The Electronic Zoo, or E‐Zoo, is a Webliography created and maintained by Dr Ken Boschert, DVM. Dr Boschert’s intent in producing this site was to create a way of “organizing and categorizing veterinary medical information available on the Internet.” In this task he has been somewhat successful.
Although the opening page and the title “Electronic Zoo” might lead one to believe this is a children’s Web site, it is geared toward adults, specifically adults in the veterinary medicine field. In entering the site the user sees a large colorful picture containing various animals adjacent to the title. As it turns out, this is an image map pointing not to the different sections of the entire Web site, but rather only to pages within the Animals section. It is below this image map that the Web site subsections are listed. These are named as follows: About E‐Zoo, What’s New, Search, Animals, Veterinary, Publications, Organizations, Mailing Lists, Newsgroups, Telnet Sites, FTP Sites, Gophers [Gopher Sites], Web Picks, and Wash. Univ. [Washington University].
The subsections Veterinary, Publications, and Organizations are geared toward the animal professional, while the rest of the areas can be used for a variety of information interests. Dr Boschert does an excellent job categorizing the links within the Veterinary and Organizations sections. Career, Education, and Specialties make up the subheadings for Veterinary, while Organizations is effectively organized into Veterinary and Animal Science, Science and Research, Animal Welfare/Rights/Humane Rescue, Conservation/Environmental/ Wildlife, and Commercial.
Unfortunately, the Animals section is not nearly as well organized. While Animals is divided into numerous categories (amphibians, birds, invertebrates, marine mammals, and wildlife, to name a few), these pages lead only to lists of numerous links in alphabetical order. With a total of approximately 5,000 links within these divisions, it can be difficult to find what’s needed.
Throughout the site, the compiler has placed a dachshund graphic next to sites he believes are of value. However, Dr Boschert himself states that he does not review the sites listed in the various sections. Therefore, it is up to the user to determine the value of the various links contained within the Electronic Zoo. This is especially true for the Gopher Sites section. While the links here seem effectively organized, their usefulness is questionable; many of the links no longer work.
Entering the What’s New section, one finds mostly updates on the various changes and additions to the site. The problem is that many pages to which these links point cannot be found, and the page is somewhat disorganized. Also found under What’s New is the internal search engine for the Web site. Although one can also reach the search function by choosing Search from the main page, it’s hidden there amidst all of the other search options available (AgSearch, Altavista, Infoseek, and many more). Boolean searching is permitted, and once a search is completed, one is presented with a series of links which lead to the appropriate pages within The Electronic Zoo. Again, because these lists of links are so lengthy, it can be difficult for one to locate exactly where, within the page, the search term is found. While the search engine does work, these defects decrease its potential usefulness.
Another section of What’s New which can create some confusion is the archive. First, it is not labeled as such; instead, one finds only an option labeled “Select Year & Month” followed by the years 1995 through 1999 and drop‐down menus which permit searching by month. The problem is that after searches for certain months are completed, one is taken without warning to the American Veterinary Medical Association Web site, where selected archives are apparently housed. This can be somewhat confusing.
Overall, this site is a valuable resource if one has time to go through the links and the patience to evaluate the information found. In addition, anyone using this site needs to be careful not to get lost. Recommended with reservations.
