Learner Online, sponsored by the Annenberg/CPB Project, set its goal to make the benefits of higher education more accessible by creating high‐quality college‐level educational materials using communications technology to solve certain problems in education <http://www.learner.org/content/ed/acpb/10yreport/10yrgoals.html> Distant learners, on‐campus learners, and informal learners are the targeted audiences of the project. The we bsite for the Learner Online project consists of two sections: one for the learners and one for the educators.
The Educators Home Page provides access to promotional materials for new series, highlights conferences the Annenberg/CPB Project will attend, houses a video preview room, presents web sites that complement their series, offers strategies for teaching with their material, and makes a complete catalog available. In addition, there is information about funding new projects and offering telecourses.
The promotional materials describe the contents and featured individuals, including the release date, number and length of videotapes, any accompanying materials, and the cost. There is also a link to the Spotlight Internet Link page for each series as available. Reviews of the series and awards won are listed. Purchase of the videos guarantees public and closed‐circuit performance rights, free duplication of one copy, supplemental teachers’ materials, and closed captioning.
The video preview room features one program from each of several series. VDOnet 2.0 is required for viewing, and there is a link to the download site (http://www.vdo.net). Instructions for downloading and installing are clear and easy to follow. Once VDO is installed and the browser is restarted, the user can watch the programs online. Little time is lost to buffering; and the video quality is quite good, with a fairly smooth video stream (when tested on a Dell OptiPlex GM+ 5133 running Windows 95 with 24 MB of RAM).
The preview page includes a feedback form. The Internet links in the Spotlight pages have been collected in the following areas: Western art, psychology, Africans, American poetry, Mediterranean and European society through the High Middle Ages, and the scientific revolution. The sites complement programs in a number of series, and are not meant to be comprehensive. The links are annotated, and the pages are pleasing to view with a streamlined layout and judicious use of graphics. Links generally lead to academic and other scholarly sites, including museums and professional organizations. Use the text links in the page “The Africans” since the image map does not work.
The catalog contains information about series and programs in the following areas: Foreign Languages, Film and Art, Literature and Writing, Psychology, History, World Cultures, Geography, Math and Computers, Science, Economics, Social Science, and Videos About Education and Technology. A series title is linked to its promotional page, allowing for easy skimming through the list for each area. The catalog also includes a subject index that lists other resources available from the Annenberg/CPB Multimedia Collection; however, it is unclear whether the titles refer to other programs, series, or Internet sites.
The “Educational Strategies and Technology” page leads to articles written about distance education and the use of technology in education. These articles would be helpful for institutions considering adding distance education or for improving their current offerings. Likewise, the “How to Offer a Telecourse” section provides more in‐depth information about distance education, the role of the faculty, and benefits of the program.
Acquisitions or collection development librarians will receive the most direct benefit from using this resource since the series are described so well. This site will also be a useful one to mention to faculty who are interested in adding audiovisual delivery of course content or in distance education.
