april07c.indd


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

British History Online. Access: http://www. 
british­history.ac.uk. 
British History Online is the “digital library 

containing some of the core printed primary 
and secondary sources for the medieval and 
modern history of the British Isles.” As a co­
operative venture of the Institute of Historical 
Research and the History of Parliament Trust, 
the site’s purpose is to offer an alternative 
to paid online services and nonreviewed 

sums of money. When compared with the 
Bodleian Library or the National Archives, 
Kew, the site measures up well. Unlike 
the latter institutions, there are no restric­
tions placed on access or charges levied for 
viewing the materials. This alone will be an 
advantage to many researchers. 

The material is organized chronologically 
as well as topically by geographical location, 
subject, and material source and includes ex­

tensive cross­referencing. Site search­
ing is provided by Google. While the 

Internet sites by bringing relevant materials 
together into a single, freely accessible online 
collection. The site is intended for academic 
and casual users, according to the site infor­
mation. However it will be most useful for 
students of late medieval and early modern 
England, since most of the materials are from 
the period 1500 to 1850. 

The scope of the collection is extremely 
broad and includes ecclesiastical and religious 
history, Parliamentary history, and adminis­
trative and legal history. Included are such 
important resources as the offi cial records of 
the House of Lords (1509–1717, 1832–4) and 
the House of Commons (1547–1699, 1830), 
population and taxation records for London 
and other towns and counties, and ordnance 
survey maps from the 19th century. One 
particularly noteworthy source is Historical 
Gazetteer of London Before the Great Fire, 
which includes detailed property records for 
five central London parishes. 

A strength of the site is the quality and quan­
tity of the materials. At the same time there are 
tremendous gaps in coverage, as illustrated by 
the available Parliamentary records. In fairness 
to the site’s creators, digitizing all of the relevant 
materials would take decades and require vast 

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 

search engine is extremely effective at fi nding 
relevant materials, the ads displayed on the 
right side of every page are an annoyance 
and distraction. 

The site is frequently updated with new 
material, and an online journal of new and 
forthcoming projects is prominently featured 
on the homepage. The site was last updated 
two days before this review. Free registration 
on the site allows users to bookmark items and 
organize them according to individual research 
interests. Overall, the site is an important re­
source for scholars of British history.—Mark 
A. Stoffan, Western North Carolina Library 
Network, mstoffan@wncln.lib.unca.edu 

Center for Democracy & Technology. Access: 
http://www.cdt.org/. 
The Center for Democracy and Technol­

ogy (CDT) is concerned first and foremost 
with “promoting the democratic potential of 
today’s open, de­
centralized global 
Internet,” and its 
Web site is a model 
online information 
source. Rich with 
content, robust with tools and navigation, 
and suited to a range of users that includes 
scholars, students, and the general public, 
this site successfully marries its core is­
sues—Internet privacy, freedom of expres­
sion, government transparency, copyright, 
and democratic participation—to a bundle 

256C&RL News April 2007

http:http://www.cdt.org
mailto:mstoffan@wncln.lib.unca.edu
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu
http:british-history.ac.uk
http://www


of information tools capable of educating and 
empowering the user. 

The site supports academic research 
up to a point. Included is a database of 
relevant legislation that is organized both 
chronologically (1997– ) and by topic, with 
links to THOMAS, legislative information 
from the Library of Congress. “Reports & 

First Amendment Center. Access: http:// 
www.fi rstamendmentcenter.org/. 
During a time of continuing concern over 

the loss of basic, constitutionally guaranteed 
rights, this site is a welcome addition to the 
information available online dealing with the 
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 
Operated by the First Amendment Center, 

Articles” includes links 
to full­text articles (many 
by CDT staff) published 
in a variety of sources, Used with permission, 2007, First Amendment Center. 
some scholarly. A num­
ber of single­issue reports are also avail­
able, which contain footnotes but not 
bibliographies. Testimony and speeches are 
provided, listed by topic. The site offers a 
concentrated selection of mostly non­peer­
reviewed sources relevant to its mission 
and principles, as well as the legislative and 
primary sources described above. 

Tightly organized around a clearly artic­
ulated public policy agenda, this site makes 
the most of its online format by combining 
its own substantive content with several 
features that offer access to well­selected 
resources. CDT features RSS feeds of policy 
news and announcements, Webcasts, and 
posts and comments from a staff­authored 
blog. A “policy posts” and announcements 
e­mail list is also available. 

Each of these features serves a valuable 
function, enabling the user to access current 
information conveniently in alternate venues 
and formats. 

CDT is staffed by a well­credentialed 
array of policy wonks, and oversight is pro­
vided by a board of directors that includes 
Judith Krug (ALA’s Office of Intellectual 
Freedom), two scholars, and several leaders 
of other policy organizations. Like all “policy 
position” organizations, CDT promotes a 
position and does not pretend to or excel 
at providing a comprehensive selection of 
unbiased information. 

