june06c.indd I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost Australian War Memorial. Access: http:// www.awm.gov.au. Australians participated heavily in both world wars and have fought more recently in Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq. The Australian War Memorial in Canberra offers a wealth of information “to assist Australians to remem­ ber, interpret and understand the Australian experience of war and its enduring impact on Australian society.” The purpose of the Web site is to extend access to the memorial and its material collections for those who live beyond easy travel distance. It features a wide variety of visual and textual material directed toward the scholar and the casual visitor. A virtual tour includes images of the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier, a selec­ tion of antique aircraft, and the world’s larg­ est publicly accessible collection of Victoria Crosses—the British equivalent of the U.S. Medal of Honor. A major scholarly resource is the official Australian war histories of World Wars I and II, which are relatively rare in American libraries. All volumes from both series are available online as PDFs. Other resources include selections of photographs and diaries, online databases, and many other unique materials. The site organization parallels the major themes and services of the memorial: com­ memoration, education, programs, and re­ search. An interesting highlight is the online encyclopedia containing answers to many inquiries the memorial staff has answered over the years. It is much more in­depth than the usual FAQ and is deserving of the encyclopedia. A link to podcasts allows users to access audio tours of the memo­ rial and some recent program presentations. The site offers to answer research questions Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public ser vices and collec tion development at Willamette University, e-mail: jroberts@willamette. edu, and Carol A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical services at Willamette University, e-mail: cdrost@willamette.edu submitted by e­mail and promises a response within three­to­ten days. For family members researching a relative who served, there are online databases of those who died while on active duty, Red Cross lists of wounded and missing service people, and POW records. Personnel databases frequently contain pho­ tographs and details of an individual’s service. Some of this information may be disturbing to relatives and the memorial posts a cautionary note, where appropriate. The site is well organized and very pro­ fessionally designed by staff. No bad links or typographical errors were noted. Monthly programs and events were current. The site will be of interest not only to Australians, but also to anyone interested in the his­ tory of World Wars I and II or Australian history.—Mark A. Stoffan, Western North Carolina Library Network, mstoffan@wncln. lib.unca.edu UC Atlas of Global Inequality. Access: http:// ucatlas.ucsc.edu/. The Atlas of Global Inequality is a unique and versatile teaching and research tool that “explores the interaction between global integration (globalization) and inequality.” It offers maps, data files, teaching tips, issue overviews, and bibliographies. The project is sponsored by the Center for Global, Interna­ tional and Regional Studies at the University of California (UC)­Santa Cruz and is sup­ ported by UC faculty system wide. The information aggregated in this da­ tabase represents various social indicators, organized by nation­state, for the decades from 1960 to 2000. It is compiled from several data sets, the most significant of which are the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, United Nation’s Human Development Report, and the World Health Organization’s Statistical Information System. The center acknowledges that there are errors and omissions in the information be­ cause the data sets rely on the self­reporting 382C&RL News June 2006 http:ucatlas.ucsc.edu http:lib.unca.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu www.awm.gov.au of nation­states by their own governments. This leads to variation in priorities, methods of data collection, and interpretation, which, in turn, leads to problems with statistical distortion. In order to improve this situa­ tion, the United Nations has developed the Fundamental Principles of Offi cial Statistics, a framework to promote consistency and ac­ curacy between indicators and countries. The primary purpose of the atlas is for educational use within the University of Cali­ fornia system; however, it has application for research and program development, as well. It covers such diverse social topics as material inequality, mortality, economics, communica­ tions, health, and gender issues. Users may search or browse the atlas to gain spatial and temporal perspective on these issues. They may also fashion a custom data set for view­ ing, graphing, or downloading. While the site offers helpful animated tutorials to orient the user, improvements in content organization and navigational consistency would better serve this end. For instance, the top­level navigation is labeled topically. This arrangement seems intuitive; yet the user may be directed to a database search page, a map, a tutorial, or an informa­ tion page. Sometimes new windows open, other times not. It is not difficult to get lost. It should also be noted, that the most recent page update, including the bibliographic lists, took place in 2004. Most of this data is freely available from their original sources. However, the Atlas of Global Inequality offers a convenient aggre­ gation of normalized statistics and effective graphic interpretation. Teachers, students, and researchers will all benefit from the professionally adminis­ tered database and its useful retrieval tools. Recommended.