Lycos is best known as a cyberspace navigation tool. This book is from Lycos Press, an offshoot of Lycos and Que, and another example of efforts to aid access to content on the World Wide Web. This particular directory is aimed at women.
An introductory chapter explains the Internet and World Wide Web for beginners, summarises types of information available on the Web, discusses hardware and software requirements for Web access, and briefly touches on issues such as Internet culture, privacy and children’s use. Chapters 2‐14 cover specific topics: mind and body; careers and networking; entertainment and leisure; news, politics and the law; family; relationships; fashion and beauty; education; personal finance and business; habitat; technology and the Internet; shopping; community and social service. Chapter 15 is a guide to search tools and reference resources on the Web (from search engines through encyclopedias, government references and statistics to genealogical resources). There are appendices on using Lycos to search the Web and on using the CD‐ROM supplied with the book. There is a glossary of “Internet lingo” and an index of site names referred to in the book.
As an example of content, the chapter on family begins with a list of ten “things you can do for your family right now”, listing sites on summer camps, daycare options, recipes, etc. The following pages cover subtopics, listing Web sites and providing brief descriptions of each. The topics include pregnancy and childbirth, parenting, children with disabilities, family education, games, places to go, family entertainment, teens, adoption, divorce, etc. Pages are set out in double‐column format; there are some monochrome illustrations from Web sites; and there are occasional pieces of boxed information (e.g. on “child proofing the Web”, or “spotlight on domestic violence”).
The CD‐ROM (which almost requires destruction of the back cover to prise it out!) contains software which enables the user to connect to the Internet, search the Web and view a fully hyperlinked HTML version of the printed book. (Microsoft Internet Explorer is provided, as is a US service provider, Earthlink; instructions for installation on both Macintosh and PC systems are provided; there is an enduser licence agreement included in the book which is binding on the purchaser/user.)
As with many of the guides to the World Wide Web, this is dominated by a North American perspective. This is especially evident in sections on education, careers, women’s activism, advocacy and support. Some sites of “international appeal” are included and distinguished by a symbol, but these are minimal. Australian sites, for instance, are few and far between: the National Botanic Gardens site is listed, with “kookaburra” misspelt in the entry, which also suggests more pictures of the gardens themselves and of “aboriginal microcosms” (?). The directory omits any reference to useful and time‐saving devices such as the multi‐search engine, Dogpile (http://www.dogpile.com)
Only libraries with a strong commitment to print materials on women and electronic information should consider purchasing this book. Most other institutions would do better to use local search engines and local directories to locate relevant women’s resources in their respective countries.
