From accounting to zoology, the World Lecture Hall covers almost 75 academic disciplines. Sponsored by Academic Computing and Instructional Technology Services at the University of Texas at Austin, the site categorizes access to Web sites created by faculty who are teaching courses with online components. Some links provide just a syllabus, but many are fully designed Web pages including links to other sites, including research and style guides, as well as bibliographies and notes prepared by the instructor.
The site is clearly designed and easy to use. Topics are listed in alphabetical order, and a fairly sophisticated search engine feature is also provided. The search engine accepts Boolean searching (AND, OR, NOT) and allows truncation (*).
A search for “literature” retrieved 25 category matches, ranging from courses in English, Classics and Languages to Women’s studies, Germanic studies and Middle Eastern studies. Selected courses included in these categories include Boccaccio’s Decameron in Translation, Let’s learn Arabic, Hindi studies, Virgil’s Aeneid, Greek prose style, Women in Antiquity, Freedom in women’s eyes, and German media. Selecting Chemistry directly from the menu leads to 79 different courses, from General chemistry I and Elements of organic chemistry to Mass spectroscopy for chromatographers and Thermodynamics, reactions and inorganic chemistry.
Clearly defined links to their policies, for adding or updating a listing, and for checking what is new or in development are available.
There are several general distance education‐related links provided in the Policies section.
From the main page one can also link to a general set of links on Web‐based education in the USA, as well as the University of Texas Lecture Hall, which covers courses taught at UT‐Austin.
This site will prove useful for a variety of searchers. Students in general may benefit from content found here, while education students may be particularly interested in viewing how practicing instructors are managing Web‐based education. Faculty considering such projects may also be interested in how their colleagues are handling online education. Covering virtually every academic area and offering course information ranging from typical syllabi to unique interactive courses, the World Lecture Hall offers something for everyone.
