ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 342 / C&RL News ■ M ay 2003 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost, editors National Partnership for Women & Fami­ lies. Access: h ttp ://w w w .n atio n alp a rtn e rsh ip . org/. T h e N a tio n a l P a r t n e r s h ip fo r W o m e n a n d F a m ilies is a n o n p ro fit, n o n p a r ti s a n o r g a n iz a ­ tio n d e d ic a te d to im p ro v in g th e lives o f w o m e n a n d fa m ilie s. F o r m e d in 1971 as t h e W o m e n ’s L egal D e fe n s e F u n d , th e N a tio n a l P a rtn e rs h ip f o c u s e s o n is s u e s re la tin g to w o r k a n d fam ily, h e a l t h c a r e , a n d w o r k p l a c e fa irn e s s . T o p r o ­ m o te a w a r e n e s s a n d e d u c a t e t h e p u b lic , t h e N a t io n a l P a r t n e r s h i p ’s s ite p r o v i d e s a d v ic e , to p ic a l e s sa y s, fa c t s h e e ts , a n d c o n ta c ts . T h e fe a tu r e s o f in te re s t o n th is site a r e th e “N e w s r o o m ” a n d “P u b li c a t io n s .” T h e “N e w s ­ r o o m ” h a s a c h r o n o lo g i c a l lis tin g o f c u r r e n t p re s s r e le a s e s a n d a n a rc h iv e o f p re s s r e le a s e s d a tin g b a c k to 2000. T h e o rg a n iz a tio n ’s n e w s ­ letters, fro m 2000 to t h e c u rre n t issue, a re avail­ a b le a s HTML fu ll te x t. T h e N a tio n a l P a r t n e r ­ s h ip o ffe rs g u i d e s t h r o u g h t h e “P u b lic a tio n s ” se c tio n . A lth o u g h fre e p r i n t c o p ie s c a n b e o r ­ d e r e d , s e l e c t i o n s f r o m t h e g u i d e s a n d t h e i r e n d n o t e s a r e a v a ila b le o n t h e W e b site . T h e g u id e s v a ry f ro m r e s e a r c h o n th e d e p ic tio n o f w o r k /f a m ily is s u e s o n te le v is io n to q u e s t io n s a n d a n s w e r s o n th e F a m ily L ea v e Act. T h e r e a re a v a rie ty o f m e t h o d s to n a v ig a te th is site. U sers c a n s e a rc h b y k e y w o rd , b ro w s e t h e site m a p , o r u s e t h e m e n u s . A lso, th e r e a re links to site c o n te n t o rg a n iz e d b y p ro g ra m area: “H e a lth C a re ,” “W ork a n d F a m ily ,” a n d “W o rk ­ p l a c e F a irn e s s .” W ith in e a c h to p ic a re a , th e r e is a s id e m e n u w ith a ta b le o f c o n te n ts . E x te n ­ siv e “R e s o u rc e L in k s” w ith in e a c h o f th e p r o ­ g r a m a r e a s g u i d e u s e r s t o o t h e r r e la te d W e b p a g e s . At th e tim e o f re v ie w , a ll 34 lin k s in th e H e a lth C a re s e c tio n w e r e a c tiv e e x c e p t o n e . T h e e s s a y s a n d fa ct s h e e ts a v a ila b le o n this s ite a re v a lu a b le , o ffe rin g a d v ic e a n d in fo rm a ­ tio n n o t easily fo u n d e ls e w h e re . H o w e v e r, w ith t h e e x c e p t i o n o f “N e w s A le rts ,” m u c h o f th e c o n t e n t is n o t d a t e d a n d a u t h o r s ’ n a m e s fo r m o s t o f t h e g u id e s a n d fa ct s h e e ts a re n o t p r o ­ v id e d . T h is s i t e ’s t a r g e t a u d i e n c e is t h e g e n e r a l p u b lic , sp ecifically th o s e w ith c o n c e rn s o n d is­ c rim in a tio n , r e p ro d u c tiv e rig h ts, fa m ily le a v e , s e x u a l h a r a s s m e n t , a n d h e a l t h c a r e . U n d e r ­ g r a d u a t e s t u d e n ts lo o k in g fo r in f o r m a tio n o n t h e s e issu e s m a y fin d this site useful.