oct09b.indd October 2009 543 C&RL News Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public services and collection 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 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w sJoni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost Pluralism Project. Access: http://pluralism. org. The Pluralism Project Web site is an in- terdisciplinary religious studies portal that promotes the research and outreach mission of the Pluralism Project at Harvard Univer- sity. The site was designed to “document the contours of our multi-religious society, explore new forms of interfaith engagement, and study the impact of religious diversity in civic life.” While based at a research university, this portal offers resources that will perhaps be of greatest use to practitioners in nonprofi t and civic organizations, as well as K–12 edu- cators and f o u n d a - tions. The site’s great- est strength i s i n t h e c o n n e c - t i o n s t h a t have been nurtured with minority religious communi- ties across the United States (particularly New England), and in providing access to local institutions and organizations that may not be as accessible or as well described in other free Internet resources. Researchers visiting the portal will fi nd administrative information relating to the Pluralism Project in addition to sections for online resources, locations, and profi les of religious centers in Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, Sikh, Afro-Caribbean, and other traditions. Capsule descriptions and some statistics for each tradition are provided. Most distinctive to the site are research re- ports and summaries by scholars and others who are affi liated with the Pluralism Project. Navigation for browsing through different states and groups is serviceable, and a link at lower left brings users to a familiar Google- powered search of the site’s resources. Subject selectors and liaisons may be especially interested in the feature entitled “Religious Diversity News.” This contains vetted news stories since 1997 that are cen- tered on Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, Muslim, and Sikh communities in the United States with some signifi cant coverage of other religious traditions as well. Entries can be searched through a simplifi ed Boolean interface or browsed in categories such as interfaith, women, and environment. While useful in its selectivity and small sample size, this in- formation is far less comprehensive than that offered by a well-designed feed of articles from EBSCO or Lexis-Nexis; an RSS option would make this more valuable. The Pluralism Project site enjoys the cur- rent support of its parent institution, with nu- merous links and research reports added in 2009. As in many similar project-supported sites there is some tendency towards link rot and potential obsolescence of research data. It is best consulted in tandem with more comprehensive references sources in religious studies.—Joshua Lupkin, Southern Methodist University, jlupkin@mail.smu.edu Encyclopedia of Life. Access: http://www. eol.org/. Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) is a major proj- ect that aims to classify all living organisms, and provide a vast amount of information about each species to the general public for free. Should EOL accomplish its goals, this resource will become an international standard for fi nding credible information about plants, animals, microorganisms, or any living species. Stunning images are displayed from the homepage, which encourage visitors to ex- plore the site and learn about life on Earth. C&RL News October 2009 544 One can search the site for specifi c species by common or scientifi c name. There is also an option to search by social tags or by full text. Searches for specifi c organisms generally link to a specifi c species page, but if a search yields more than one species, such as a query for “grizzly bear,” a list will appear. Each spe- cies page has a table of contents that allows users to peruse all of the available content. Another way to navigate from organism to organism is through the tree of life hierarchy that is present on all species pages. Similar to Wikipedia is the public involve- ment to help populate EOL. Text, video, images, data, and other information can be submitted by anyone, but is later authenticated by science specialists. Another thing to note is that much of the information in EOL resides on external Web sites. The text and graphics that one sees is pulled from external Web sites, aggregated and displayed by special technology. Should an original source be up- dated from an external Web page, the changes will be fl agged and then verifi ed by subject specialists. While EOL offi cially launched in February 2008, it may take three-to-fi ve years to reach its full potential, and even then it will con- tinue to be a work in progress indefi nitely. In its current “building” state, some species pages have more detail than others. For ex- ample, the page for Hemerocallis Thunbergii Barr (Barr Daylilies) only has two external links. The page for Ursus Maritimus Phipps (Polar Bears) includes the following sec- tions: Overview, Description, Ecology and Distribution, Conservation, Relevance, and References and More Information. The site is supported by a variety of part- nerships: Harvard, the Smithsonian, Field Museum, Marine Biological Laboratory, Biodi- versity Heritage Library consortium, Missouri Botanical Garden, and the MacArthur and Sloan Foundations. EOL has a broad appeal to those interested in the life sciences: the general public, biologists, teachers, students, the media, librarians, policy makers, artists, etc.