ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


614 / C&RL News ■ JulyAugust 2000

Internet Reviews

Sara Amato, editor

T h e  E n c y c l o p e d i a  M y t h i c a :  A n  
E n c y c lo p e d ia  o n  M y t h o lo g y , F o l k ­
l o r e ,  a n d  L e g e n d .  Access: h t t p : / /  
w w w .pantheon.org/m ythica/. 
Encyclopedia Mythica contains more than

5,900 definitions of gods and goddesses, su­
pernatural beings, and legendary creatures 
from cultures all over the world. These defi­
nitions, w ith links to 300 illustrations and 
maps, provide information well suited for the 
needs o f high school or undergraduate stu­
dents interested in the areas of mythology 
and folklore. Users of Encyclopedia Mythica 
may view an impressive list of 81 awards 
w on since the encyclopedia’s beginning in 
1995, including the Britannica Internet Guide 
Award (February 15, 2000) and the Silver Plat­
ter Award (July 27, 1999).

Encyclopedia Mythica is well constructed 
and very easy to search. Users may brow se 
through an alphabetical list of entries or se­
lect topics from four major areas: mythology; 
folktales; image gallery; and genealogy tables. 
Search features include a full-text search e n ­
gine, which allows the use o f Boolean o p ­
erators and wild cards. Results may be sorted 
either by relevancy or alphabetically by title. 
An advanced search feature allows users to 
search other sites, such as Britannica Online 
and Perseus and Argos.

D etermining authority can be tricky with 
Encyclopedia Mythica, as information is taken 
from a variety o f sources and most entries 
are not signed. A list of resources used in 
creating som e of the articles is available and 
include standard sources in the field, such as 
Joseph Cambell’s series on the “Pow er of 
Myth’’ and Edith H am elto n ’s “Mythology: 
Timeless Tales o f Gods and H eroes.” Other 
entries are written by the encyclopedia’s edi­
torial staff and founder, Micha F. Lindemans. 
Anyone interested in contributing to the e n ­
cyclopedia is encouraged to do so.

O f special note is the “Miscellanea” sec­
tion of the Encyclopedia Mythica. Here, us­
ers will find a variety of interesting tools, in­
cluding a pronunciation guide, a list of links 
to other mythology and folklore related sites 
on the Web, and a list of G reek deities with

their Roman counterparts. Help in searching 
is readily accessible on each o f the search 
screens and also available within the “infor­
m ation” section of the encyclopedia.

Currently, the areas most comprehensively 
covered by the encyclopedia are A ncient 
G reece and Rome. However, progress is b e ­
ing m ade in providing information on a vari­

ety o f cultures from all areas of the world, 
making Encyclopedia Mythica a valuable and 
exciting source for anyone interested in my­
thology and folklore.—Faye Christenberry, Uni­
versity o f Kansas, Fchristenberry@ukans.edu

A c a d e m y  o f  A m e r ic a n  P o e t s . Access: 
http://w w w .poets.org/index.htm l.
The Academy o f American Poets has a

Web site that has a variety of features that 
could interest an academ ic library, d ep en d ­
ing on w hat other literary resources are made 
available to your patrons. This is a good, 
general starting point for som eone w ho is 
just starting to explore poetry, but it is not a 
resource w ith in-depth or detailed research 
information. This is not a commercial prod­
uct, nor is it produced by an educational in­
stitution. The purpose of this site is to pro­
m ote poetry, primarily for poets, educators, 
and publishers.

Special features o f this site include a sec­
tion with audio clips located in the “Listen­
ing B ooth.” Here o n e can listen to individual 
poets read their poetry. There is also a sec­
tion w ith “Current Exhibits,” w hich are basi­
cally thematic essays with links to related Web 
pages on individual poets. There are currently 
about ten exhibits with tw o m ore on the way.

If one is seeking a source for detailed bio­
graphical information on poets, this may be

Sara Am ato  is electronic services and W eb developm ent 
librarian at Bowdoin College, e-mail:samato@bowdoin.edu

http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/
mailto:Fchristenberry@ukans.edu
http://www.poets.org/index.html
mailto:samato@bowdoin.edu


C&RL News ■ July/August 2000 /  615

the site for you, depending on how  many 
“clicks” you w ant to execute to locate infor­
mation.

