Prior to the beginning of the twentieth century, amateurs contributed significantly to the expansion of all areas of knowledge, Now in the electronic age, nonprofessionals design and maintain high quality web sites covering a wide range of disciplines. World War I: Trenches on the Web stands as a fine example of this trend. Designed and maintained by Mike Iavarone, a computer programmer with an interest in the Great War, this highly informative site contains a wide range of information and stands as an excellent place to obtain basic background data on the period.
World War I: Trenches on the Web contains a considerable amount of graphics and factual materials and takes time to load. However, after the main page loads onto the browser, the site moves between links at a faster rate. Netscape 2.0 or higher or Microsoft Internet Explorer are recommended to use the site as Java is used for some applications. The main page contains links to the four main sections: a reference library, site updates, theme based site tours, and a World War I discussion forum, plus a listing of new site features. Overall site design is quite good. Navigation between pages moves quickly and includes considerable online help. The reference library section stands as the most useful for obtaining information on the war. It contains twenty‐one sections covering arms, biographies, documents, artwork, maps, multimedia materials, links to other World War I sites, VRML resources, and other materials. The content, created by the site manager and contributors, is high quality in both presentation and factual accuracy. Sufficient cross references link resources between files.
Some sections are not as deep in content as others. However, the lack of content is more than made up for by the breadth of coverage. Especially fine sections include the map section, audio files of period songs, and the portrait gallery. Also useful is the tour section containing thirty‐five essays, produced by contributors and containing many graphics on different aspects of the war. Of particular interest are the pieces on the Battle of the Somme, a collection of paintings of the great war, and collections of German and Italian war poetry. The site update section lists new features and essays added to the sites. Finally, the discussion area allows interested parties to chat on various aspects of the period.
At this time, this site does not replace print monographs or fine file presentations of World War I. However, it is one of the finest period sites currently available. It also stands as a fine example of the possibilities of the Web for spreading information. It is highly recommended to all individuals interested in the War to End All Wars.
The sites re‐assigned to other categories. It could also use some more general sites instead of the specific sites that are included in some categories. Two examples from the music category illustrate this best: Bob Marley has two sites listed among the 14 music sites when just a link to Yahoo’s list of artists <http://www.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Music/Artists/> would be more beneficial; and a link to the Ultimate Band List for the letter T is included when a link to the entire parent list would be better.
While the author has definitely spent a lot of time on the Internet and looking specifically for sites as K‐12 resources, the web site will best serve most K‐12 educators as a starting point for designing their own directory or bookmark file. A more developed and useful K‐12 web site might be the “Teacher’s Tool Box” <http://trc.org/toolbox.htm>, which has more standard categories and better organization. WebEd K12 Curriculum links is recommended for K‐12 students and teachers as a general directory resource.
