ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 8 58 / C&RL N e w s ■ N o v e m b e r 1999 I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Sara A m a to , e d ito r M ap s a n d D ire c tio n s: ln fo s p a c e .c o m . A ccess: h t t p : / / i n - 137.in f o s p a c e .c o m / i n f o / k e v m a p / m a p d i r . h t m ? a c t n a v = o r g . In fo s p a c e .c o m is a c o m p re h e n s iv e s o u rc e o f d ire c to ry in fo rm a tio n . Its fo c u s is o n “c o n te n t w i t h b r o a d a p p e a l , s u c h a s y e llo w p a g es, a n d w h i t e p a g e s , m a p s , c la s s ifie d a d ­ v e r t i s e m e n t s , r e a l ­ tim e s to c k q u o te s , in ­ f o r m a t i o n o n l o c a l b u s i n e s s e s a n d e v e n ts, w e a t h e r fo re c a s ts a n d h o r o s c o p e s .” W h ile In fo s p a c e .c o m is n o t u n iq u e in p ro v id ­ in g a c c e s s to this k in d o f c o n te n t, it d o e s a g o o d jo b o f efficiently c o n n e c tin g th e u s e r w ith n e w s , e -s h o p p in g , e n te rta in m e n t, a n d th e fo ­ c u s o f th is review : m a p s a n d direc tio n s. W h ile th e re a re m a n y sites th a t p ro v id e a c ­ c e s s to m a p s a n d d ire c tio n s b e tw e e n tw o a d ­ d re s s e s , in c lu d in g M a p B la s t.c o m , D e lo rm e , c o m a n d M a p Q u e st.c o m , In fo sp a c e .c o m is m y first c h o ic e w h e n I n e e d m a p s o r direc tio n s. U sers c a n a c c e s s U.S., C a n a d ia n , a n d in te rn a ­ tional m ap s, driving directions, a n d ro u te m aps. T h e d riv in g d ire c tio n s a re t h e m o s t u se fu l a s­ p e c t. U sers e n te r th e sta rtin g a n d d e stin a tio n a d d r e s s e s a n d t h e d a t a b a s e , p o w e r e d b y V icinity.com , g e n e ra te s s te p -b y -ste p d irec tio n s th a t in c lu d e to ta l d is ta n c e a n d e s tim a te d travel tim e. O n c e th e ste p -b y -step d irec tio n s a re avail­ a b le , u s e rs c a n a ls o a c c e s s re tu rn direc tio n s, n e w d irec tio n s, a n d a ro u te m a p . A d d itio n ­ ally, th e se a rc h re su lts in re g io n -sp ec ific links, in clu d in g city g u id es, classified a d v ertisem en ts, a n d w e a th e r in fo rm a tio n . I n c o m p a r i s o n t o o t h e r m a p s i t e s , In fo s p a c e .c o m is n o t g ra p h ic s-h e a v y a n d , a s a re su lt, d o w n lo a d s re su lts q u ickly. M ost users, re g ard less o f In tern e t-c o n n e ctio n sp e e d , sh o u ld fin d In fo s p a c e .c o m to b e fairly s p e e d y . H o w ­ ever, th e re a re s o m e a s p e c ts o f In fo sp a c e .c o m th a t c o u ld b e im p ro v e d . T h e m a p s a n d d ire c ­ tio n s a re in th e y e llo w p a g e s , b u t th e sm all fo n t m a k e s it difficult to im m e d ia te ly lo c a te th e link. Also, a lth o u g h In fo s p a c e .c o m says th a t its “d ire c tio n s e n g in e ” re q u ire s th a t th e sta rtin g a n d d e stin a tio n p o i n ts b e in th e s a m e U.S. re g io n o r m e tro a rea , I w a s a b le to p e r­ fo rm a s e a rc h b e tw e e n M aine a n d M o ntana. T h a t is c ertain ly n o t t h e s a m e re g io n , b u t th e re su lts s e e m e d a c c u rate . H o w e v e r, a s u b s e ­ q u e n t lo n g -d is ta n c e se a rc h d id n o t p r o d u c e su c c e ssfu l results. O verall, th e m a p s a n d d ire c tio n s s e c tio n o f In fo s p a c e .c o m is a g o o d o n e . It is a logical a n d e fficient re s o u rc e fo r a n y o n e w h o ru n s th e risk o f b e in g a s k e d , “H o w d o I g e t th e re fro m h ere?”