— K im berly B a r t o s z , U n iv e r s ity o f W is c o n s in - P a r k s id e , banosz@!uup.edu N utrition.gov. Access: h ttp ://w w w .n u tritio n . g o v /. N u tritio n .g o v is a n initiative o f th e U.S. fe d ­ eral governm ent, h o w e v e r it is so m e w h a t unclear w h ic h a g e n c y is a ctually re sp o n sib le fo r th e site. T h e in tro d u c to ry in fo rm a tio n in d ic a te s th a t th e site is m e a n t t o s e r v e a s a p o r t a l to n u t r it i o n i n fo rm a tio n a c ro s s g o v e r n m e n t a g e n c ie s a n d th a t its d e v e lo p m e n t w a s s p e a r h e a d e d b y U.S. A ssistan t S u rg e o n G e n e ra l S u s a n B lu m e n th a l. T h e re s e e m s to b e a s tro n g c o n n e c ti o n b e ­ t w e e n th is s ite a n d t h e D e p a r t m e n t o f A g ri­ c u lt u r e s F o o d a n d N u t r i ti o n C e n te r , b u t t h e r e la ti o n s h ip b e t w e e n t h e t w o s ite s is n o t e x ­ p lic it. I n fa c t, a t firs t g l a n c e , t h e p u r p o s e o f th is site s e e m s to d u p lic a te w h a t c a n b e fo u n d a t t h e F o o d a n d N u t r i ti o n C e n te r . B o t h s ite s a re w e ll o rg a n iz e d , u s e r fo c u s e d , a n d p ro v id e a c c e s s to a n e x te n s i v e c o l l e c t i o n o f g o v e r n ­ m e n t n u tritio n r e s o u rc e s . H o w e v e r, u p o n f u r t h e r i n s p e c t i o n , it b e c o m e s c l e a r t h a t th e f o c u s o f t h e t w o s ite s is q u i te d iffe re n t. T h e a im o f N u tritio n .g o v is m o r e t h a n sim ­ p ly p ro v id in g a c c e s s to n u tritio n a l in fo rm a tio n . T h e p r o m o ti o n o f h e a lth y e a tin g a n d h e a lth y living s e e m s to b e th e u n d e rly in g a g e n d a o f th e s ite . T h e s i t e ’s m a i n f o c u s is t h e p r e v e n t i o n a n d c o n tro l ( t h r o u g h h e a lth y e a tin g ) o f a v a ri­ Joni R. Roberts is associate u n ive 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: jrob e rts@ w illam e tte.e du , and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian f o r technical services a t W illa m e tte University, e-mail: cdrost@ willam ette.edu http://www.nationalpartnership Nutrition.gov http://www.nutrition Nutrition.gov ofNutrition.gov mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu C&RL News ■ May 2003 / 343 e ty o f h e a l t h c o n d itio n s , i n c lu d in g d ia b e te s , cardiovascular disease, obesity, eating disorders, s tr o k e , a n d A lz h e im e r’s d is e a s e . A re v ie w o f th e site ’s various subsections clearly supports this fo c u s. T h e in fo rm a tio n f o u n d in “F o o d F a c ts,” “F o o d Safety,” “Lifecycle Iss u e s ,” “H e a lth M an­ a g e m e n t,” “F o o d A s sista n c e ,” a n d “R e s e a r c h ” all s u p p o r t t h e p r o m o t i o n o f h e a l t h y e a t i n g a n d th e u se o f fo o d fo r p re v e n tin g a n d m a n a g ­ in g d is e a s e . O f p a rtic u la r in te re s t is “L ifecycle Issues,” w h ic h p re se n ts spec ia liz ed inform ation fo r d iffe re n t s e g m e n ts o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n (in ­ fa n ts , s e n i o r s , w o m e n ) . A l th o u g h t h e s ite is in te n d e d t o a c t a s a p o rta l, m u c h o f th e in fo r­ m a t i o n t h a t h a s b e e n i n c o r p o r a t e d i n to N u tritio n .g o v is v a lu a b le u n t o itself. T h e i n t e n d e d a u d ie n c e fo r th is site is a n y m e m b e r o f th e g e n e ra l p u b lic w ish in g to le a rn m o re a b o u t h o w n u tritio n a n d h e a lth y e a tin g c a n c o n trib u te to his o r h e r o v e rall h e a lth a n d w e ll-b e in g . E ven th e re se a rc h se c tio n p o in ts to c o n s u m e r h e a l t h in fo r m a tio n r a th e r t h a n r e ­ p o rtin g o n o rig in a l r e s e a rc h findings. T h e s ite b ills i ts e l f a s a “n e w f e d e r a l r e ­ s o u r c e ,” h o w e v e r th e r e a re fe w c lu e s to in d i­ c a te th e c u rre n c y o f th e in fo rm a tio n . N o c o p y ­ right, last m o d ifie d , last re v ie w e d , o r file s a v e d d a ta is p ro v id e d . A m o re p re c ise in d ic a tio n o f t h e c u r r e n c y o f t h e s ite w o u l d b e w e l c o m e . T h e p r e s e n t a ti o n o f in fo rm a tio n o n t h e site is stra ig h tfo rw a rd a n d e a s y to u se. T h e o n ly m u l­ tim e d ia c o m p o n e n t is t h e i n tr o d u c t io n p a g e (re q u irin g F lash), w h ic h is a ttractive, b u t a d d s n o re al v alue. Overall, N utrition.gov m ak e s a g o o d im p res­ sion. It p o in ts to valuable, reliable, a n d r e ad a b le sources, a n d its o verall fo cu s is w ell-articulated. Its c o n te n ts are particularly valu a b le to individu­ als looking for easy access to c o n su m er h ealth in­ form ation related to nutrition a n d h e althy eating. N utrition.gov’s g reatest flaw, how ever, is th at it is n o t e n tirely c le a r w h o is in c h a rg e o f th e site o r h o w frequently th e y p la n to u p d a te it.