dec05c.indd


I n t e r n e t  R e v i e w s  Joni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost 

Human Rights Review Digest. Access: 
http://www.du.edu/gsis/hrhw/digest/. 
As part of the Web site of Human Rights 

& Human Welfare: An international review 
of books and other publications, the Review 
Digest is a research tool consisting of bib­
liographic summaries authored and edited 
by graduate students at the University of 
Denver’s Graduate School of International 
Studies. These summaries are intended to 
“provide researchers and scholars with a 
distillation of topics in an easily accessible 
format” and to “help the reader identify areas 
where more research and new approaches 
are needed.” 

These concisely annotated bibliographies 
are organized conceptually by topic, subtopic, 
and a label for each set of citations. There are 
currently three topics listed, which include 
“Human Rights and Health,” “Human Rights 
and the War on Terror,” and “Human Rights 
and Post­War Reconstruction.” In keeping 
with the Digest’s mission to “contemplate 
how human rights, as a practice and a dis­
course, have interacted with other political 
projects,” each topic is introduced by an 
expert, such as a professor from a recognized 
graduate program. Following the introduction 
is a section on methodology and a list of re­
searchers. Subtopics and summaries include 
the initials of their primary contributors. 

Organized hierarchically, with a persis­
tent left­hand menu for topics, subtopics 
and groupings of citations, the site is easy 
to navigate, while being rich with text. The 
emphasis on context is preserved by often in­
corporating the subtopics and labels for each 
set of citations into the topic introductions 
and section overviews as hyperlinks. 

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 

Additionally, many narrative sections 
include notes on the organization of the ma­
terial to follow. While individual summaries 
are not dated, all of the site’s content is from 
no earlier than fall 2004. 

This resource will be useful to professors, 
librarians, and graduate and undergraduate 
students alike as a tool for scholarly re­
search in the areas of human rights and 
related topics. More than an annotated 
bibliography, it provides perspective on 
the literature it documents by giving judi­
cious background on issues and concepts. 
Two of the three topics are organized at the 
higher levels by geography, enabling easy 
use by those conducting country studies 
and those researching particular conditions 
and conflicts. Because of this attention to 
context, these summaries can serve both 
as introductory reading on general and 
specific human rights issues as well as au­
thoritative bibliographical sources for those 
completing a research project.—Jeremy 
Donald, Trinity University, jdonald@trinity.edu 

Linus Pauling Institute. Access: http://lpi. 
oregonstate.edu/. 
The Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) was es­

tablished in 1996 at Oregon State University, 

Pauling’s undergraduate alma mater, with 
the assets of the now defunct Linus Pauling 
Institute of Science and Medicine. The idea 
was that the new institute would continue 
the study of the topic that Pauling devoted 
more than 30 years to: “the function and role 
of micronutrients, phytochemicals and micro­
constituents of food in maintaining human 
health and preventing and treating disease.” 

C&RL News December 2005  830 

http:oregonstate.edu
http://lpi
mailto:jdonald@trinity.edu
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu
http://www.du.edu/gsis/hrhw/digest


Users not familiar with Pauling or his work 
can learn quite a bit from the LPI site. There 
is a short biography of Pauling complete with 
photographs. Researchers can link to the Paul­
ing Papers, which include personal and scien­
tific papers, letters, images, research models, 
and links to a number of Internet resources. 

The most useful content is available 
through the links to LPI’s research reports, 
the Cancer Chemoprotection Core Laboratory, 
and the Micronutrient Information Center. The 
reports include news of LPI and highlights of 
current research conducted by the staff. 

The Cancer Chemoprotection Core Labo­
ratory supports the mission of the institute 
by assisting in the determination of the po­
tential of a particular dietary compound as a 
“chemoprotective agent.” The 
section of the site devoted to 
the laboratory includes descrip­
tions of the assays and pictures 
of the instrumentation. Links to 
related resources that could aid 
in the understanding of the assays are also 
provided. 

