Joni R. Roberts and Internet Reviews Carol A. Drost, editors

Center for Watershed Protection. A c­ The CWP site is newly designed. Simple to cess: http://www.cwp.org/. navigate, it is well organized and attractive. The Founded in 1992, the Center for Watershed primary navigation tool is a banner of wildlife Protection (CWP) provides information and photos at the top of the page; the borders of technical tools for small watershed protection. the banner contain clearly worded links to the Watersheds are regions of land that channel Web site’s components. Links on the homepage rainwater into streams, river systems, and lakes. lead to information about CWP products and Urban sprawl and publications, the CWP newsletter, and a calen­ poor community dar of current workshops. development plan- Unfortunately, the site does not provide ning threaten links to other useful sites, such as the U.S. En­ these fragile land­ vironmental Protection Agency’s Wetlands, scape features. Be­ Oceans, and Watersheds site (http:// cause damage to www.epa.gov/owow/), the American Water Re­ small watersheds sources Association (http://www.awra.org/), adversely affects the quality o f our drinking wa­ and Purdue University’s “Know your Water­ ter, impairs recreational and commercial fish­ shed” (http://www.ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/). ing, contributes to severe flooding, and threat­ Links to maps and sources for information ens fragile ecosystems, responsible watershed about local, state, and national watershed laws management is a crucial component of com­ and regulations would also be useful. Despite munity development planning. the limitations inherent in self-contained sites, A nonprofit corporation, CWP disseminates the CWP site is quite useful and is a highly rec­ multidisciplinary technical tools and informa­ ommended resource.—Susan Case, University o f tion designed to help protect small watersheds Kansas, [email protected] “from the detrimental effects of sprawling de­ velopment.” Through workshops, articles on Jewish Virtual Library. A ccess: http:// current watershed protection research, devel­ www.us-israel.org/index.html/. opment of plans to protect and restore water­ The Jew ish Virtual Library, formerly known sheds, response to requests for watershed ad­ as JSOURCE, is a division of the American- vice, and advocacy for improving local devel­ Israeli Cooperative (AICE). Established in opment rules, CWP has achieved notable suc­ 1993, AICE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan orga­ cess. In the past decade, CWP has trained 15,000 nization working to strengthen U.S.-Israeli re­ people, completed 30 watershed research projects, lations. Mitchell G. Bard, a foreign policy ana­ disseminated 30,000 copies of technical publica­ lyst, is the executive director of AICE and the tions, and published 150 technical articles. Jewish Virtual Library (JVL). CWP’s site is a rich resource of informa­ The JVL bills itself as “your source for in­ tion useful in mitigating the impact of devel­ formation about Jewish history, Israel, U.S.-Is- opment. The site will be of interest to local raeli relations, the Jewish Holocaust, anti- government staff, environmental activists, stu­ Semitism and Judaism.” With access to catego­ dents, researchers, and small watershed man­ ries ranging from “The Library” and “New This agers. Watershed assessment, water resource Month” to the “Virtual Israel Experience," one planning, land conservation, use of aquatic has the ability to explore numerous areas of buffers, responsible site design, erosion con­ Jewish/Israeli information. Recent additions to trol, stormwater treatment practices, control of nonstormwater discharges, and watershed stew­ Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian fo r public ardship are the focus of CWP’s site, publica­ services and collection development at Willamette tions, and programs. University, college, high University, e-mail: [email protected], and Carol A. school, and public librarians will find the site Drost is associate university librarian fo r technical services to be a valuable information resource. at Willamette University, e-mail: [email protected]

672 /C&RL News ■ October 2002 the “New This Month” section include “Myths mote a prosperous, fair, and sustainable and Facts: A Guide to the Arab-Israeli Conflict” economy.” Frequently labeled “liberal” or “pro­ and “The Bush Peace Plan.” Prior editions to this gressive” when referred to or quoted in the section are archived for easy access. news media, EPI is especially well known for The “Virtual Israel Experience” is an its research on issues related to working people amazing encounter for the viewer. From and labor markets. checking for an El Al flight to traveling As is the case with many think tanks, its the roads to Jerusalem and Caesarea, one publications are often impossible to locate us­ can feel the history and culture in this ex­ ing reference tools such as indexes; this may traordinary country. The virtual travel ex­ cause them to be overlooked by students and perience is very realistic due to the excel­ other researchers who are not aware of EPI’s lent descriptive text and superb pictures. presence on the Web. Links within the text lead to additional in­ EPI’s five primary areas of research include formation on the country and culture. “Living Standards and Labor Markets,” “Govern­ “The Library” is the “most comprehensive ment and The Economy,” “Trade and Globaliza­ online Jewish encyclopedia in the world,” ac­ tion,” “Education,” and “Sustainable Economics.” cording to the Web site. The 13 sections of Icons across the top of the homepage provide “The Library,” including “Biography,” “Refer­ access to research in these areas, including links ence,” “Maps,” “Israel,” “Women,” and “The to publications and a section called “Datazone,” Holocaust,” contain a wealth of information which includes statistics on topics such as the for the researcher or lay person. Although “The labor market, family earnings, wages, and con­ sumer prices. These statistics are available in ei­ ther PDF (for individual tables) or Microsoft Ex- cel format. In all five research areas, EPI pro­ duces publications of various types, many of Library” contains more than 8,000 articles and which are available on the site in full-text at no 3,000 photographs and maps, locating material charge (an important exception is its best-known is easy. For example, the section on “Women” title, a biennial publication called The State o f contains subcategories on “Women in Israel” Working America, which appears to be available and “Women in Judaism.” only in print). Additional aspects of the JVL include a Navigation of the EPI site is straightforward. “Glossary.” Here one can locate terms from A A menu on the left side of the homepage facili­ to Z on all aspects of Jewish history and cul­ tates access to research content through the fol­ ture, from proper Hebrew terms to a succinct lowing links: “Search,” “Publications,” and “Web definition of Zyklon B (the gas used at Features.” All three of these are valuable tools Auschwitz). The “Bibliography of Web Sites” for investigating the content of the EPI site. The and “Breaking News” round out the vast “Search” and “Publications” features are simple amount of information available. and self-explanatory, and especially useful for This is a comprehensive Web site on Israel, topical searching. The “Web Features” section Jews, and Jewish culture; no attempt is made to facilitates browsing for particular types of docu­ shy away from uncomfortable subjects within ments such as “Issue Guides,” “Economic Snap­ the history or current events of Jewish life. If shots,” “ Viewpoints, “Datazone,” “Economic in­ you are looking for easily accessible, balanced dicators,” and “The Pulse.” information, this site is worth a visit.— Karen With substantial free content, the EPI site Evans, Indiana State University, libevak@ is an appropriate and convenient resource for isugw. indstate.edu investigating facts and statistics, along with in­ terpretation and policy recommendations. In Economic Policy Institute. A ccess: addition, the center section of the homepage http://www.epinet.org/. is devoted to selected issues of current inter­ The Economic Policy Institute (EPI) is a est, with links to EPI documents; this feature nonprofit, nonpartisan research institute (or makes the site useful for maintaining current think tank) engaged in research, analysis, and awareness as well as investigating specific top­ advocacy. Its stated mission is “to provide high- ics.— Cheryl Gunselman, Washington State Univer­ quality research and education in order to pro­ sity, [email protected] ■

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