—John Repplinger, Willamette University, jrepplin@willamette.edu Energy Information Administration: Offi cial Energy Statistics from the U.S. Govern- ment. Access: http://www.eia.doe.gov. Established in 1977, the Energy Infor- mation Administration (EIA) serves as the statistical agency for the U.S. Department of Energy. They describe themselves as “the Nation’s premier source of unbiased energy data, analysis and forecasting.” By law, EIA is required to gather and report information independent of administration policy con- siderations. The EIA Web site outlines a simple yet thorough history of the agency’s priorities and mission, but more important to students and educators is the extensive access to data and statistics it provides. Energy source data is divided into six categories: Petroleum, Natural Gas, Electricity, Coal, Renewable and Alternative Fuels, and Nuclear. In each of these categories, industry data focusing on prices, usage, production, stor- age, consumption and much more is provided in both HTML tables and downloadable Excel spreadsheets. The information is exception- ally current and an indication of when the next data release date is provided. In many cases, the information is presented as a time- series, dating back to the mid-1970s. In addition to the industry data, both short- and long-term energy forecasts provide an overview of expected prices, consumption, and supply and demand for each energy source category. Another section of the site looks at both commercial and residential en- ergy consumption. Somewhat disappointing is the environment section of the site as the scope here is quite narrow, focusing primar- ily on domestic and international emissions reporting. Overall, the data presented throughout the site is impressive. It is easily retrieved, inter- (continues on page 553) October 2009 553 C&RL News preted, and downloaded. There is a strong American focus in the content, but extensive international data is also available. Also impressive are the wide array of EIA reports and publications made avail- able through the site, all of which are full text and include access to both current and back issues. The site is easy to navigate by topic. A search feature is provided, but there is little reason to use it, as the information presented lends itself to browsing by general topic or energy source. Although it is fairly clear that the site is targeting government and industry analysts as their main audience, the informa- tion would be useful for both undergraduate and graduate social sciences students, par- ticularly those working in the areas of envi- ronmental studies, public policy, business, or current affairs.—Jennifer McKinnell, Mc- Master University, mckinn@mcmaster.ca (“Reviews,” continued from page 544) as acting director of library and media resourc- es at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Kirk was appointed library director at Berea College, in Berea, Kentucky. He served in that capacity for 14 years before returning to Earlham College as library director, and later also as coordinator of information services. Kirk received the Miriam Dudley Bibliographic Instruction Librarian Award in 1984 and the ACRL Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award in 2004. He has been involved in the development of cooperative projects among private college libraries of Kentucky and In- diana and served on the boards of SOLINET (Southeast Library Network) and the OCLC Members Council representing SOLINET and INCOLSA (Indiana Cooperative Library Servic- es Authority). Kirk’s active involvement at the national level is exemplifi ed by his service as ACRL president and his continued participation in the ACRL Library Director Mentors Program. During retirement, Kirk expects to remain ac- tive in college librarianship. D e a t h s E. J. Josey, 85, professor emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh, has died. At the 1964 ALA Annual Conference, Josey wrote a resolution prohibiting association offi cers and staff from participating in state associa- tions that refused to admit black librarians, which resulted in the integration of library associations of Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Josey was the fi rst black li- brarian to be accepted into the Georgia Li- brary Association. In 1984, 20 years after the resolution, Josey was elected ALA president and emphasized in his inaugural address that only the library, with its community ser- vice goal and trained experts, “can provide the full scope of information for the total population in a fair and objective manner.” His career included leadership positions in New York, Delaware, and Georgia, includ- ing chief of the bureau of specialist library services for the New York State Library. Lothar Spang, 66, who served as a librar- ian at Wayne State since 1970, has died. Beginning his career at Wayne State in the early 1960s as a student assistant, Spang was tenured in 1974. He taught classes in the School of Library and Information Science and served as a grievance coordinator and executive board member of the Wayne State University American Association of Univer- sity Professors union. In recent years Spang focused his efforts on outreach, by improv- ing literacy in Detroit area schools through the chapbook program, where Wayne State librarians worked with K–12 students in the classroom to create artwork and poetry that was compiled and published. Spang served as a member of numerous professional asso- ciations, including ACRL; Michigan Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters; and the Michi- gan Library Association, as well as serving as a member of the Wayne State Academic Sen- ate and AAUP. Coauthor of several works on outreach and partnerships, he received the Outstanding Faculty Award from Educa- tional Accessibility Services in 2006.