The Internet and Classical Civilization

Acquisitions has become a complex and difficult task in this era of sharply escalating costs and declining or static budgets. Nevertheless, an acquisitions librarian can expand a collection by providing unrestricted access to the Internet and World Wide Web, while at the same time pointing the way to what they, as librarians, deem as quality sites by providing bookmarks and by giving users the critical skills with which they can evaluate that vast Information Superhighway. There are four resources which a librarian can use that will help in the critical evaluation of Internet or web sites which vary greatly in quality and in the vast array of topics covered: William Katzʹs points for effectively evaluating print sources and electronic databases, Marsha Tateʹs and Jane Alexanderʹs "Checklist for an Informational Web Page," and Boyd Collinsʹ Infofilter Projectʹs review template and genre categories. Showing how these techniques can be applied in evaluating Classical civilization web sites provides acquisitions librarians with a paradigm for effectively assessing any other Internet or World Wide Web site.