—-Jennifer M cKmnll, McMaster University, mckinn@mcmaster.ca H is t o r y C e n t r a l. c o m . A ccess.- h t t p : / / w w w .m u ltie d .c o m /. H isto ry C e n tra l.c o m is a fre e re s o u r c e p r o ­ d u c e d b y M u ltiE d u c a to r, a N e w R o c h e lle , N e w Y ork- b a s e d p u b lis h e r o f CD-ROM educational software. Billed as “H i s t o r y ’s h o m e o n t h e I n te rn e t,” th e site is ta rg e te d to w a rd h ig h sc h o o l students. H is to ry C e n tra l.c o m c o n ta in s a n e x te n s iv e ra n g e o f prim ary a n d se c o n d ary so u rc e material. M ain c a te g o rie s in c lu d e “W o rld H isto ry C h ro ­ n o lo g y ,” “A m e ric a ’s W ars,” “E le ctio n C e n tra l,” “20th C entury A lm anac,” “Prim ary D o c u m e n ts,” “H istory M a k e r B io g ra p h ie s,” a n d aviation, n a ­ val, a n d railroad history. W ithin th e s e b ro a d c ategories a re w ell-orga­ n iz e d s u b d iv isio n s w ith lin k s to full-text m a te ­ rial. A c o lle c tio n o f o v e r 4 00 p rim a ry s o u rc e d o c u m e n ts o n A m e ric an h isto ry in c lu d e s su c h b asics as th e D e cla ratio n o f I n d e p e n d e n c e a n d U.S. C on stitu tio n a lo n g w ith s e le c te d p re s id e n ­ tial addresses, court decisions, a n d legislation. Bio­ graphical inform ation includes all U.S. presidents a n d a list o f 500 p e o p le se lected b y re a d e r n om i­ n a tio n as th e m o s t im p o r ta n t o f th e 2 0 th c e n ­ tury. T h e re a re a ls o lin k s to o th e r h isto ry sites m aintained b y the com pany. O n e o f H is to ry C e n tra l.c o m ’s m o s t g la rin g s h o rtc o m in g s is a sig n ific a n t n u m b e r o f ty p o ­ graphical errors a n d misspellings, including nam es o f p ro m in e n t p e o p le , battles, a n d cities. A m ain p u r p o s e o f th e s ite is to p u s h sa le s o f th e c o m p a n y ’s p roducts; m o st p a g e s c o n ta in a dver­ tising a n d links to th e c o m p a n y ’s o rd e rin g infor­ m a tio n . T h e in te rfac e is a b it d iso rg a n iz e d a n d c o n fu sin g , a n d th e la y o u t o f th e m a in p a g e s is am ateurish. Im p ro v e m e n ts c o u ld b e m a d e w ith a n e y e to w a rd readability. T he site is b e in g u p d a te d . T he prim ary source d o c u m e n ts in “T o d a y (1 9 7 4 -2 0 0 2 )” in c lu d e G eorge W. B ush’s sp e e c h o n th e C olum bia disas­ ter, his 2003 State o f the U nion speech, a n d Colin P o w e ll’s r e s p o n s e to H a n s B lix’s r e p o rt t o th e U n ited N ations o n Iraq. H o w ev e r, at th e tim e o f this review , u n d e r Iraq in th e “N ation-by-N ation” se c tio n , th e o n ly tw o “N e w s ” lin k s a re to CNN sto rie s fro m 2000, o n e o f w h ic h d e s c rib e s th e o p e n in g o f a n In tern e t café in B aghdad. O verall, th e site is a u se fu l re s e a rc h to o l for y o u n g e r s tu d e n ts a n d te a c h e rs. Its m a in a ttrac­ tio n fo r librarians w ill likely b e th e co lle ctio n o f source d ocum ents, b u t this is n o t com prehensive a n d sh ould b e treated w ith so m e caution.— M a rk A . Stoff a n , University o f N orth Carolina-Asheville, mstoffan@ bulldog.unca.e d u Nutrition.gov Nutrition.gov mailto:mckim@mcmaster.ca HistoryCentral.com http://www.multied.com/ HistoryCentral.com HistoryCentral.com