LANIC (Latin American Network Information Center) is affiliated with the Institute of Latin American Studies (ILAS) at the University of Texas at Austin. It was inaugurated in 1992, and in 1999 averages 1.5 million hits a month. Its main purpose is to provide access to information from and about Latin America. LANIC is one of those megasites, which consists solely of links to other sites. Apart from the header, there are no graphics, just links. LANIC states that it has over 12,000 links, each of which is carefully evaluated by the LANIC staff.
The home page has a universal search function consisting of many search engines where one can search the “world” or “Latin America”. Also included on the home page is a “what’s new” link, so that frequent visitors can note the latest additions. An important link in the header is the Newsroom, which has the latest news of importance in the Latin American world. For example, the current news item is the recent Mexican earthquake. Also on the home page are links to various Latin American studies programs and projects in which the University of Texas‐LANIC are involved.
The primary subject links are:
countries;
economy;
education;
Government;
humanities;
Internet and computing;
libraries and reference;
media;
recreation;
regional resources;
science;
social sciences;
society and culture;
sustainable development.
Under each of these primary links are key terms to help the user understand what encompasses each topic. For example, under science, the keywords are astronomy, history, chemistry … Each of these links leads to more detailed information so that one can really narrow a search to exactly the topic desired. The “countries” link shows a choice of the “Caribbean, Central America, South America, and North America”. Under each country heading are categories such as academic resources, art, education, business, etc. The science link shows two subcategories: medicine and health sciences, and natural and applied sciences.
The pages are designed simply; and all the categories are arranged alphabetically, so that even though there are many links and resources, one never gets lost. There is an Add function so that one can send announcements for the newsroom; and there is also an Add a Link where suggestions are taken for additions. In both the Announcements and Add a Link function, LANIC states that it will not accept submissions for personal home pages or commercial product promotions.
LANIC is a very valuable resource for anyone seeking information on any aspect of Latin America. It is well established and validated with many Latin American studies programs. It has also been an official member of the WWW Virtual Library since 1994. It is useful to all academic levels, from primary school students through graduate students and professionals.