—Sheri Webber, Florida State University, slw04f@fsu.edu U.S. Department of Energy: Offi ce of Energy Effi ciency and Renewable Energy (EERE). Access: http://www.eere.energy.gov/. The mission of the Office of Energy Ef­ ficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) is to “enhance energy efficiency and productivity; bring clean, reliable and affordable energy technologies to the marketplace; make a difference in the everyday lives of Americans by enhancing their energy choices and their quality of life.” The EERE Web site goes a long way to help us achieve these goals. “Quick Links” provides information about the way to make houses, factories, vehicles, and utilities more efficient. There are helpful links for consum­ ers and kids, as well as a section for educators providing useful information for those who want more formal (or informal) education/ training in alternative energy. Researchers will also find the section on states to be benefi cial when looking for energy statistics or informa­ tion on state energy initiatives. “Programs” offers information about the department’s 11 energy programs. These pro­ grams include projects dealing with energy­ related topics, such as biomass, distributed energy, the FreedomCAR, geothermal tech­ nologies, hydrogen and fuel cells, weatheriza­ tion, and wind and hydropower technologies. The links to each of these programs contain a wealth of information. For example, “FreedomCAR & Vehicle Technologies” links to information about hybrids and research in electronics, materials, high combustible fuels, and other projects needed to create the FreedomCAR. Each of the program links also contains a sidebar with current news, events, and special features. “News” and “Features” contain news releases about EERE’s activities, accomplish­ ments, and funding, as well as highlighted topics of current interest. At the time of this review, “Features” offered information about Earth Day 2006 and a list of energy saving hints. This is a very good site. It is designed to give access to information about EERE programs and the progress in various energy (continues on page 388) June 2006 383 C&RL News http:http://www.eere.energy.gov mailto:slw04f@fsu.edu on the Columbia Libraries Web site, where it will be accessible to anyone searching the Internet. Acquisitions The original artwork by Edward Gorey for two children’s books written by Peter Neumeyer has been acquired by San Diego State University. Donald and the . . ., the fi rst collaboration between Gory and Neumeyer, was published in 1969 by Addison Wesley and contains 21 boards of artwork and the publisher’s proof. Why we have day and night, Gorey and Neumeyer’s last joint project, was published in 1970 by Young Scott Books. Included in the acquisition are seven leaves intended, but not used, in the final version of the book. Gory is known for his distinctive, cross­hatched line­drawing. He illustrated more than 100 books, such as The Gashlycrumb Tinies and Amphigorey, and is best known for his animated introduction to the PBS Mystery! series. Neumeyer is a professor emeritus of English and Comparative Literature at San Diego State University. The extensive archive of Joseph Milsand (1817–1886)—French philosopher, literary critic, and close friend of Victorian poet Robert Browning (1812–1889)—has been acquired by Baylor University. The archive contains more than 4,000 autograph letters, original manuscripts of nearly all of Milsand’s known writings, and more than 62,000 pages of Milsand’s articles, essays, study notes, and personal journals. The strength of the archive lies in the enormous amount of original material that will furnish new information to scholars regarding not only Browning and Milsand but the entire literary and philo­ sophical milieu of mid­ to late­19th­century Anglo­French relations. The Adlai Stevenson Collection, with several hundred items of memorabilia highlighting the lives of families influential in the history of Illinois State University (including Aldai Stevenson campaign materials from the late 1800s) has been acquired by Illinois State University. Stevenson served as vice president to Grover Cleveland, was nominated for the presidency in 1900, and ran unsuccessfully for Illinois governor in 1908. Stevenson’s grand­ son, Adlai Stevenson II, later became Illinois’ governor and the Democratic candidate for president in 1952. The handwritten fi rst draft of his acceptance address before the 1952 Democratic national nomination convention is part of the collection, which also includes personal items ranging from schoolbooks and eyeglasses to umbrellas and hats. The archive of photographer Robert Giard has been acquired by Yale University’s Bei­ necke Rare Book & Manuscript Library. In 1971, after obtaining two degrees in literature and working as a teacher, Giard began his professional career as a self­taught photogra­ pher of landscapes and male nudes. In 1985, Giard became an itinerant portraitist of gay and lesbian American writers. In the midst of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s, Giard docu­ mented the phenomenon of gay and lesbian letters in America through photographic por­ traiture. He embarked upon a pilgrimage to the homes of gay and lesbian writers through­ out the United States. The archive contains more than 1,500 vintage prints, 7,800 related work prints, and extensive correspondence, records, diaries, and other papers. (“Reviews” continues from page 383) developments. This it does and does well. It is not the most adventurous site for news of all energy developments, but it is a great site for learning about energy. It gives good, solid reliable information that is typical of government sites. The EERE site will be as useful for energy researchers seeking news and hard data as for the beginner just getting used to the en­ ergy field. It will be useful for everyone from mature children to adults. Recommended. —Gary L. Parsons, Florida Atlantic University, parsons@fau.edu 388C&RL News June 2006 mailto:parsons@fau.edu