ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 442 / C&RL News ■ April 2001 Joni Roberts and Internet Reviews Carol Drost, editors ElderCare Online. Access: http://www.ec- online.net/. The goal of ElderCare Online is to provide resources and support for the elderly and their caregivers. The site’s founder, Rich O’Boyle, has a history of work with long-term care or­ ganizations and aging issues. A staff of con­ tributing editors, who include psychologists and counselors, supports him. The site adheres to strict standards developed by the international organization Health on the Net, and provides medical, legal, and financial information for educational purposes often based on personal opinions and experiences. ElderCare Online consists of an online bimonthly newsletter, an ElderCare forum, transcripts of speeches and articles, financial advice, and several discussion groups with dates and times for chat users. A “Hot Topic” is also highlighted with additional links, net­ works, and software assistants. An online search center is provided through “Google” and enables the user to search the site by keyword. An online archive maintains an al­ phabetical index to articles and publications that can also be accessed by category. The site began in 1998 and is kept cur­ rent. While the homepage intends to be com­ prehensive, it may appear busy to the inex­ perienced user with its many choices, abun­ dant text, and varied advertising and links lining the page. This should not present a problem to the university student, but it may be confusing for a caregiver attempting to weave through the site for specific informa­ tion. In particular, this site provides excel­ lent coverage of Alzheimer’s Disease. ElderCare Online provides comprehen­ sive, practical information for the beginning researcher seeking initial information and relevant vocabulary on aging issues, particu­ larly in the fields of sociology, psychology, or medicine. For the user caring for the eld­ erly, the site provides extensive support and an online community committed to improv­ ing the quality of life of the caregiver and the elder.—Beth Chapman, Willamette University, bchapman@willamette.edu lnvisibleWeb.com. Access: http://www. invisibleweb. com. There is undiscovered gold in “them thar” hills and, in spite of the best efforts of our most sophisticated search engines, the mother lode eludes all but the most diligent researchers. Rich sources of well-maintained, quality information reside deep within specialized databases buried below the surface of many Web sites. These hidden trea­ sures are often difficult to locate using tradi­ tional search tools because they remain un­ available to search engine Web crawlers, spi­ ders, and intelligent agents that work to gather and deliver their location. This wealth of unseen but accessible information is com­ monly referred to as “the invisible Web.” InvisibleWeb.com is a specialized Web site and search engine that collects, reviews, de­ scribes, indexes and links to the best of this hidden content. The site is a recent runner up in the “2000 Search Engine Watch Awards” for “Best Specialty Search” category (http://searchenginewatch.com/awards/). InvisibleWeb.com is designed to point you and your patrons to valuable, but often un­ discovered information resources. Intelliseek Inc., developer of commercial automated desktop and “corporate intelli­ gence” search products, created the site. The company’s significant technical expertise is integrated into the design and sophisticated search functionality of the InvisibleWeb.com site. 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 http://www.ec-online.net/ http://www.ec-online.net/ mailto:bchapman@willamette.edu lnvisibleWeb.com InvisibleWeb.com http://searchenginewatch InvisibleWeb.com InvisibleWeb.com mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu C&RL News ■ April 2001 / 443 Invisible Web.com is a well-organized tool with a smart and simple interface linking to more than 12,000 selected Web search en­ gines that cover a broad subject range. Col­ lected resources include searchable archives, guides, directories, research data, lists, refer­ ence tools, knowledge bases, and more. Sites considered for inclusion are suggested by users or gathered via Intelliseek’s “automated discovery technology.” InvisibleWeb.com dis­ tinguishes itself from similar efforts by em­ ploying human editors called “subject matter experts” who review submissions for quality and accuracy. Once a site is selected, the editors index and describe the database, and categorize resources in sensible directory tax­ onomy. The result is a lean, select set of re­ sources that provide quality results. The simple, intuitive search interface will satisfy both advanced and novice searchers. Simple “and” searching is the default, but natural language recognition and advanced Boolean searching options are available. All options and features are presented in an in­ tuitive and user-customizable screen layout. Result sets offer direct hits of surprising relevance with concise resource descriptions. Linked results lead users directly to the search input form at the resource site. The result pages also offer the user an appropriate set of links in a directory format for subject browsing. The resource collection at InvisibleWeb.com shows particular strength in the areas of business, legal, and govern­ ment research. Many resources are appro­ priate to the highest levels of academic re­ search, but the site also provides coverage of useful and generalized data sources for the casual user in areas such as entertainment, travel, and simple directory services. Whether your pot of gold is the elusive “Windows 95 Annoyances Database” or a database of “NSF Sponsored Research at the Colorado School of Mines,” you may well wish to start your dig at InvisibleWeb.com.— Mark A. Smith, NYS College of Ceramics at Alfred University, msmith@alfred.edu United Nations Population Fund. Ac­ cess-. http://www.unfpa.org/. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), created in 1969, is the largest inter­ national source of population assistance for developing countries. Its Web site contains information on the organization itself, repro­ duction, population, development, gender issues, and health problems such as HIV/ AIDS. The site provides many of its publications online in full-text (generally in PDF, Word, or HTML) format. Most of the publications are available in English, French, and Span­ ish. The link to the latest edition (year 2000) of UNFPA’s most well-known publication, State of World Population, is prominently dis­ played on the site’s homepage. Made avail­ able in HTML format, it is easy to navigate the report via hyperlinks in the table of con­ tents, and includes charts, graphs, tables, pho­ tographs, and indicators. Other statistical re­ ports that can be accessed from the site in­ clude “Maternal Mortality Update 1998-1999,” “Contraceptive Use and Commodity Costs in Developing Countries 1994-2005,” and “De­ mographic and Reproductive Health Survey” (conducted February 2000). Also available on the site are two peri­ odicals, Dispatches (the UNFPA’s newsletter) and the magazine Populi, which contains articles on a variety of population-related topics. There are also links to a wide-range of UNFPA-produced reports, documents, and technical publications, including Population Issues Briefing Kit, which provides synop­ ses of sociological, political, and health is­ sues such as “Urbanization and Migration,” “Reproductive Health and Rights,” “Sustain­ able Development,” and “Empowering Women, Ending Violence.” All of the publi­ cations on the UNFPA Web site appear to be the most currently available versions; the news section of the site seems to be up­ dated often. Other sections of the site are devoted to specific UNFPA programs. There is also a regional component of the site, however, at present, only the pages dedicated to the “Arab States and Europe” and “Asia and Pacific” offer anything other than lists of UNFPA field of­ fices in the regions. The “Asia and Pacific” section offers comprehensive information on the area, including issues, overviews, and country-by-country reports and documents. The entire site is searchable using keywords and basic Boolean operators and results are displayed in relevance-ranking order. (continued on page 446) InvisibleWeb.com InvisibleWeb.com InvisibleWeb.com mailto:msmith@alfred.edu http://www.unfpa.org/ 446 / C&RL News ■ April 2001 Banishes Snakes” to illustrate “blarney,” and a Walt Kelly comic strip showing Albert the Alli­ gator for extinction of species). An introduc­ tory essay by Kraig Adler on the history of herpetological illustration is illuminating. $60.00. Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles, c/o Department of Biology, St. Louis University, 3507 La clede Avenue, Room 127, St. Louis, MO 63103-2010. ISBN 0-916984- 53-2. The Medical Library Association Guide to Managing Health Care Libraries, edited by Ruth Holst (371 pages, September 2000), pre­ sents 16 chapters on all aspects of library ser­ vice to health-care providers. Patterned on MLA’s influential Hospital Library Management, edited by Jana Bradley (1983), this guidebook gives practical tips on financial management, space planning, personnel management, col­ lection development, health information re­ sources, document delivery, and resources for patients and consumers. $75.00. Neal-Schuman. ISBN 1-55570-397-6. Observing the Moon: The Modern Astronomer’s Guide, by Gerald North (381 pages, October 2000), offers advice on tele­ scopes, cameras, and software in addition to a close examination of 48 interesting lunar fea­ tures. North’s enthusiasm for the history and science of lunar observation is evident through­ out as he takes the amateur selenographer on a tour of the moon’s surface. Of particular in­ terest is his treatment of transient lunar phe­ nomena (lights, mists, and other short-term changes occasionally reported on the moon), a topic not often addressed in the literature even though it has a venerable history. Many photographs and observers’ sketches accom­ pany the text. $39.95. Cambridge University. ISBN 0-521-62274-3. Thieves, Deceivers and Killers: Tales of Chemistry in Nature, by William Agosta (241 pages, January 2001), offers some intriguing examples of how organisms steal, counterfeit, or interpret the chemical signals of other spe­ cies. Each story illustrates an aspect of chemi­ cal ecology, from plant-ant symbiosis in creat­ ing ant gardens in the jungles of Peru to de­ fensive mimicry of ant pheromones by cater­ pillars, northward-pointing magnetic microbes, and poison-gas-wielding insect larvae. Much of this biochemical interplay was completely unknown until tools developed in the past few decades provided a closer look at molecules that seemed mere waste products. Agosta also offers an overview of how these discoveries lead to new pharmaceuticals, natural pesticides, and other biotechnologies. $26.95. Princeton University. ISBN 0-691-00488-9. Where Mathematics Comes From, by George Lakoff and Rafael E. Núñez (492 pages, November 2000), is a good read for numbers buffs. Linguist Lakoff and psychologist Núñez contend that mathematics is rooted in every­ day human cognitive activity instead of some transcendent Platonist netherworld. To prove their point, they take the reader on a meta­ phor-filled examination of basic arithmetic, algebra, infinity, and space-time that may put off arithmophobes and old-fashioned pre­ postmodernists, but will excite anyone who thrills to such terminology as “discretized num­ ber-line blend,” the “hierarchy of transfinite cardinals,” and “fictive motion.” A completely different way to look at the origin and struc­ ture of mathematical concepts. $30.00. Basic Books. ISBN 0-465-03770-4. ■ (“Preservation News” continued from page 441) authenticity and authentication, and collabo­ rative efforts in digital preservation. Both events were sponsored by the Cedars Project, the Research Libraries Group, and OCLC in association with the U.K. Office for Library Networking. The proceedings and papers are available at http://www.rlg.org/events/pres-2000/. A summary of both events is available in the December 2000 issue of RLG DigiNews at http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/ diginews4-6.html#feature2. ■ (“Internet Reυiews” continued from page 443) The UNFPA Web site has some very useful introductory information for undergraduate students who are unfamiliar with some of the major issues involved in international popula­ tion. The site also offers essential statistics for more advanced students and faculty, especially those researching demographic, development, gender equity, or reproductive health issues.— Geraldine Foudy, University of Maryland at College Park, gf48@umail.umd.edu ■ http://www.rlg.org/events/pres-2000/ http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/ mailto:gf48@umail.umd.edu