SpotLight: The Internet Public Library

If you're a public librarian you're no doubt already familiar with the wonderful resource that is the Internet Public Library. After all, it is "the first public library of and for the Internet community", beginning way back in 1995. Read more about the IPL's mission statement and goals, principles, staff, and other FAQ.

Although I use the IPL quite regularly in my work -- since I am an "Internet" librarian and can't make use of many print sources, I find it especially valuable -- I realized that there is so much more to the IPL than I really utilize. I hope this article introduces you to a few new gems available at the IPL, even for those of you who are already avid users of the site.

Collections

From the Collections Page: "Each item in the IPL collections has been carefully selected, cataloged and described by a member of the IPL staff. This means that you can be assured of the quality of the resources that you will find within the IPL."

I most often use the IPL's fantastic Online Literary Criticism Collection: "The IPL Online Literary Criticism Collection contains 4745 critical and biographical websites about authors and their works that can be browsed by author, by title, or by nationality and literary period."

But some of the other equally valuable collections that I don't use as regularly and tend to forget about include:

* Associations on the Net
"The IPL Associations on the Net (AON) is a collection of over 2000 Internet sites providing information about a wide variety of professional and trade associations, cultural and art organizations, political parties and advocacy groups, labor unions, academic societies, and research institutions. Abstracts summarizing information about the association and its site are provided."

* Native American Authors
"This website provides information on Native North American authors with bibliographies of their published works, biographical information, and links to online resources including interviews, online texts and tribal websites. Currently the website primarily contains information on contemporary Native American authors, although some historical authors are represented." Browse the collection alphabetically by author, title of work, or tribe name.

Online Newspapers
"The IPL Online Newspapers Collection lists online versions of print-based newspapers. In addition to traditional local and national newspapers, it also lists official and student-run newspapers from colleges, universities, and primary and secondary schools. To be considered for inclusion, the online version of the newspaper must include some significant amount of articles and other information that is free to the general public."

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic