ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries


760 / C&RL News ■ December 2003

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

The M artin Lu th e r K in g , Jr. Papers 
P ro je ct. Access: w w w .s ta n fo rd .e d u / 
group/King/.
The King Papers Project at Stanford Uni­

versity has num erous resources that are im­
mensely useful for researchers and schol­
ars. Through the cooperative research effort 
of Stanford University, the Martin Luther King 
Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and 
the Martin Luther King Jr. estate, historical 
information concerning Martin Luther King 
Jr. and the civil rights m ovement is dissemi­
nated. Clearly, this extraordinary Web site 
supports the efforts of the project.

The “Published Documents” area of the 
site offers works published by the King Pa­
pers Project and those written or coedited by 
Clayborne Carson, director of the project. For 
example, users can access the full text of se­
lected pages from “The Papers of Martin 
Luther King, Jr.,” a multivolume w ork in 
progress. A search engine is provided to as­
sist in searching for documents such as King’s 
speeches, sermons, autobiography, and ar­
ticles. A comprehensive inventoiy of King’s 
major sermons, speeches, public statements, 
public writings, and manuscripts is browsable.

From  “P o p u la r R e q u e s ts ,” u se rs can 
quickly access the audio and full text of King’s 
popular letters, speeches, and sermons. How­
ever, u sers will n e e d  a player, su ch  as 
Quicktime or Realmedia, to listen to the files. 
Several of King’s popular quotes and writ­
ings on w ar and peace are available. The 
major events in King’s life are listed chrono­
logically from 1929 to 1955 and can be ex­
plored through the “Interactive Flash Chro­
nology.” Selected King quotes on education, 
nonviolence, reconciliation, social justice, 
and social transformation are provided.

From “About King,” users can access a 
biographical sketch of King. Information on 
events, people, or places associated with King 
and the civil rights movement is included in 
“King Encyclopedia.” The excellent “King 
and the Black Freedom Struggle Chronol­
ogy, 1896 to 1968" is found here also.

A link of interest to high school teachers 
is “Liberation Curriculum,” which offers ac­

cess to educational materials that address social 
justice and human rights issues. By becoming a 
“Liberation Community” member, teachers can 
access more educational resources and materi­
als not available to the public.

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project 
includes other useful pages, such as “Addi­
tional Resources,” which lists books, children 
books, audiovisual materials and Web sites 
for more information on King, and “About 
the Project.”

The site is easily navigable and well or­
ganized. It is a valuable resource for users 
at all levels.— N a n c y Allen, University o f 
South Florida a t Sarasota-Manatee/New Col­
lege o f Florida, nallen@banshee.sar.usf.edu

Popu lation  Reference Bureau. Access:
w w w .prb.org/.
The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) 

Web site provides a com prehensive virtual 
gateway to data and reports on population 
trends. PRB is a private, not-for-profit orga­
nization that has for over 70 years focused 
on “providing timely and objective popula­
tion information” in both print and electronic 
formats. PRB’s mission is to disseminate data 
and to analyze its implications in a nonparti­
san manner, while working collaboratively with 
many worldwide data collection agencies.

Researchers exploring the main page of 
this site will find a balance of text, graphics 
and population facts, as well as a centralized 
column of links that highlight new  PRB re­
ports. Most useful to first-time users is the 
access by topic, available from the left sidebar 
menu, w hich includes l6  subjects ranging 
from education to gender to income and race. 
Also found here are menu options for the six 
major regions of the world, and links for quick 
access to PRB’s main focus areas of health, 
environment, and population trends. A user 
w ho selects a topical heading, for example

Joni R. Roberts is associate university lib ra ria n  fo r  pub lic 
services a nd  c o lle c tio n  d e v e lo p m e n t a t W illa m e tte  
University, e-mail: jroberts@ w illam ette.edu, and Carol A. 
Drost is associate university librarian fo r  technical services 
a t W illa m e tte  University, e-mail: cdrost@ willamette.edu

http://www.stanford.edu/
mailto:nallen@banshee.sar.usf.edu
http://www.prb.org/
mailto:jroberts@willamette.edu
mailto:cdrost@willamette.edu


C&RL News ■ December 2003 / 761

“Income/Poverty,” will then get a list of PRB 
articles, datasheets and reports, most in PDF 
format, such as State Profiles of Child Well- 
Being.

