ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


598/C&RL News

Internet
Reviews

Sa ra A m a to, ed itor

EnviroLink. Access: http:// 
w w w .envirolink.org/.

EnviroLink claims to be the 
largest and most frequently 
consulted on line en viron ­
mental resource. Perhaps 
one reason for this popular­
ity is its w eek ly  review  o f 
sites ca lled  “W h at Soars, 
What Snores,” in which sites 
are rated based on content, 
philosophy, and potential 
impact on environmental is­
sues. In addition, EnviroLink 
has received recognition and 
awards for its W eb  site from Internet and envi­
ronmental organizations alike. As a not-for-profit 
corporation, this grassroots online community’s 
mission is to foster w orldw ide environmental 
activism and to provide Internet services for 
nonprofits and green businesses.

Patrons can navigate EnviroLink using a text 
or graphics browser. A  local search engine al­
lows searches by words or phrases for all pages. 
This site contains numerous resources, includ­
ing: EnviroNews; Actions Y ou  Can Take (b o y ­
cotts and other activism); the Green Market­
place (companies, products, and job listings); 
EnviroArts; and Live Environmental Data (which 
currently lists very limited statistics on popula­
tion, rainforests, and earthquakes). Political sci­
ence and environmental studies majors will find 
the follow in g projects supported by EnviroLink 
most interesting: EcoLex (U.S. environmental 
laws and policies), and the Endangered Spe­
cies Act On-Line clearinghouse.

O f particular use to academic library patrons 
is the collection o f resources at the EnviroLink 
Library. O ne can browse through the alpha­
betic listing o f library links or choose to search 
the subject headings— earth, air, fire, water, flora 
and fauna. Examples o f resources available from 
the library include a collection o f K– 12 envi­
ronmental curriculum guides, and hyperlinks 
to government data, environmentally friendly 
how-to publications, and magazine articles from 
activist organizations.

Librarians assisting undergraduate research­
ers in the many disciplines that intersect with 
environmental issues w ill find the legal data, 
publications, and databases at this site easy to 
use. EnviroLink should be at the top o f anyone’s 
bookmark list for accessing environmental W eb

res o u rces.— P a u la  Duffy, 
Montana State Uniυersity-Bill­
ings; lib_duffy@υino.emcmt. 
edu

Merck Hom e Page. Access: 
http://www.merck.com. 

The M erck Corporation is 
definitely setting a high stan­
dard in the area o f provid­
ing useful and reliable infor­
m a tio n  to  h e a lth  ca re 
p r o v id e r s  fo r  c o r p o r a te  
homepages. This is not to 
imply that the site is always 

unbiased. H ow ever, the provision o f the full 
text o f the Merck M anual free o f  charge to In­
ternet users is a significant contribution to the 
health care community and, in a more limited 
way, to health care consumers. T h e Merck 
M anual has long been a major print reference 
w ork for health care providers, offering text- 
book-style discussions o f a w id e range o f medi­
cal disorders and com mon clinical procedures, 
and describing standard therapies, laboratory 
tests, and pharmacology. The online version is 
the highlight o f the site’s publications section 
and includes the full text and index o f the print 
publication, including illustrations.

M y on ly disappointments w ere the large 
number o f pages that had to be traversed to 
use the resource effectively and the failure to 
take advantage o f any o f the enhancements 
hypertext could support such as cross refer­
encing or the provision o f supplemental infor­
mation. Also, at least w h en I was accessing the 
site, the search function was not w orking prop­
erly and could not be evaluated. Like the print 
publication, this resource is not designed for 
the general health care consumer, and the lan­
guage o f the manual is quite technical.

In a d d itio n  to  in fo rm a tio n  a b o u t the 
com pany’s publications for health profession­
als, the site includes a developin g section on 
disease information for the general public. The 
information currently available here is quite lim­
ited and seems focused on conditions for which 
standard therapy frequently includes treatment 
with the com pany’s products. Although these 
products are not mentioned by name, the bias

Sara Amato is automated systems librarian at Central 
Washington University; samato@taboma.cwu.edu

http://www.envirolink.org/
http://www.merck.com
mailto:samato@taboma.cwu.edu


October 1996/599

is quite clear. So far, information on a few 

diseases preventable by vaccination is avail­

able along with some information on cho­

lesterol.

