april05c.indd I n t e r n e t R e v i e w s Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost Florida Memory Project. Access: http:// fl oridamemory.com. Significant Florida documents and pho tographs are accessible through the Florida Memory Project. As a result of funding from the Library Services Construction Act, the State Archives of Florida developed this Web site to make its collection available to a wide audience of students, teachers, and researchers. The site consists of five main sections. “Florida Photographic Collection” provides more than 100,000 pho document and interpret historic changes. This section also contains audio recordings of performances by, or interviews with, folk musicians and storytellers. An audio record ing performance by Zora Neale Hurston and an interview with Mary B. Billie, a Seminole doll maker, are a sampling of the oral histories that users can access. Twentyeight fi lm and video clips from the archives are accessible, as well. “Highlights of Florida History” provides access to historic documents from every momentous time period. tographs dating from the Users will be fascinated 1800s to the present. They to view a digitized 1589 are featured in 29 collec color map of Saint Augus tions, which contain prints, tine, which is the oldest photographs, and images item in the archives. of Florida’s Seminole In Users can access a dians, cities, tourist attrac wealth of historical and genealogical documentstions, rivers, fl owers, birds, people, and businesses. A from selected collections search box is provided to in the Florida State Ar assist in searching. A user has the option of searching by keyword, spe cifi c fields, collections, or subject headings. “Online Classroom” provides primary source documents for teaching and learning about Florida history. For example, resources for participants in the annual Florida History Fair and lesson plans on Florida history for various eras or time periods can be accessed in this section. Through historical and con temporary photographs, users can view the changes in Florida towns, cities, and commu nities from the perspective of students. “View from the School,” a pilot project between the Florida State Archives and a thirdgrade class, encourages students to 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 chives in “Collections.” Researchers will be able to browse and search such collections as “The Florida Folklife Collection,” “World War I Service Cards,” “Florida Early Constitutions,” and “Spanish Land Grants.” Major events in Florida history can be explored in “Timeline of Florida History.” Selected documents from the Florida Memory Project are linked in the timeline, which gives historical context to the period discussed. The site is easily navigated with clear links to a site map, contact information, and a ques tion and feedback form. Individuals interested in Florida history will find the Florida Memory Project a rich resource.—Nancy Allen, USF Sarasota-Manatee/New College of Florida, nallen@banshee.sar.usf.edu World Policy Institute. Access: http:// www.worldpolicy.org/. The World Policy Institute (WPI), housed at New School University, offers access to 320C&RL News April 2005 http:www.worldpolicy.org mailto:nallen@banshee.sar.usf.edu mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu http:oridamemory.com its publications, research projects, and other programs through its Web site. WPI “is a research and education policy center that seeks innovative solutions to critical problems facing the United States and the world.” Its stated focus is “on the preservation of demo cratic values, the protection of civil rights, the advancement of tolerance, fairness, and the rule of law, and the support of a capitalism tempered by social justice.” As part of its work in policy research and advocacy, the institute publishes the World Policy Journal. Subscription information, se lected excerpts from the current issue, and a combination of extracts and fulltext access to past issues are available through links from the main page. Other options available include links to information about events sponsored by WPI, including a lecture series and the “Economics of Security” study group. In the past, lectures have covered such topics as U.S. policy to wards Cuba, war crimes in West Africa, and the U.S.North Korean confrontation over nuclear weapons. Many of these lectures are available via archived Webcasts. The study group has dis cussed such topics as the 2006 budget, the war on ter rorism, and re construction in Iraq. While the discussions are not archived, related articles and summaries are often included. WPI supports a number of research proj ects, which are staffed by WPI research as sociates. Information on the projects, research staff, and research outcomes are included. “Links” connects the user to publications, research organizations, educational institutes, international sites, grassroots groups, and media sites that offer further information or resources related to policy issues. Navigation is straightforward, with some duplication between links in the top banner and the text links on the body of the page. The navigation banner is present on most pages. Updating and maintenance are gener ally good, although some areas have obvi ously had more recent updates than others. Overall, WPI is a useful site that will be of interest to students and researchers interested in current, hot topic domestic and foreign policy issues.