These reports frequently include useful 
graphs and statistics. The authors, in most 
cases, are academic scholars, health profes­
sionals, and foreign governm ent officials.

Other features of interest on this site are 
the “DataFinder,” w hich offers searching by 
95 demographic variables for 220 nations of 
the world, as well as for the United States and 
individual states. Students will appreciate the 
extensive “Glossary of Population Term s,” 
which includes dozens of definitions related 
to the study of demographics. Other popular 
and frequently accessed features include the 
“Graphics Bank” and the “World Population 
Data Sheet.” Researchers can also register for 
free e-mail updates on population issues, and 
the site can be accessed in French and Span­
ish. At the time of this review, the site’s search 
feature was still in progress. The site is rela­
tively current, with PRB noting that updates 
are provided every three weeks.

The PRB site describes its intended audi­
ence as educators, policy m akers and the 
media, but librarians and researchers alike 
will also find it valuable for its authoritative 
analysis o f dynam ic issues an d  trends in 
population. The site will be valuable for both 
domestic and international population study, 
and is recom m ended for academic audiences 
and subject specialists.—B arbara Hillson, 
George M ason University, bhillson.@g m u .e d u

Monticello: The Home of Thomas Jefferson.
Access: m onticello.org/.
W ith 2003 b ein g  th e b icen ten n ial y ear 

o f th e  o u tse t o f M erriw eth er Lewis an d  
W illiam Clark’s Corps o f D iscovery e x p e ­
ditio n  to  e x p lo re th e  Louisiana P urchase, 
th ere h as b e e n  m uch in th e w ay  o f b ooks, 
exhibits, an d  o th e r com m em orative events. 
It seem s only right th at th e p e rso n  w ith 
th e idea for th e  e x p e d itio n  sh o u ld  b e rec­
o g n iz e d  fo r h is c o n tr ib u tio n , a n d  th e  
M onticello site d o es exactly that. W hile 
n o t the prim ary focus o f this site, th e Lewis 
an d  Clark e x p e d itio n  an d  its b icen ten n ial 
ce le b ra tio n  are a d d re s s e d  in a w e ll-d e ­
v e lo p e d  s e c tio n  d e a lin g  w ith  T h o m a s 
Jefferso n ’s co ntributions to th e expedition.

The main focus of the site is Jefferson

and his hom e at Monticello. The header bar 
at the top o f the first page provides links to 
key sections o f the site. There is a link to 
information about Jefferson, w hich includes 
a brief biography, a timeline, a day in the 
life section, and “Jefferson’s W est,” w hich 
deals with the Lewis and Clark expedition.

There are also links to information re­
garding the house, gardens and plantation, 
visitor information, research and collections, 
education, and the Jefferson Foundation and 
the administration of Monticello. While any 
of these points may be o f interest, serious 
researchers will probably m ake more use of 
“Research and Collections,” w hich offers links 
to publications; reports; programs; collec­
tions; the Jefferson Library, including Tho­
mas Jefferson Portal (the library’s catalog); 
and related Web links. O ne of these links is 
to the Getting Word: Oral History Project, 
w hich records the oral histories of the de­
scendants of Monticello’s enslaved African 
American community.

There is also a drop-dow n bo x  on the 
right side for browsing points of interest, in­
cluding agriculture and gardening, architec­
ture and design, books and letters, food and 
c o o k in g , a n d  s c ie n c e  a n d  e x p lo ra tio n . 
Among the topics discussed under food and 
cooking, for instance, the user will find in- 
formation on w hether Jefferson was a veg­
etarian, recipes, and the use o f dumbwaiters 
at Monticello.

Netscape users may encounter difficul­
ties loading pages, depending o n  their ver­
sion o f Netscape. This was not a problem  
w h en  using Internet Explorer.

This site will be of interest not only to those 
researching Jefferson, but also to those inter­
ested in gardening and horticulture, architecture, 
the history of American science and technol­
ogy, and early American history and culture. While 
much will be made of the Lewis and Clark bi­
centennial connection, this site offers much be­
yond that, both to researchers and the merely 
curious.—Ford Schmidt, Willamette University, 
fschm idt@ willamette.edu ■

gmu.edu
monticello.org/
mailto:fschmidt@willamette.edu