march06c.indd


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

Western Waters Digital Library. Access: 
http://www.westernwaters.org. 
Water resources have long been viewed 

as precious commodities in the Western 
United States. Representing the result of a 
two­year Institute of Museum and Library 
Services grant, the Western Waters Digital 
Library (WWDL) Web site features the col­
laborative effort of 12 university libraries in 
eight western states to provide key primary 
sources relating to the Columbia, Colorado, 
Platte, and Rio Grande Rivers. 

The WWDL homepage offers straight­
forward access to a wealth of digitized col­
lections. Visitors to the site can select quick 
searching options from the upper menu bar 
by choosing one of four categories: text, 
images, video, and audio. But new users 
will benefit most by choosing “Guide to the 
Collections,” which offers an overview of the 
profusion of available resources. Searchers 
can then select from five main collections: the 
Columbia, Colorado, Platte, and Rio Grande 
River Basins, as well as “Regional Resources.” 
Within each collection are specifi c digitized 
materials, such as “Cloud Seeding Docu­
ments” and “Early Las Vegas.” Historic maps 
and photographs are abundant, as well as 
digitized government documents, such as 
hydrology reports, flood damage summaries, 
and wildlife guides. Drop­down menus offer 
users the chance to browse by the following 
categories: “People,” “Places,” “Collections,” 
or “Subject.” Topics range from reclamation 
to fishing industries to water rights. 

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 

The images and text of these primary 
sources are high quality, and the navigation 
tools are fairly straightforward. Users can 
search, view results, and then customize 
by setting preferences or go a step further 
to manipulate images for comparing and 
contrasting the materials. An online tutorial 
is available for detailed software and proce­
dural instructions. In addition to the wealth 
of digitized images and primary documents, 
students and researchers will appreciate 
the bibliographies of suggested readings 
and the list of links to other water resource 
organizations. 

The WWDL is a valuable resource for 
those studying such scientifi c fields as hydrol­
ogy and geology as well as environmental 
impact issues. But the digital material cov­
ers more, and thus will appeal to a wider 
audience. Legal documents, such as treaties 
and interstate compacts, as well as historical 
exploration sources, such as overland trail 
diaries, can also be found in this impressive 
resource collection. Visitors to this digital 
library will fi nd a well­organized, fascinating 
regional archive, including extras such as 
video and audio components; recommended 
for academic library users.—Barbara Hillson, 
George Mason University Libraries 

Google Earth. Access: http://earth.google. 
com. 
“Explore, Search and Discover”—that’s 

what the folks from Google say you can do 
with Google Earth, and that’s exactly what it 
allows you to do. With Google Earth you can 
view most locations on the earth’s surface 
from any angle and from any distance. It’s 
as if you’re flying through the air above the 
planet’s surface and, with the click of the 
mouse, you can zoom in and begin exploring. 
Google Earth allows you to add additional 
information to the images by selecting vari­
ous preferences. 

These additional layers of information 
include political boundaries; transportation 

184C&RL News March 2006

http://earth.google
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu
http:http://www.westernwaters.org


arteries; postal code information; hotel, 
restaurant, school, retail outlet, and bank 
locations; and earthquake sites. Limited 
census data (such as family income and 
population) is also provided for selected 
American cities. 

Google Earth claims to provide 3­D satel­
lite imagery for the entire earth; however, 
most of the detailed information described 
above is primarily available for large North 
American urban centers. There does seem 
to be some information provided for a few 
places in Europe, Australia, and Asia. 

Google Earth requires more than a basic 
browser; a separate client must be down­
loaded to view the images. The Google Earth 
FAQ provides detailed information pertaining 
to minimum system requirements. 

Although these requirements are fairly 
standard, users must have access to a high­
speed network, otherwise the amount of time 
required to generate images 
becomes impossibly slow. 

