to n etw orked  resou rces beyond  
those offered b y the U.N., w hile two final menu 
items c eleb rate the organization’s 50th anniver­
sary and ann ou n ce n ew  developm ents.

As the UN g o p h er con tin u es to grow, it will 
serve as a tim ely and easily accessib le alterna­
tive to the rather slow  publishing program  o f 
the organization and its m any affiliated agen ­
cies. C ollege students, M odel U.N. participants, 
researchers, and the librarians w ho serve them  
will find m uch to appreciate about the U.N. 
G op h er.— Cheryl Knott Malone, University of 
Texas at Austin; ckmalone@mail.utexas.edu

C horus: A  Resource for A cadem ic an d  
Educational Com puting in the A rts/H u ­
m an ities. Access: h ttp://w w w .peinet.pe,ca: 
2080/Chorus/hom e.htm l.

Chorus, accord ing to its ow n introduction, 
“is a resou rce for acad em ic and educational 
com puting in the arts/humanities. (T h e terms 
‘arts’ and ‘hum anities’ are used to refer to the 
study o f  language, b o th  m odern and classical; 
linguistics; literature; history; philosophy; ar­
chaeology; religion; ethics; the history, criticism, 
and theory o f  the arts; those areas o f  education 
and social s cien c e w h ich  have hum anistic c o n ­
tent and/or em ploy hum anistic m ethods; and,

gopher://gopher
mailto:ckmalone@mail.utexas.edu
mailto:samato@tahoma.cwu.edu


2 7 8 /C&RL News

th eo lo g y .” T h e project is coordinated  by Todd  
J . B. B layone, faculty lecturer at McGill Univer­
sity. His p rev iou s e x p e r ie n c e  in p resen tin g  
m aterial o f this type com es from a stint as guest 
e d i t o r  f o r  Offline: 
Computer Research fo r 
Religious Studies.

Chorus is not envi­
sion ed  as a serial pub­
lication, but as a site, 
in the true sen se o f  a 
p l a c e ,  w h i c h  w ill 
evolve and grow  over 
time and as m ore and 
m ore p eo p le con trib­ This g rap h ic is fro m  th

versity Park E lem en tarute. T h e  resou rce of­
lin k  fro m  City.Net.

fers fe a tu re  a rticles, 
softw are reviews, b o o k  review s, and links to 
o th er resources in the fields o f  hum anities and 
hum anities com puting, and is actively solicit­
ing qualified contributors and section editors 
at present. T he editorial team , as it stands, com ­
prises an im pressive array o f  personnel, includ­
ing faculty from Y ale, the University o f Con­
n ecticu t, M cG ill, th e University o f  Durham , 
Notre D am e, and o th er schools.

T h e initial feature articles include “Electronic 
Shakespeare: Making T exts C om pute” by Eric 
Jo h n s o n , and “Tow ards a Virtual University” by 
L. G regory Bloom quist.

This is a prom ising site, esp ecially exciting 
in its incipient ability not only to d escribe, but 
to dem onstrate principles o f  com puting appli­
cations vis-à-vis the humanities. T h e design o f 
Chorus is professional and attractive as w ell as 
easily navigated. Care is given to the citation o f 
sou rces, and to the credentials o f  the contribu­
tors.— David Dodd, University of Colorado at 
Colorado Springs; ddodd@serf.uccs.edu

City. Net. Access: http://www.city.net/.
T h o s e  w h o  r e c a ll a fr a n tic  ru stlin g  o f  

Newsweek pages in the days following last year’s 
South African election s, w h en  students rushed 
in to locate the new  flag o f  the nation, might 
e n jo y  e x a m in in g  th e m an y sites a c c e s s ib le  
through City.Net. A w ide variety o f questions 
may b e  answ ered  using this w e b  server o p er­
ated by City Net Express o f  Portland, O regon. 
B eg u n  in 1994 b y  form er Intel system s engi­
n eer K evin Altis, this rapidly grow ing site ar­
ranges and provides links to city, regional, and 
country hom e pag es around the world.

T h e sim ple nam e b elies the real strength o f 
this resou rce in that it functions as an electronic

hybrid o f  m any kinds o f  referen ce materials—  
part atlas, part gazetteer, part alm anac, and 
m u ch m ore. T h is reso u rce will ap p eal to a 
multidisciplinary audience, and could b e  an ap­

propriate stop for u n ­
dergraduates seekin g 
d a ta  o n  tra v e l a n d  
to u rism , m a rk e tin g , 
d em o g ra p h ic s , g o v ­
ernm ent and politics, 
and social and cultural 
to p ics. City.N et also 
m ay p rov e to  b e  o f 
equ al value to librar­

e Fairban ks, Alaska, Uni­ ians seek in g answers 
y S ch o o l’s hom e page, a to ready-reference or 

“stum per” questions.
T h e  re s o u rc e  is w e ll o rg a n iz ed  an d  e x ­

trem ely easy to brow se, and the s creen  dis­
plays for the h om e pag es o f  sites are simply 
designed. T h ere are links at the bottom  o f ea ch  
hom e page b ack  to th e ind ex from  w hich on e 
beg an  a search, along with four alphabetical 
ind exes to cities, states o r provinces, regions, 
and countries. W hile there is n o  onlin e help, 
o n e should rem em ber that this is essentially a 
directory; such help  is likely unnecessary. T he 
site administrators have p laced  clearly marked 
links o n  the h o m e page that users may select 
to post questions to City.Net. And this review er 
consistently has received  a resp on se to all o f 
his queries within a m atter o f hours. T h e  ch ief 
flaw in this resource appears to b e  a bug in the 
keyw ord search engine, w hich presently returns 
zero hits with som e frequency. City.Net staff 
are currently w orking to correct this problem .

T h e typical city page offers o n e  o r m ore 
city guides from w hich to ch o o se, along with 
maps, transit sched ules, and o th er general in­
form ation. T h e guides, and the city pages them ­
selves, typically include a m ix o f  travel, busi­
n e s s, a n d  e n te rta in m e n t m a teria ls m o st o f  
interest to business, m arketing, o r travel stu­
dents. And w hile there is substantial data in 
som e city pages, the real value o f  this resource 
lies in the vast am ount o f  inform ation included 
in the many links to foreign countries. B y brow s­
ing the country pag es o n e  m ay locate an as­
tounding variety o f  ecle c tic  facts, from sum ­
m ary  ta b le s  o f  th e  199 1  In d ia  c e n s u s , to 
18 1 1 -1 9 9 1  population tables for Scotland. Need 
to k n o w  th e s tate flo w e r o f  M alaysia? Try 
City.Net. And d o n ’t forget— those country flag 
illustrations are just a m ou se click  away.—J ohn 
Creech, Willamette University Library

mailto:ddodd@serf.uccs.edu
http://www.city.net/