ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 6 5 0 / C&RL News In te rn e t R e v ie w s Sara Amato, editor A n t h o l o g i e s a n d M is c e l­ l a n i e s . A ccess: h t t p : / / h u m a n i t a s . u c s b . e d u / d e p ts /e n g l is h / r e s e a r c h / g r a d /anthologies. This authoritative site should b e o f interest to faculty and u p p e r - d i v i s i o n s t u d e n t s studying English poetry and the history o f literary canons. B ased o n th e a u th o rs ’ r e ­ se a rc h e s at th e B ritish Li­ b r a r y , th is s i te p r e s e n t s ta b le s o f c o n te n ts , so m e p refatory a n d introductory m aterial, a n d occasionally th e au th o rs’ notes from alm ost 100 anthologies, m iscellanies, and beauties collections o f English p o etry from th e 18th to the 20th century. Authors Laura Mandell, assistant professor o f English at Miami Univer­ sity o f O hio, an d Rita Raley, English doctoral stu d en t at th e University o f California at Santa Barbara, b o th researchers o f can o n form ation an d th e history o f th e anthology form, write in the introduction, “This site aims to provide a historical an d theoretical context for the still- co n tested c an o n of English p o etry .” T he m ain p ag e begins w ith a discussion of the site’s pu rp o se. This is follow ed by the p o ­ etry collections them selves, identified by edi­ tor, title, a n d date, an d g ro u p e d in chronologi­ cal o rd e r w ithin th e categories ‘A nthologies,” “Collections Larger than 6 V olum es,” “Mid 18th C entury M iscellanies: T h e D o d sley G ro u p ,” “Miscellanies: B eauties,” an d “20th C entury An­ thologies.” T he titles act as links to th e tables o f contents, w hich th e authors have attem pted to re p ro d u c e as faithfully as possible. O th er links m ake it possible to view th e collections chronologically or alphabetically by editor; an ­ o th e r su b p ag e lists those collections designed for u se in th e schools. This site sh o u ld p ro v e a u n iq u e so u rce o f b o th raw material a n d theoretical background. As the authors discuss in th e introduction, the data allow users to see h o w individual poets have b e e n received by th e reading public over th e centuries an d h o w each era sh ap es th e n o ­ tions o f period, canon, a n d “m ajor” a n d “m i­ n o r” w riters, an d can provide a basis for any num ber of com parative stud­ ies. In c lu d e d a re links to o th er sites b y th e authors— for exam ple, Laura M andell’s Romantic Canons: A Bibliog­ rap h y (a n d an A rgum ent)— w hich d evelop the theoreti­ cal fram ew ork an d provide references for further study. The authors intend to expand the historical parameters of the site w ith links to subpages based on related topics, and to increase its representation of earlier collections as well as its representation o f 20th-century collections. This site is linked to th e collective W eb resource, Romantic Circles (h ttp ://w w w .inform .um d.edu/ RC/rc.html). A nthologies a n d Miscellanies is clearly laid o u t an d straightforw ard in use. T he basic intro­ ductory m aterial an d all o f th e title lists are p rovided o n the m ain page. This m akes the m ain pag e quite long b u t d o es no t create any significant delays in brow sing th e content. The authors intend to provide a search engine in the n ear future, a w elcom e addition as this will allow the data to b e m anipulated in w ays sp e ­ cifically useful to th e research er.—Joseph A. LaRose, University o f Akron; jl@ uakron.edu S t a t i s t i c s C a n a d a . A ccess: h t t p : / / w w w . statcan.ca. Statistics Canada is both Canada’s national statisti­ cal agency and the name o f its government-run W eb site. Its mission is to “collect, compile, analyse, abstract, and publish statistical information of virtu­ ally every aspect of the nation’s society and economy.” Statistics Canada comes in both English and French versions, the | homepage giving you your choice of language. Af­ ter choosing one, the welcome screen gives you many more choices, including Daily News, the 1996 Census, the location of its Service Centres, and ba­ sic Canadian statistics on the economy, land, people, and government. Navigation tools include both a search engine and a site map. O ne o f th e m ajor features o f the site is a p ag e u p d a te d daily, called, appropriately, the daily. T he Daily is an electronic version o f Sta- Sara Amato is automated systems librarian at Central W ashington University; sam ato@ tahom a.cwu.edu humanitas.ucsb.edu/ http://www.inform.umd.edu/ mailto:jl@uakron.edu mailto:samato@tahoma.cwu.edu O c to b er 1 9 9 7 / 651 tistics C a n a d a ’s official re le a se b u lletin , first pub lish ed in 1932. T h e Daily consists o f b o th statistical data highlights a n d lists o f recently p u b lish ed d o cu m en ts. For