Toronto Public Library's Science Net
http://sciencenet.tpl.toronto.on.ca
Staff -- School Library Journal, 3/1/1999
Toronto Public Library's Science Net
http://sciencenet.tpl.toronto.on.ca
Those of us who work with students know that the 500s -- pure science -- is a section of Dewey we visit often. The Toronto Public Library (TPL) is in the midst of creating a virtual section of 500s on the Web -- an extensive index of really useful science sites. The project looks so promising that I had to feature it as the SLJ Online Library Web Site of the Month.
As I write, only the home page, which allows the user to choose an English or French interface, and the physics section are available. By the time you read this, the chemistry section should be up, with the biology, botany, zoology, geology, paleontology, and astronomy sections to follow throughout the year. The interface has been a bit overdesigned for its purpose -- its large animation files load slowly -- but it is user-friendly, offering a list of A-to-Z subtopics for each section, similar to a library subject catalog or a Dewey-oriented subject breakdown. In the physics section, for example, you can browse a collection of general physics sites or choose a subtopic such as gases or magnetism.
Wayne Daniels (wdaniels@nypl.north-york.on.ca) is the Science Net project coordinator. The site is the first segment of a much larger TPL site called the Virtual Reference Library. "Think of Science Net as the first room in this virtual complex," he says. The initial framework of the Virtual Reference Library will appear by June. --Walter Minkel (wmink@teleport.com), Multnomah County (OR) Library School Corps Technology Trainer