—J e n n i f e r K. Snow , B o w d o in Col­ lege, js n o w @ b o w d o in .e d u U N IV E R S IT Y O F M IN N E S O T A Human Rights Library M e ta S e a r c h E n g in e f o r S e a r c h in g M ultiple H um an R igh ts Sites. Access: h t t p : / / w w w l .u m n . e d u / h u m a n r t s / law form .htm l. As th e W eb ’s g ro w th ra te c o n tin u e s to s p i­ ral u p w a rd s , re s e a rc h e rs a re in g re a te r n e e d o f to o ls to h e lp th e m re trie v e re le v a n t infor­ m atio n . T h e M eta S e a rch E n g in e fo r S e a rch in g M ultiple H u m a n Rights Sites is o n e s u c h tool. It is n e w ly o ffe re d b y th e U niversity o f M inne­ s o t a H u m a n R ig h ts L ib ra ry ( h t t p : / / w w w l . u m n .e d u /h u m a n r ts ), a lo n g s ta n d in g re s o u rc e in th e fie ld o f h u m a n rig h ts , d e s i g n e d b y In n o v a m e d T ec h n o lo g ie s. T h e m eta search e n g in e allow s users to search 18 different h u m a n rights sites sim ultaneously or, conversely, to search o n e o r m o re sites selec­ tively. Currently, th e lineup o f sites available for searching includes a diverse g ro u p in g o f h u m a n rights organizations— U nited N ations bodies, in­ tergovernm ental agencies, no n g o v ern m en tal or­ ganizations, a n d governm ents. Using a specialized m eta search e n g in e is a d ­ va n ta g eo u s for a n u m b e r o f reasons: searching several sites at o n c e saves time; o n e standard search interface is used; results te n d to b e rel­ evant, as on ly h u m a n rights sites are searched; a n d co m p re h en siv e search es a re easier to c o n ­ duct. Sara A m a to is ele ctro n ic services and W e b d eve lo pm e n t librarian a t Bowdoin College, e-mail:samato@bowdoin.edu lnfospace.com http://in-137.infospace.com/info/ Infospace.com Infospace.com MapBlast.com MapQuest.com Infospace.com Vicinity.com Infospace.com Infospace.com Infospace.com Infospace.com Infospace.com mailto:jsnow@bowdoin.edu http://wwwl umn.edu/humanrts/ http://wwwl umn.edu/humanrts mailto:samato@bowdoin.edu C&RL N e w s ■ N o v e m b e r 1999 / 859 T h e s e stre n g th s a re particu la rly im p o rta n t fo r re sea rc h ers, activists, a n d lib rarian s w h o w a n t to identify m u ltip le re p o rts th a t d o c u ­ m e n t th e h u m a n rights c o n d itio n s in a g iv en c o u n try o r th at d iscu ss specific g ro u p s targ e te d fo r h u m a n rights violations. T h e tra d e -o ff fo r c o n v e n ie n c e a n d e a s e o f u s e is th at m e ta se a rc h e n g in e s d o n o t e x p lo it e ith e r th e u n iq u e func tio n ality o f individual se a rc h e n g in e s o r th e “in v isib le ” d a ta b a s e s of­ fered o n m a n y sites. T w o exam ples: T h e UN H igh C om m issioner fo r R efugees se a rc h e n g in e a llo w s visitors to c o n d u c t s e a rc h e s w ith in p a rtic u la r se c tio n s o f its W eb site— UNHCR d o c u m e n ts, legal d o c u ­ m ents, etc., o r s e a rc h th e m all— w h ile th e Im ­ m igration a n d R efugee B o a rd o f C a n a d a p ro ­ d u c e s se v e ra l FolioV iew s c o u n try in fo rm a tio n d a ta b ases a n d m a k e s th e m available fo r se a rc h ­ ing o n its site. T o u s e th e s e fe atu res, a se a rc h e r m ust link to a site a n d la u n c h a q u e ry from th e o riginal so u rc e . K n o w in g m o re a b o u t th e s c o p e o f w h a t th e m e ta se a rc h e n g in e actually se a rc h e s w o u ld b e w e lco m e. T h e site o ffers g e n e ra l in stru ctio n s fo r for­ m u la tin g se a rc h e s a n d a c c e p ta b le se a rc h sy n ­ tax. M ost o f th e in d ividual se a rc h e n g in e s s u p ­ p o rt tru n c a tio n , B o o lea n , a n d p ro x im ity o p ­ erators. Links to se le c te d s e a rc h tip p a g e s a re also p ro v id e d to hig h lig h t a d d itio n a l features. S earch re su lts a re r e tu r n e d se q u e n tially , w ith a m a x im u m o f 50 re s p o n s e s fo r s o m e se a rc h e n g in e s. Hits a re p re s e n te d o n o n e p a g e a n d o rg a n iz e d b y so u rc e to a llo w th e u s e r to b e t­ te r e v a lu a te th e e ffe c tiv e n ess o f a se a rc h o n a n e n g in e -b y -e n g in e basis. Increasingly, m o re sp