A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace is an extensive Web site covering general sociological resources and subject specific topics including sociology of death and dying, marriage and family life, gender and society, race and ethnicity, and sociology of knowledge. Each subject Web page begins with an introduction to acquaint one with the topic area. Almost half of the subject areas include a hypertext outline that is quite helpful in navigating through the information contained in the Web site. Although outlines do not exist for all the subject areas, the pages are well designed and are not difficult to navigate.
As this product is primarily geared toward an academic audience, most of the material included on A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace may be used to supplement a student’s sociological research endeavors. There are a multitude of relevant links that have been added to the site based on courses taught by the site creator, Dr Michael C. Kearl, and classes taught by his colleagues. These links include commentary, essays, and data analysis. Some of the valuable information on this site includes the structure and design of a research paper, as well as links for citing electronic materials. There is also a link to Sociology Jeopardy to test one’s sociological knowledge (http://www.abacon.com/ socsite/jeopardy/jeopardy.html). In addition, there are a few curious links, such as The Death Clock (http://www.deathclock.com) from the Sociology of Death and Dying page and links to paranormal sites such as Kidnapped by UFOs.
Although A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace is quite extensive in subject matter, I believe it would benefit students if additional areas of study, including sociology of the body and sociology of sport, also received serious coverage. In addition, it would be useful to be able to see when the site was last updated. At present, only the 1999 copyright date is provided. One very positive feature regarding this site is its invitation for discourse. There are message pads placed in various locations requesting feedback on the material presented. Moreover, the contact information for this site is very clearly stated and has a link to Dr Kearl’s e‐mail address, as well as relevant biographical information.
A HotBot search engine has been provided for this Web site. However, the search engine is rather simple and is not conducive to advanced searches. Yet, whether a link is located directly on the site or via HotBot, one will find that the links are well maintained. Although sociology undergraduates would benefit most from this site, A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace has multidisciplinary appeal with its coverage of social psychology as well as maintaining links to such related disciplines as anthropology, history, and mass media and communication studies. The site also provides a link to The Sociology Ring Home Page, created to network the vast number of Web pages and sites devoted to sociology.
A Sociological Tour Through Cyberspace is a resource with much to offer in an academic setting, as well as appealing to anyone with a sociological curiosity. I highly recommend this site as it does indeed exercise the “sociological imagination.”