Another highlight of the site, the research 

section, describes the company’s international 

fellows program, discusses the general inter­

ests of many of the organization’s researchers, 

and details the company’s extensive program 
providing seminar speakers. The site also in­

cludes a smaller product information section 

that, at the moment, is largely populated by 

recent press releases rather than detailed infor­

mation on the huge range of products that 

Merck manufactures. Some information for in­

vestors is also prominently available from the 

homepage. Although clearly still in develop­

ment, this corporate site reflects a refreshing 

sense of community responsibility and already 

provides a wealth of valuable health informa­

tion.— Karla L. Hahn, College o f Library and In ­
form ation Services, University o f  Maryland; 
khahn@Glue.umd.edu

The Center for Democracy and Technol­
ogy Home Page. Access: http://www.cdt. 
org/.

Like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the 

Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Cen­

ter for Democracy and Technology (CDT) is a 

watchdog organization that tracks governmen­

tal actions that threaten to infringe on citizens’ 

rights as applied to electronic access to infor­

mation. The CDT is a nonprofit public interest 

organization based in Washington, D.C. Its mis­

sion is “to develop and advocate public poli­

cies that advance constitutional civil liberties 

and democratic values in new computer and 

communications technologies.”

With privacy a key concern of the CDT, the 

tracking and coding of information transmitted 

on the Internet get upfront attention with links 

atop the page to a privacy demonstration and a 

conference on encryption. The CDT privacy 

demonstration is an eye-opening experience 

that shatters any illusions one has about ano­

nymity on the Internet. The demo displays in­

formation that was extracted during the cur­

rent visit to the demonstration page. Also 

included are explanations of client-side persis­

tent information (“Cookies”), the types of in­

formation collected, and why surfers should 

care. A link to the “Anonymizer,” which en­

ables Internet travelers to visit sites without leav­

ing a trail of personal data, is provided at the

end of the page. The encryption debate is high­

lighted with a link to the “SAFE (Security and 

Freedom through Encryption) Forum.” Featured 

within the Cryptography Policy Issues Page, the 

SAFE Forum was the 1996 conference of mem­

bers of Congress, prominent computer indus­

try leaders, and privacy advocates who met to 

discuss the need to reform U.S. encryption 

policy. Transcripts of the forum are available 

in textual and audio formats.

The “Headlines” section focuses on currently 

developing issues. The headlined items pro­

vide comprehensive and timely coverage of ex­

ecutive, legislative, and judicial actions. Cur­

rent issues, ranging o f late from  the 

Communications Decency Act to health infor­

mation access to proposed antiterrorism legis­

lation, receive headlines that are added to other 

sections of the homepage, as appropriate.

Serving as the core of the site are the “Is­

sues Pages,” each of which covers a public 

policy debate involving electronic information 

and civil liberties. Some of the issues covered 

are counter-terrorism and the encryption de­

bate, censorship on the Internet, the debate over 

control of voice transmission, and privacy. Texts 

of Senate testimony, judicial decisions, press 

releases, statements by the president, and edi­

torials from the Washington Post and New York 
Times are among the material provided. The 
latest developments appear first, followed by 

previous headlines, followed by background 

material. This presentation of the information 

allows the viewer to reach new material quickly 

and to go only as deeply into the material as 

needed. Novices may take objection to the jar­

gon-laden titles of the “Issues Pages” and all 

visitors may get lost in the duplication of top­

ics within pages.

The “Publications Page” rounds out the site 

by gathering in one place the CDT’s position 

papers and “Policy Posts” that appear through­

out the various “Issues Pages.” These publica­

tions clearly lay out the facts surrounding the 

policy debates.

Students and faculty investigating public 

policy questions that involve electronic infor­

mation access, privacy, and civil liberties will 

be very well served by the CDT’s pages. Li­

brarians will find information on many issues 

including a gold mine on the legal battle sur­

rounding the Communications Decency Act, in 

which ALA has figured so prominently.— Inga 
H. Bamello, Le Moyne College; BARNELLO@ 
MAPLE.LEMOYNE.EDU ■

mailto:khahn@Glue.umd.edu
http://www.cdt


600/C&RL News