Classes for Parents

Parents who have heard the stories about potential evils lurking on the Internet might be interested in taking a look at "Families and the Internet." Steve Garwood (sgarwood@camden.lib.nj.us), customer education librarian at Camden County Library in Voorhees, NJ, has created an effective parent-education site that deserves to be widely known.  

Not scary: The site is simply and clearly designed, and its brief text is highly readable. It resembles an online class, and is set up as a true/false trivia game. The first question, for example, is "Fact or Fiction: The Internet and the World Wide Web are the same thing." When the user moves the mouse arrow over the big "Answer" button, he or she sees that the statement is, of course, fiction, along with an explanation of the correct answer.

A light touch: Garwood created the site for his library as part of a presentation about young people online, and its success brought it to the notice of librarians and media specialists throughout New Jersey. "One of the main pluses of the site," says Garwood, "is that it takes an issue which can cause some conflict and presents it in a lighter manner. The game format of the site gets everyone involved. You'd be surprised how some of the 'easy' questions actually stump people."

Dogged by projects: Garwood, who works both as a workshop leader and reference librarian for Camden County Library, is frying bigger fish online, too. He is now working on the New Jersey Statewide Reference Center (njref.camden.lib.nj.us), an attractive online reference desk that gives users a chance to either ask a question or perform their own reference searches, and is planning on distance-education efforts to help library users develop more sophisticated Web skills. Still, he manages to find time for a personal life: take a look at Garwood's dog's Web site: www.stevegarwood.com/cody.