The Academy has a section entitled “Find 
a Poet,” which is an alphabetical list of more 
than 320 poets. This section is definitely a 
w ork in progress; not all poets have a Web 
page and new pages are added weekly. There 
is no information concerning criteria for se­
lecting poets for inclusion, but in reviewing 
the list, they are not limiting their focus to 
American poets. The list is international in 
scope, and includes poets from a variety of 
time periods—William Shakespeare, Robert 
B row ning, R obert Frost, Rita D ove, and 
Seamus Heaney, to nam e a few.

The “Find a Poet” section includes pages 
on individual poets with brief biographical in­
formation and links to more information. As a 
m in o r p o in t, so m e b io g ra p h ie s  in clu d e 
birthdates with month and day, and others do 
not. Using Robert Frost as an example, the 
biography includes only the year he was born, 
but selecting the link to the biographical con­
nection to Literature Online (Addison Wesley), 
one finds his birthdate was March 26.

As the basic biographical information is 
not difficult to locate, it w ould be nice if each 
biography was consistent in format and con­
tent for each poet. Each p o et’s page does 
include a photo with the brief biography. Of 
particular interest is the inclusion o f full text 
for selected poems. Included in each page is 
a selected bibliography of writings and links 
to Web sites with more information.

The biographical pages on individual p o ­
ets appear to have been written by different 
individuals, but as no credits are given for 
the individual contributions, this may be a 
perception rather than a reality. Because each 
entry is varied in content, it is the assum p­
tion of the reviewer that the entries are com ­
piled by different individuals. Another issue 
with lack of credits is that there isn’t any in­
formation to provide evidence of authority 
and accuracy for the information provided.

This site is potentially a good starting point 
for som eone w ho is just starting to explore 
poetry and is interested in comparing styles 
and gathering som e general information. The 
exhibits section allows a visitor to identify 
names connected with particular aspects of 
poetry, such as the exhibit “Poets o f the 
Harlem Renaissance.”

The information included in the exhibit is 
cursory at best, but it makes connections with 
the poets and the time period. The “Literary 
Links” section includes links to a variety of 
Web sites with full-text poetry, a benefit those 
w ho want full text, but want to pinpoint re­
sources without having to use a search en­
gine, which can provide an overwhelming list.

Since the purpose of this site is to pro­
mote poetry, there are additional features 
aim ed at prom oting poetry to educators and 
w ould-be poets. Included is a section on Na­
tional Poetry Month, which is in April each 
year. As a noncommercial site, it is evident 
that this is more a “labor of love” than a prod­
uct they are trying to sell and promote. There 
are minor issues related to adding a state­
ment on selection criteria and providing in­
form ation on contributors, however, their 
main purpose is not to provide a scholarly 
resource for the academic. As a gentle sug­
gestion to the producers, the site w ould ben­
efit from a thorough review of the site navi­
gation. There are links from the “Listening 
Booth” to biographies, but not all biographies

poets.org
link back to available audio clips in the “Lis­
tening Booth.” Occasionally a visitor ends up 
in a section with no way to get back to the 
“Find a P oet” section except by going to the 
homepage.

The site is not a large site, and these are 
m inor criticisms, but, if addressed, w ould im­
prove the site overall, and make it more user 
friendly for those individuals w ho wish to 
explore poetry.— Terri Fishel, Macalester CoT 
lege, fishel@macalester.edu ■

A note of appreciation

With this column, Sara Amato con­
cludes her stint as editor so that she can 
devote more time to other endeavors. We 
w ould like to recognize Sara for her ef­
forts and thank her for creating and nur­
turing this colum n for C&RL News for the 
last six years. The colum n will continue 
in the fall under the joint editorship of 
J o n i R o b e rts  a n d  C aro l D ro s t o f 
Willamette University.

mailto:fishel@macalester.edu