exam ple, th e o n e I view ed h a d rep o rts o n th e earn in g characteris­ tics o f “tw o -p a rtn e r fam ilies” a n d estim ates o f principal field cro p production. A catalog n u m ­ ber w a s also given so th at y o u m ay o rd e r the d o cu m en t (for a fee), eith er o n lin e o r b y mail. O th er publications m ay b e o rd e re d (again, for a fee) in e ith e r A d o b e A crobat form at o r in paper. T h e s e a r c h e n g in e o ff e re d b y S tatistics C anada m ay b e u se d to ex p lo re th e entire W eb site o r selected d atab a ses, su ch as th e Daily, Inform ation o n Products a n d Services (IPS) cata­ log, R esearch P ap ers a n d m ore. I tried a search in the R esearch P apers, section o n “grizzlies," “b ears,” an d th e n finally “w ildlife.” I retrieved zero results o n “b e a rs” a n d “grizzlies.” “W ild­ life,” h ow ever, gave m e a listing o f 14 ra n k e d results, o n e o f w h ich w as a table listing the prairie p o p u la tio n o f grizzlies as b e in g ex ­ tinct. This cam e u p only b e c a u se th e so u rce of th e d o c u m e n t w as th e C anadian Wildlife Service. Statistics C anada u ses th e Excite for W eb Servers as its search engine. This search e n ­ gine claim s to “search fo r d o cu m en ts th at are a best m atch for th e w o rd s in y o u r q u e ry .” For narrow ing y o u r results yo u “sim ply u se m ore w ords in y o u r q u e ry ,” th e o p p o site o f w h at w e b o o lean search ers h av e b e e n taught. Y ou can still u se b o o le a n o p erato rs, ho w ev er, to for­ m ulate a query. Statistics C anada is an extrem ely vital so u rce of C anadian inform ation an d sh o u ld alw ays b e co nsidered by th o se looking for b o th current an d arch iv ed go v ern m en tal statistical reports. Its Daily p a g e m akes it n o t just a rep o sito ry for g o v ernm ent d o c u m e n ts b u t a cu rre n t so u rce of inform ation to an y o n e in terested in C an ad a’s land, eco n o m y , a n d p e o p le .—Jim Rible, South­ ern Oregon University; rible@sou.edu N a v a l H i s t o r i c a l C e n t e r . A ccess: h t t p : / / w w w .h isto ry .n a v y .m il. C ontent is th e essential e lem en t o f any W eb resource. T h e staff o f th e Naval H istorical C en­ ter has d o n e an o u tstan d in g job o f providing co n ten t by creating a W eb site rich w ith prim ary m aterial, as w ell as b ibliographies a n d o th e r research guides. Lycos gives th e c e n te r a sco re o f 78, o u t o f a p o ssib le 100, for content. From th e v iew p o in t o f a librarian (a n d navy veteran ), th e score sh o u ld b e higher. T h e site is o rg an ized in an easily navigable hierarchy, w ith th e “W elcom e A b o ard ” h om e- p a g e laying o u t th e reso u rces o f th e site. G o­ ing d e e p e r, o n e finds th e tex t o f “A H istory o f th e U.S. N avy,” from E ncyclopedia o f the A m e r i­ c a n M ilitary. T he c e n te r pro v id es a n in d e x o f o p eratio n al archives, links to th e h o m ep ag e s o f historical ships su ch as th e USS C onstella­ tion, a n d th e digitized v ersio n o f N a v a l A v ia ­ tio n News, th e n av y ’s o ld e st periodical. T he b im o n th ly jo u rn a l is p r e s e n te d in P o rta b le D o cu m en t Form at (PD F), a n d h o ld in g s start w ith N ovem ber-D ecem ber 1996. T here is a “fre­ q u en tly ask ed q u e stio n s” (FAQ) sectio n cover­ ing su ch to p ics as A m elia Earhart, L ieutenant G eo rg e B ush, an d th e d isa p p e a ra n c e o f Flight 19- T h e site also pro v id es plenty o f trivia, such as navy recipes. O n e surprising p a rt o f th e site is th e subject o f u n d erw ater archaeology. T he center conducts o n g o in g research into navy w recks, su ch as that o f th e CSS A la b a m a . O th er u n e x p e c te d p le a ­ sures include im ages from th e Navy Art G al­ lery a n d a link to th e o n lin e catalog o f th e 200,000-volum e Navy D ep artm en t Library. R esearchers will p ro b ab ly find th e d etailed m aster b ib lio g rap h y th e m o st useful sectio n o f th e site. T h e biblio g rap h y w a s c reated w ith dis­ ta n t u sers in mind: m o st o f th e 450 b o o k s can b e fo u n d in college o r university libraries. It is b ro k e n d o w n into su c h su b h ead in g s as “E xpe­ ditions a n d E xploration” a n d “Q uasi-W ar w ith France a n d B arbary W ars.” Scholars will also b e in terested in th e c e n te r’s fellow ships an d grants, th e req u irem en ts o f w h ich are given. T h e c e n te r h a s c r e a t e d a c o n te n t- r ic h , f r i e n d l y r e s o u r c e t h a t d e s e r v e s to b e b o o k m a rk e d n o t only by navy buffs b u t by any­ o n e w ith an interest in U.S. history.— Wes Edens, U niversity o f N orth D akota; edens@ badlands. n o d a k .e d u ■ mailto:rible@sou.edu http://www.history.navy.mil nodak.edu