Abstract: One of most serious problems plaguing the World Wide Web today is that of broken hypertext links, which are a major annoyance to browsing users and also a cause of tarnished reputation and possible loss of opportunity for information providers. The root of the problem lies in the current Web architecture's lack of support for referential integrity. This paper presents a model for the provision of referential integrity for Web resources which supports resource migration and tolerates site and communication failures. The approach is object-oriented, highly flexible, completely distributed, and does not require any global administration. An attractive feature of our design is the provision of a lightweight mechanism which provides referential integrity, and which may be customised on a per resource basis to provide increased fault-tolerance and performance. Our system follows an evolutionary approach, supporting parallel operation with the existing Web, allowing users to gain the additional benefits of referential integrity while allowing continued access through trusted software components.

Abstract: Students can explore a variety of subjects with these cross-curricular Internet activities. Designed for educators and students, this guide to telecommunications and the Internet demystifies the technology and provides relevant, feasible, and easy-to-implement ideas and activities for the classroom. Expanded coverage of Web resources and cross-curricular activities are available in this new edition. Projects (arranged by subject area), encourage students to explore the Internet and help them learn in a variety of areas. All activities are presented in reproducible format and are readily integrated into the curriculum. The authors also give a basic overview of Internet access and navigation. A glossary, index, Internet resource list, and illustrations complete the work.

Abstract: Objective The objectives of the New York University (NYU) neurosurgery Web resource are the following: 1) to educate patients and families of patients who have neurosurgical problems, 2) to provide a forum for communication among neurosurgeons and other physicians, 3) to educate neurosurgeons, and 4) to provide neurosurgeons with resources for enhancing their practices. Methods The NYU neurosurgery Web resource resides on a Sun SparcStation 20, running Solaris 1.0 and National Center for Supercomputing Applications httpd 1.0. It is aimed at a broad audience that includes the general public as well as practicing neurosurgeons and other physicians. Accordingly, general information regarding a variety of neurosurgical problems is presented in easy-to-understand language. Material intended specifically for neurosurgeons, such as case discussions, is designed to stimulate discussion and encourage outside submissions. Interaction with the NYU faculty and residents may be accomplished by using electronic mail, file transfer protocol, and direct Web postings. Media in development include java applets and real-time video over the Internet. The uniform resource locator for the NYU neurosurgery Web site is "http:/(/)mcns10.med.nyu.edu/". Results The Web site has averaged 1800 accesses per month, and 5 to 10 electronic mail messages are received daily. Several patients for whom our faculty have held consultations over the Web have undergone surgery at NYU. The most popular areas of the Web site are the spinal surgery section and the brain tumors section. Conclusion The ability to capitalize on the World Wide Web as a facile user is becoming an increasingly important skill for the modern neurosurgeon. In addition, Web sites published by neurosurgeons offer opportunities for communication and consultation that have previously been impossible.

Abstract: In addition to the obvious problems of precision and recall in relation to information retrieval via the Worldwide Web, the data retrieved may be inaccurate or out of date, even if the sites or resources located initially seem relevant. In response, a number of services have been developed over the lnternet which attempt to assist Web searchers in locating relevant, quality resources. Different approaches have been adopted, including the development of gateway services, reviewing resources and the allocation of numerical ratings. However, the effectiveness of the approach, and the quality of the ‘annotations’ used by these sites, can vary enormously. Using a specific medical Web resource, a number of services are compared to illustrate some of these issues, to introduce readers to the need to evaluate Web resources, and to provide some guidelines for evaluating the evaluative services. This article forms part of the work by the Advisory Group on Evaluation Criteria for Organising Medical Networked Information (OMNI), the eLib‐funded subject gateway for biomedicine. An earlier article compares and contrasts the facilities offered by a wider range of evaluative services.