The information it does provide, how­
ever, is authoritative and useful to academic 
information seekers.—Jeremy Donald, Trin­
ity University, jdonald@trinity.edu 

an affiliate of the Vanderbilt Institute for 
Public Policy Studies at Vanderbilt University, 
this site seeks to provide a comprehensive 
resource for research into these important 
issues. 

Offering a variety of options for research, 
the information contained on the site is 
organized by the five freedoms covered by 
the First Amendment: speech, press, reli­
gious liberty, assembly, and petition. “First 
Amendment Topics” links to a page featuring 
columns labeled for each freedom. In the col­
umns under each of these headings are links 
to topics related to that freedom. For instance, 
under “Freedom of speech,” topics include 
K–12 public school student expression, free 
speech on public college campuses, adult 
entertainment, flag­burning, and libraries and 
first amendment. Each topic will have one or 
more related articles, with each article offer­
ing an overview on its topic, an FAQ, and 
related cases and resources. 

Another useful feature for librarians is the 
“First Amendment Library,” a clearinghouse 
of information where historical, legislative, 
judicial, and editorial material has been col­
lected and organized. Included in this area are 
resources such as “Freedom of Expression,” 
which includes speech, press, assembly and 
petition, and “Freedom of Religion.” Also in­
cluded here are the First Amendment­related 
Supreme Court docket sheets for terms dating 
back to 2000, and a basic court case search 
function, as well as a current news listing, and 
listings of related books and book reviews. 

(continued on page 265) 

April 2007  257 C&RL News 

mailto:jdonald@trinity.edu
http:rstamendmentcenter.org


social sciences library; created an off­site 
storage facility; implemented integration 
of technology with collections and ser­
vices; and created a human resources of­
fi ce. In addition to her accomplishments at 
UF, Canelas has served as a leader among 
her professional library colleagues in the 
state and nation. For ten years she chaired 
Florida’s State University System Council 
of Library Directors and the Board of Di­
rectors for the Florida Center for Library 
Automation. She served on the Governing 
Board of the Research Libraries Group. 
For ten years she served on the Board of 
the Center for Research Libraries, which 
provides sophisticated area studies re­
search support for member libraries. She 
was elected to the Board of the Associa­
tion for Research Libraries, served as a 
member of numerous ARL committees, 
and chaired its Committee on Research 
Collections. She was an elected member 
of the ALA’s Council and was president 
of the Library Administration and Manage­
ment Association. 

Sandra (Sandy) K. Peterson, director of 
Social Science Libraries and Information 
Services at Yale University Libraries, retired 
January 31, 2007, after 40 years of service 
to the profession as government informa­
tion librarian at the West Virginia State Li­
brary, Oberlin College, University of North­
ern Iowa, College of William and Mary, and 
Yale University. Peterson is a champion of 

free public access to government informa­
tion; she served in various offices of ALA in­
cluding the Government Documents Round 
Table; as Association of Research Libraries 
visiting program officer; and as member 
and chair of the Depository Library Coun­
cil to the Public Printer. In 1994 she was 
awarded the James Bennett Childs Award 
for lifetime and significant contribution to 
the field of documents librarianship. 

Bernie Sloan, senior library information 
systems consultant, has retired from the 
Consortium of Academic and Research Li­
braries in Illinois (CARLI) after nearly 30 
years of service. Sloan has devoted his 
career to expanding library resource shar­
ing in Illinois libraries, a commitment to 
be marked by a significant milestone this 
month as I­Share surpasses 10 million re­
source­sharing transactions since 1979. 
Sloan joined the CARLI staff well before 
it was known as CARLI, and even before 
CARLI’s predecessor organization ILCSO 
(the Illinois Library Computer Systems Or­
ganization) became known by that name. 
Sloan is the author of Linked Systems for 
Resource Sharing (Boston: G.K. Hall, 1990) 
and many articles and is a well­known con­
tributor to many library­related electronic 
forums. He is noted for his work in the 
areas of resource sharing, and, in recent 
years, virtual reference service. He was 
awarded the Illinois Library Association’s 
Hugh Atkinson Award in 1996. 

(“Internet Reviews” continues from page 257) 
A gray sidebar menu listing other resourc­

es travels with users each step of their search. 
Information listed on this sidebar include 
links to information about the site and the 
First Amendment Center, a Supreme Court 
case tracker, Congressional Research Service 
reports, guest editorials, regular columnists, 
including respected Bill of Rights expert and 
jazz critic Nat Hentoff, as well as a list of 
experts on First Amendment concerns. There 
is also a search function. 

The information here is current and ap­
pears to be updated daily. While not with­
out some political bias to the left of center, 
First Amendment Center seems to aim for a 
balanced viewpoint on issues. It is recom­
mended for general users, undergraduate 
students, and others interested in keeping 
informed about issues related to some of 
our most fundamental rights.—Ford Schmidt, 
Willamette University, fschmidt@willamette. 
edu 

April 2007  265 C&RL News