e c ia liz ed to o ls like th e h u m a n rights m e ta se a rc h e n g in e a re d o ttin g th e W eb la n d s c a p e — fo r g o o d re a so n . Info r­ m atio n o v e rlo a d is to o c o m m o n a n ailm ent. A ny m e th o d s w e c a n a d o p t to im p ro v e th e p re c isio n a n d re le v a n c e o f o u r se a rc h e s will g r e a t l y e n h a n c e t h e r e s e a r c h p r o c e s s . — E lisa M ason, In d e p e n d e n t I n fo r m a tio n Spe­ cialist, e lisa m a so n @ ib m .n e t Rare B o ok , M a n u scrip t, a n d S p e c ia l C o lle ctio n s Library, D uke University. Access: h ttp ://s c rip to riu m .lib .d u k e .e d u . A real g e m fo r archivists a n d o th e rs w h o love to d e lv e in to th e p a st, th is site c a n ta k e u p sim ply h o u rs o f y o u r tim e: p la n a c c o rd ­ ingly. T h e c a ta lo g o f th e Rare B o o k , M a n u ­ script, a n d Special C o llections Library at D u k e , it a lso in cludes so m e full-text collections, w hich h a v e b e e n digitized. T h e la y o u t is sim p le a n d s o m e w h a t linear. M uch is c o n ta in e d h e re , a n d it is all relatively e a s y to find. U sually o n e o r tw o clicks will get to a s e l e c te d a re a . T h a n k y o u , d e sig n e rs ! F ram es a re a ctually u se fu l in ste a d o f b e in g in­ trusive, a n d se rv e as a T ab le o f C o n te n ts for e a c h se c tio n . N a v ig atio n is sim p le a n d direct, m a k in g it sc o re h ig h o n th e “e a s e o f u s e ” scale. T h e R e ce n t A d d itio n s se c tio n offers a q u ic k u p d a te o f n e w m aterials fo r re g u la r users. O n e o f th e n e w c o l­ lections, w h ic h figures p ro m in e n tly at th e to p o f t h e h o m e p a g e , is Historic A m erican Sheet Music, w h ic h “p ro v id e s a c c e s s to d igital im ages o f 3,042 p iec es from th e collection, p u b lis h e d in th e U n ite d S ta te s b e ­ t w e e n 1850 a n d 1 9 2 0 .” T h e c o ll e c t io n is b ro w s a b le b y subject, illustration, advertising, d a te , a n d title. It is a lso s e a rc h a b le b y m o re th a n 20 fields, in clu d in g all th e b ro w s a b le o n e s a n d s o m e p le a s a n t su rp rise s— engraver, litho­ g ra p h er, arranger, d e d ic a te e , first line, refrain, series, lyricist, LCSH, c o m p o ser, etc. S om e cata­ lo g e r w e n t sim p ly w ild a n d h a d h is o r h e r w a y w ith th is c o llection. G o o d n e w s fo r us! C u rre n cy is n o t s o m u c h a n issu e fo r a n a rch iv e site, a n d is a d d re s s e d b y th e “R ecent A d d itio n s” se c tio n . Since th is is a h istoric col­ lection, c u rre n c y re fe rs to th e rate a t w h ic h d a ta is d ig itize d a n d a d d e d . I c o u ld fin d n o in d ic a tio n o f fu tu re p la n s fo r digitizing s p e ­ cific o th e r p ie c e s o f th e c o llection. T h e “last u p d a te d ” d a te liste d w a s N o v e m b e r 17, 1997. M ost o f th e m ate ria ls availab le in th e li­ b ra ry a re still o n p a p e r a n d re sid e th e re . N o­ t a b l e d i g it i z e d c o l l e c t io n s a r e “C ivil W ar W o m e n ,” a c o lle ctio n o f diaries, p a p e rs , a n d letters, a n d “T h e U rb a n L a n d sca p e,” o v e r 1,000 im a g e s p e rta in in g to th is th e m e . M any p ie c e s o f th e c o lle ctio n d e a l w ith re g io n a l interests o r topics, b u t m a y find a n a u d ie n c e a n y w h e re . All in all, th is is a n e x c e lle n t site, fo r b o th c o n te n t a n d d esign. In fact, it c o u ld b e a m o d e l fo r others. G iving th e u s e r less c lutter a n d m o re a c c e ss p o in ts c a n o n ly m a k e us, in th e w o rd s o f Em eril Lagasse, “H a p p y h a p p y .”— Lisa K. Miller, P a ra d ise Valley C o m m u n ity College Li­ brary, m ille r@ p v c .m a r ic o p a .e d u ■ mailto:elisamason@ibm.net http://scriptorium.lib.duke.edu 860 / C&RL N e w s ■ N o v e m b e r 1999