Abstract: The development of Internet-based virtual resources is a relatively new area of scientific and technical activity that is currently undergoing rapid expansion. Major factors fuelling recent growth include the emergence of multimedia capabilities through the rapid evolution of the World Wide Web, the reduction in cost of high quality personal computers and graphics workstations and the provision of mass-marketed provider services. Prior to 1995 the presence of Internet resources in the glycosciences was virtually non-existent. Existing scientific knowledge was primarily made available on the Net through the provision of databases from gopher and ftp sites. A particular example in the glycosciences is the Carbbank database of biological carbohydrate sequences. We will describe here our efforts in 1994–95 in establishing The Glycoscience Network (TGN, http://bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk/TGN/). These activities included the establishment of a newsgroup, mailing lists, Web resources and the running of the First Electronic Glycoscience Conference (EGC-1, http://bellatrix.pcl.ox.ac.uk/egc/). EGC-1 included many novel initiatives in the glycosciences including electronic posters and papers, a Virtual Conference Centre, a Web-based hyperglossary, Virtual Trade and Employment Centres, refereed electronic publishing, and the creation of a Virtual Reality Gallery. We would like to look towards the near future and discuss several initiatives in virtual resource creation that we believe will have significant scientific impact on the glycosciences including the development of bioinformatics-based servers, sophisticated interactive databases, and videoconferencing. Furthermore, we cherish the belief that these resources will foster international scientific collaboration and progress of an extent never previously possible. Finally, we indulge in speculation and make some suggestions on the form and long-term impact of Glycoscience Virtual Resources. We predict that their development may completely reconstruct the scientific environment that we work in as scientists and we reflect on the probable benefits and pitfalls to be encountered.

Abstract: In recognition of the need to provide better access to Web resources, a number of prototypes, products and services have emerged that provide some form of automated categorisation of Net resources. Several representative current efforts that apply established as well as more innovative methods of automated classification, organisation or other method of categorisation are profiled.

Abstract: Constructing home pages for World-Wide Web access has become a major activity in academic health sciences libraries At the Northwestern University, Galter Health Sciences Library staff are creating the library's new health information system using Web resources and integrating them with existing library systems-NUmed (OVID MEDLINE) and LUIS/NUcat (NOTIS) Development of Web pages, including selection and organization of electronic information, has become the building process for the electronic library Selection, organization, design, and construction are important factors in the creation of an efficient and useful information system Using resources like the World-Wide Web and tools like Netscape, library staff are designing an interface, defining policies and guidelines, and creating the tools that will give users easy access to local and international electronic, scholarly information resources In this paper, the process used at Northwestern is shown as a model of an electronic health sciences library for the twenty-first century

Abstract: The Internet has recently witnessed growth since it became accessible to the common user in 1990. It is becoming a valuable communications and information resource for the anti-tobacco movement. This article summarizes many valuable resources for the anti-tobacco activist to be found on the World Wide Web today.

Abstract: Interpretation of literary texts is a multidimensional task requiring students to master a variety of skills and to acquire factual knowledge in diverse areas. The use of the World Wide Web in conjunction with student computer accounts has allowed me to create a virtual classroom in which students can explore many historical and theoretical aspects of interpretation through the use of HTML tutorials and Web resources. The discussion of the literary text in a community of scholars can take center stage in the physical classroom.

Abstract: The paper reports on an (in-progress) effort to design a curriculum that will train professionals to use and construct digital documents. As part of an effort to reinvent information studies curriculum at the University of Michigan's School of Information & Library Studies, a committee has been exploring an interdisciplinary curriculum emphasis that will prepare students to deal with the increasingly important role that digital documents will play in work, education, and daily life. Digital documents include what have been previously called publications, online documents, Web resources, and multimedia materials. The curriculum straddles the traditional fields of information studies, publishing, and of design. It also takes up business issues (such as marketing) and legal issues (such as copyright). The curriculum will train students to provide digital document collection access and support, to be digital publishers and marketers, and to design and develop digital documents. The paper discusses the current design of the curriculum, the process of developing that design, and the problems raised in trying to implement such a design within an existing discipline-based university infrastructure.

Abstract: UKOLN (the UK Office of Library and Information Networking) has created a Web resource based on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel Treasure Island in order to explore how a children's library can integrate the Internet into its services. The site is at http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/treasure. Visitors to the site can learn more about the book, contribute book reviews, design a pirate and wander around a virtual Treasure Island.