The Monitor’s Links Library

ADVOCACY

Cultural Survival
Cultural Survival is a non-profit advocacy group that promotes the rights of indigneous peoples around the world. The site includes project summaries, as well as a very impressive collection of links to complimentary sites. Economy of design and intutive interface makes getting around easy.

AUDIO

AudioNet
This largest single source of audio broadcasts over the web is truly an audiophile’s delight! Provided you have Progressive Networks’ RealAudio installed in your web browser, you can hear music, news, sports, special events, and more. A list of genre specific choices, a weekly schedule, and scroll-down menus help with navigating the site. Still, visitors should expect some effort and time in locating their listening preferences.

ECONOMICS

Dr. Ed Yardeni’s Economic Network
This content heavy site is chock full of graphs, charts, forecasts and analysis, and links to other economic resources on the Web. Viewing most files requires Adobe’s Acrobat Reader web browser plug- in, and a few files are proprietary; restricted to employees of Dr. Yardeni’s firm. A very thorough site map streamlines the maze of economic data.

EDUCATION

Educational Links
John Mullens, a high school principal in West Virginia, has assembled an exhaustive collection of links to education related sites. Despite the rather broad sub-headings (expect to do much scrolling to locate what you’re after), the sheer quantity (and quality) of links make the site an excellent starting point for finding educational resources on the net.

Exploratorium: ExploraNet
The Exploranet, modeled after The Exploratorium museum in San Francisco, is a multimedia rich, interactive educational site geared toward the exploration of the arts, sciences, and “human perception.” It includes virtual exhibits, instructions for classroom experiments, interactive downloadable activities, audio interviews with scientists (RealAudio required), and links to other arts and science sites. Although designed primarily for the younger set, there is enough here to delight, enthrall, and educate explorers of all ages.

ENVIRONMENT

Earthweek
For a weekly capsule summary of natural and human induced “events” all over the world, visit Earthweek. Phenomena run the gamut from the disastrous (i.e. hurricanes, earthquakes, oil spills etc.) to the unusual (i.e. primate attacks, goose posionings). Although the summaries are a bit brief, the global perspective, ease of use, and quality of graphics, make this site a must stop for Netizens fascinated by the vagaries of nature and man’s affect on the environment.

FAMILY

Parent Soup
Visitors to this site can submit reviews of books, Web sites, movies, and other family oriented material, participate in numerous parenting discussion forums, as well as topic specific live chat sessions. Other features include a library of baby names and an archive of articles on family life. Content is broad enough to appeal to issues associated with all family types and needs, and non-parents too should find plenty here of personal interest. Ease of use, active communities of interest, and quality of content easily make this one of the better parenting sites on the Web.

FOOD

Mimi’s Cyber Kitchen
What it lacks in polish, it more then makes up for in its enthusiastic, unabashed advocacy of better eating. Mimi serves up a mix of mouthwatering recipes from her kitchen, pointers to other food sites, a recipe forum, and more. Judging by the quantity of participation in the latter, she has quite a following among culinary enthusiasts of all skill levels and palettes. Getting around the kitchen is fairly intuitive, and a site search engine allows keyword searches for specific foods and recipes.

GARDENING

GardenWeb
Discover a plethora of information on how to keep your garden green, tomatoes plump, roses red, and violets blue at Gardenweb. You will find articles on gardening, a prodigious number of discussion forums (even one in French!), links to other gardening sites, a merchant index, and more. The site is well designed, easy to get around, and fast loading.

LAW

The Legal Information InstituteCornell Law School’s Web site provides a comprehensive collection of links to numerous resources, the full text of various laws and legal statutes, and topical summaries on various facets of the law. Visitors can also sign up for a free email service that distributes US Supreme Court decisions. Though design and layout could be greatly improved to enhance navigability, the site is an indispensable resource for those with an interest in the law.

LITERATURE

Literary Resources on the Net
This literature index includes everything from biblical literature to “Hypertext fiction” (a new literary form unique to this medium). Links go to university libraries, online literary publications, Web pages devoted to specific authors, and other resources. Navigation devices include a main menu with many subheadings and a site search engine.

POLITICS

Political Resources on the Net
This is a comprehensive list of links to all things political all around the world. Links include media, academic, government and political party sites. Navigation is a snap – countries are geographically grouped by continent or alphabetically by country name.

POPULAR CULTURE

Sarah Zuckos Cultural Studies Center
The “Center” is an impressively catalogued collection of links to a multiplicity of sources concerning the study of popular culture and the media of its transmission. Though decidedly academic in orientation, the breadth of topics presented – everything from postmodernism to science fiction – should hold some appeal to the nonscholar as well. A clean, functional design enhances navigability.

RELIGION

Facets Of Religion
This is a mega (and I mean mega ) index of religious sites – all the major world religions and denominations are included as are many less widely practiced beliefs like paganism. Hierarchical menus, descriptive summaries, and a search engine ease the chore of negotiating all the links. Due to large file sizes, visitors can expect a healthy wait as pages download, as well as much scrolling on individual pages.

SPACE

Astronomy and Space on the Internet
Those hankering to learn more about space, the final frontier, would do well to point their Web browsers here. A large collection of quality astronomy links, topically arranged, some with brief content descriptions, makes getting the latest on, say the Mars mission, easier than beaming up Scotty.

SPORTS

World Wide Web of Sports
The strictly utilitarian layout is one of the hallmarks of this enormous index of sports links designed by engineering wizards at MIT. The site also contains nifty features one would expect from engineers: a site search engine and the ability for visitors to customize the index. No sport is too small for inclusion in the index; sports enthusiasts with interests beyond American Football should bookmark this page.

WEATHER

Weathernet
Here you will find cool radar and satellite imagery of meteorological phenomena, weather maps, a search engine to access current conditions in many US cities, and a prodigious collection of links to other internet weather sites. It’s fairly easy to navigate, although those interested in weather in countries outside the US and Canada will have to dig a little harder.

THE WORLD

Africa New Online
This site is a gateway to information about current events on the continent. It includes daily news update, special reports, cultural features, and requisite links to other information about Africa. Sources include news agencies, government press releases, and human relief organizations. A colorful clickable map of Africa makes regional and country specific news and information a mere mouse click away.

Geopedia® Online
If you want particulars on a specific country, and want it fast, then bookmark this site! Geopedia is a very easy to use online encyclopedia of every country on the planet – a must for educators and others with a special interest in geography. The country summaries are pithy and the alphabetical index makes for effortless navigation.

Russia Today
This is an English language news site with a heavy emphasis on the economic and business climate of capitalist Russia. A fairly busy index page may be intially daunting to the first time visitor. But the quality of information presented within the site makes the navigational challenges worth the effort.