The Micronutrient Information Center 
provides “scientifically accurate information 
regarding the roles of vitamins, minerals, 
dietary phytochemicals, and other nutrients 
in preventing disease and promoting health.” 
This part of the site is organized by type of 
nutrient and includes indexes by disease and 
nutrient. The center also provides a glossary 
(with links from the nutrient reports) and “LPI 
Rx for Health” that list the LPI’s recommenda­
tions for a healthy lifestyle. The nutrient report 
includes information such as the function of 
the nutrient, the causes and possible conse­
quences of a deficiency, and possible roles in 
disease prevention and treatment. References 
are included and linked from each report. 

Also available on the LPI site are links 
to information about research staff, news 
articles featuring research conducted by LPI, 
books available from LPI, seminar topics, 
and upcoming conferences. This site will 
be of interest to researchers and the general 
public alike.—Linda Maddux, Reed College, 
madduxl@reed.edu 

California Geographical Survey. Access: 
http://geogdata.csun.edu/. 
The California Geographical Survey, 

hosted by the Department of Geography at 
California State University­Northridge, con­
tains an extensive collection of geographic 
information through a variety of digital me­
dia. William Bowen is the prolific creator of 
the works archived in this award­winning 
survey. The database includes maps, mov­
ies, population data, and other geographical 
information covering California and other 
areas in the United States. While not explic­
itly stated on the site, the database seems to 
have been in existence for at least six years, 
and was primarily developed to be used as 
an educational tool. 

The site is divided into three primary areas: 
“The Electronic Map Library,” the “Educational 
Materials Archive,” and the “Cartographic Re­
sources: Digital Map Bases.” The panoramic 
aerial maps in the “Electronic Map Library” are 
presented as still images or slide shows. 

The atlases cover the major California 
cities and large population centers in the 
United States, grouping still images under 
the topics of population and race, ancestry, 
income and poverty, and adult education at­
tainment. Under the “Educational Materials 
Archive” only one of the three links was still 
active, leading to a syllabus and reading list 
for an undergraduate geography course. The 
“Cartographic Resources” area offered data 
sets created by the United States Geological 
Survey (USGS). Links to free versions of the 
necessary viewing tools were available. There 
are many interesting tools on the market 
these days for the display and manipulation 
of geographic data, unfortunately none have 
been incorporated into the site. 

While the basic content of the site is fi ne, 
its usability needs improvement. The site does 

(continued on page 835) 

December 2005  831 C&RL News 

http:http://geogdata.csun.edu
mailto:madduxl@reed.edu


of prominent Eastern Kentucky families and 
civic leaders—such as the Means­Seaton fam­
ily, who fi gured significantly in development 
of the iron industry in Ashland, and Cora 
Wilson Stewart, who founded the Moonlight 
School in Morehead and gained national 
attention in her fight against illiteracy—will 
receive upgraded fi nding aids. 

Acquisitions 

The papers of John Weitz (1923–2002), a 
seminal figure in the development of U.S. 
ready­to­wear fashion, have been received 
by the New School University Libraries’ 
Anna­Maria and Stephen Kellen Archives 
Center for Parsons The New School for 
Design. Weitz helped define the Ameri­
can look, established the fi rst signature 
menswear line, and shaped the lucrative 
possibilities of licensing a designer’s name. 
Weitz was at times a spy, a race car driver, 

an author, and a photographer. He was 
also a visiting lecturer at Parsons (1975–77, 
1986–88, and 1992–95). 

(“Internet Reviews” continued from page 
831) 
not have a global navigation mechanism of 
any sort. There is a strictly linear progression 
into the database and then a hammering of 
the “back” button to return to the homepage. 
There is no consistent site branding or banner, 
and the IP address is still numeric once in 
the site; sometimes it is impossible to know 
if you are still in the database. 

If the resources in this database are 
unique, there is little in the way of metadata 
that would make them useful for researchers. 
Students and teachers of geography at the 
high school or undergraduate level may ben­
efit from these materials. However, younger 
students and the general public would be 
better served by USGS Maps or National 
Geographic.—Sheri Webber, Florida State 
University, slw04f@fsu.edu 

December 2005  835 C&RL News 

mailto:slw04f@fsu.edu