In locations where the in­

systems tool is somewhat limited, Google 
Earth is extremely useful for gathering 
geographical background information on 
specific locations, vacation planning, and 
general exploratory and discovery endeav­
ors.—Jennifer McKinnell, McMaster University, 
mckinn@mcmaster.ca 

Center for Public Integrity. Access: http:// 
www.publicintegrity.org/. 
The subheading on this site’s banner, “In­

vestigative Journalism in the Public Interest,” 
describes perfectly the intent of its provider. 
The nonprofi t, nonpartisan Center for Public 
Integrity provides research and reporting on 
public policy issues related to the United 
States. It also offers similar coverage for is­
sues that affect the rest of the world through 
the International Consortium of Investigative 
Journalists, an affiliated project that shares the 
center’s watchdog style of journalism. 

formation is available, Google 
Earth allows you to investigate communities 
that you might be planning to visit or live. In 
some instances, the level of detail provides 
a good feel for street layout, vegetation cov­
erage, building characteristics, and amenity 
locations. 

The data used to create the images 
in Google Earth come from a variety of 
different unnamed sources and seems 
to be woven together at different scales 
and resolutions. As a result, the images 
are sometimes out of date and difficult to 
read. In some areas the resolution is so 
finely detailed that individual buildings, 
streets, and trees can be seen clearly 
from as close as 400 feet above the 
earth’s surface. In most other areas of 
the world, the imagery starts to blur once 
you drop below 50,000 to 30,000 feet. 

The Google Earth client is available in 
three different versions for both PC and Mac: 
Google Earth (free), Google Earth Plus ($20), 
and Google Earth Pro ($400). Although its 
scholarly value as a geographic information 

From the homepage, users are offered ac­
cess to a variety of resources. Current lines of 
research, under the heading “Latest Reports,” 
are featured. Topics of current interest featured 
during the time of this review include the 
Abramoff scandal, a related inquiry into Tom 
Delay’s and other Congressmen’s acceptance 
of corporate money, and two related reports 
dealing with political patronage and personal fi ­
nancial records among state utility commissions. 
Links to information pages associated with each 
report, such as statistical tables, related reports, 
and listings of appropriate Congressional and 
government contact information are listed in a 
menu to the left of the text. 

In the column on the left, users will fi nd 
other “Featured Projects,” among which are 
ongoing reports related to Hurricane Katrina, 
Iraq/Afghanistan contracts, and a series of 
articles relating to the pharmaceutical indus­
try. Links to these and other projects are also 
available from “Projects” at the top of the 
page. “Research Tools” provides background 

(continued on page 191) 

March 2006  185 C&RL News 

http:www.publicintegrity.org
mailto:mckinn@mcmaster.ca


raised the profile of the library throughout 
the health campus. All of these efforts have 
strengthened the library’s role as the primary 
health information resource in Iowa and as 
a nationally recognized leader in innovation 
and service. Sayre was a respected and re­
vered colleague who took a special interest in 

acting as a mentor to new librarians. She held 
numerous offices within the Medical Library 
Association and was recently honored with an 
“Improving Our Workplace” award from the 
university, as well as a special citation from 
the governor honoring her “work for the state 
of Iowa.” 

(“Reviews” continued from page 185) 

sources for these topics of investigation. De­
pending on the topic, archives are available 
as far back as 1997. 

Site searching is available, allowing users 
to more easily locate topics of interest. Some 
projects provide more specialized search 
options; for example, the lobbying project 
allows searching by company, lobbyist, lob­
bying firm, or agency involved. The sitemap 
link provides a complete list of reports and 
resources. 

The center’s reporting strength lies in its 
continuing investigation of ongoing issues, with 
updates collected in a single thread. Topics 
discussed may evolve over a period of several 
years, yet this resource provides a single point 
for tracing the history of any given subject. 

This site is highly recommended for 
those interested in investigative journal­
ism and issues in contemporary poli­
tics.—Ford Schmidt, Willamette University, 
fschmidt@willamette.edu 

March 2006  191 C&RL News 

mailto:fschmidt@willamette.edu