Web Feet: The Internet Traveler’s Desk Reference

Citation

Fisher, D. (2000), "Web Feet: The Internet Traveler’s Desk Reference", The Electronic Library, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 370-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/el.2000.18.5.370.6

Not so much a book, more of an ongoing experience. If you take out a subscription an annotated collection of Web sites will be sent to you each month, which you then insert into your handy ring binder. Updates, such as URL changes, will be provided in the form of replacement pages and also posted on the publisher’s Web site. The service began in 1998 with a double January/February issue and my review copy included this as well as March’s offerings, minus the ring binder, hence my pages quickly assumed the guise of an unwieldy mess!

The easy‐to‐follow introduction to the first issue states it is aimed at middle and high school children, adults seeking general information, librarians, teachers and parents. To attempt to appeal to such an eclectic bunch is a tall order and I think its heart is probably in the classroom. It is an all‐American product as is evident from the flavour of the sites included. The “Calendar connections” section, which provides links about significant events happening during the forthcoming month is a good idea, but solidly US in outlook. The terminology is somewhat bewildering at times, as in the heading, “Good starting places on the Web especially for K‐12” (the latter is apparently a US high school grade). The use of the phrase “Mental retardation” as an indexing term is also a touch anachronistic for European tastes.

The contents page details a whole host of subjects including literature, history, social sciences, arts and culture, mass communications, mathematics and computer science, environment, business and personal interests. All of these headings are further subdivided. The first two issues include high quality gateway sites for many of the areas, subsequent issues promise to fill the gaps and add in‐depth coverage of individual topics.

A potential problem with this type of cumulative service is that some of the subjects you are particularly interested in may not be covered until later issues. The editor’s remedy is to ask subscribers to “suggest … which topics you would like us to cover next… tell us what you need to research and we’ll do it for you”. I was impressed by such interactivity, but surely the irony is that the more subscribers Web Feet attracts the harder it will become to provide such a personalised service?

The design is attractive, with small screen shots of home pages accompanied by Web addresses and brief, but informative, site descriptions. Sheets are colour‐coded and labelled to match the divider cards in the binder. A cumulative subject index is also issued each month.

On the flip side, I did find occasional indexing idiosyncracies somewhat frustrating. To give an example, the first page of the first issue says it contains “General science” pages. Yet there is no mention of the phrase in the contents page, so how do you find the section? Going to the subject index, again, no mention of general science. Trying “Science” I found individual site names listed with bracketed strings of headings (Biology, Chemistry, and Physics – General Science) attached. So, that is where they are!A few similar abberations became apparent as I worked through the pages. The catchphrase “Confused? You will be”, from the US comedy Soap, is an apt description of how I felt at times. But then, I suspect American kids are far smarter than me.

In summary, Web Feet is an innovative product which demonstrates printed Internet guides can be current and possibly even interactive. In its present form, it is too US focused to successfully meet the needs of potential audiences in other countries, although if the hype is true it should respond to your suggestions. One thing seems clear though, the American love affair with the internal combustion engine shows no sign of waning, as the first issue boasts a plethora of sites on “buying a car”!