—Ford Schmidt, Willamette University, fschmidt@willamette.edu Manybooks.net. Access: http://www. manybooks.net. As the saying goes, “So many books, so little time.” Well, those of us who use PDAs or any form of electronic book reader, have an opportunity to make better use of our time by becoming familiar with Manybooks.net. Using the Project Gutenburg etexts as its core collection, Manybooks.net is designed as a onestop service that delivers thousands of freely available public domain books in a variety of text formats designed for a wide range of etext readers. Each individual title in this collection is available in multiple for mats and is able to run under an impressive variety of reader applications. The collection at Manybooks.net is formatted in Doc, PDF, Plucker, iSilo, Rocket eBook, zTXT, TiBR, eReader, and TCR formats. Currently sup ported devices include the Palm, PocketPC, Zaurus, Rocketbook, and Symbian (Nokia) cell phone. The collection contains the entire Project Gutenberg collection and new titles are added within a week of release. The Web site is easy to use and navigate. The collection is searchable by title or author only. Users are also able to browse the col lection alphabetically by subject category or language. The etexts are currently available in 22 languages and organized into 41 subject categories from “Adventure” to “Women’s Studies.” A Web page is provided for each book, offering useful information, such as number of downloads of that title, length, language, author information, a book cover graphic, and user reviews. Perhaps the most helpful function of these pages is the ability to read an excerpt (or the entire text) online before downloading the book. (continued on page 328) April 2005 321 C&RL News http:Manybooks.net http:Manybooks.net http:Manybooks.net http:manybooks.net http://www http:Manybooks.net mailto:fschmidt@willamette.edu per Library, died Janu ary 8 after a long illness. Gilchrist held an MLS from the University of Kentucky and served as a librarian at the Univer sity of Kentucky before becoming a reference librarian at the Univer sity of South Carolina in 1981. Robert W. Severance, 97, retired director of the Air University Library, has died. He began his library career at North Carolina State Uni versity Library; was appointed library director at Stetson University; and, in 1940, became director and dean of libraries at Baylor Uni versity. He also worked in the Army Library at the Pentagon and the National Library of Medicine and retired as director of the Air University Library in 1973. Severance was a member of several state and national library associations and served as ACRL President from 1952 to 1953. He founded the Federal Librarians Round Table and was a consultant to several libraries in Europe, Asia, and South America. Elton Bryson Stephens, 93, founder and chairman emeritus of EBSCO Industries, Inc., has died. Stephens’ support of Alabama insti tutions of art and higher education includes Advertisers AARP 307 ACM 285 ACRL 307 Annual Reviews 317 ARL 325 Blackwell’s Book Services 329 Chemical Abstracts Services Cover 2 Choice 277 EBSCO 273 Iimage Retrieval 319 Intelex 297 Project Muse 274 RLG Cover 3 Thomas Gale Cover 4 Alexander MacGregor (Sandy) Gilchrist the establishment of the EBSCO Endowed Chair of Library Service at the University of Alabama School of Library and Information Studies, the first endowed library chair in the United States. Stephens gifted his alma mater BirminghamSouthern College with the Elton B. Stephens Science Center, and he and his wife helped establish the Alys Robinson Ste phens Performing Arts Center at the Universi ty of AlabamaBirmingham, named for her. In 1944, he and his wife formed a partnership to sell spirt de corps and recreational supplies, including magazine subscriptions, to the U.S. Armed Forces. Today, EBSCO is a collection of more than 30 business units with 5,000 em ployees active internationally in information services, publisher services, real estate devel opment, and manufacturing. (“Internet Reviews” cont. from page 321) Those new to electronic book reading devices and formats will be pleased with the clear and concise help. In addition to the basics of searching, there is signifi cant documentation that will guide users in identifying and obtaining the appropriate application and format for their reader device. The obvious strength of Manybooks.net is its ability to deliver a rich digital archive in many portable formats. However, Many books.net goes beyond its role as a deposi tory by promoting its content in effective ways. The site provides users with lists of its most popular titles, special collections, and recent additions. It also offers visitors access to a unique “eBook Cover Gallery.” This gallery is an extraordinary collection of original book cover images for many of the titles in the collection. Lastly, the site promotes a virtual community by encourag ing its visitors to recommend and review titles in the collection. Manybooks.net of fers a fresh approach to help us use our new tools to freely and conveniently access the wisdom of the ages.—Mark A. Smith, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University, msmith@alfred.edu 328C&RL News April 2005 mailto:msmith@alfred.edu http:Manybooks.net http:books.net http:Manybooks.net