INTRODUCTION

Hello! If this is your first visit to this room, you may find it helpful to get acquainted with the contents of my collection via the information contained in the next few paragraphs.

General References

In my electronic library you'll find a variety of reading, browsing, and research sources on many subjects, just as I have been gathering in my real library. A broad array of subjects and disciplines is represented as well as listings of some of my favorite authors and books and resources for ordering books for yourself. I have included a large collection of general research resources within my Reference Room as well as a huge selection of electronic magazines, journals, and news sources in my Reading Room.

References by Subject

While my Ph.D. is in the field of educational leadership, policy, and management studies, my academic foundation and orientation is multi-disciplinary in nature, reflecting my Master's degree specializations in human resource management and organizational sciences, public administration, and the critical social sciences.

My Internet and World Wide Web research expands upon various aspects of human and organizational relations, social sciences, policy studies, and counseling/human development. In building this library, I've been carefully selecting web research resources in many different subject areas, including the following:

• educational research (postsecondary and K-12)

• conflict resolution

• organizational studies

• counseling, health and wellness, and human development

• power and human behavior

• economic policy

• management studies and labor relations

• law and public policy

• diversity and race relations

• gender studies

• interpersonal relationships and family studies

• sociology, social sciences research, and philosophy

• psychology and psychological research

• humanities and literature

• history and historical research

• comparative U.S. and Canadian cultural studies
  

Monthly Library Features Collections

For each month, I have collected web articles and links under a broad theme or topic for my Web Links Monthly Features. My collection of links in May provided a number of resources on issues of student retention in postsecondary education. My feature in June addressed another issue of much interest to me: "The Incredible Shrinking Middle Class".

In my July collection, with the help of students in a graduate education class in Educational Leadership that I taught in 1996, I've collected a wide range of resources on "Leadership in Changing Times".

Research Uses of the Web

Having developed an active interest in the uses of the Internet for enhancing academic research, I've spent no small amount of time exploring the question: does the Internet really improve academic research? First, my August feature (currently under revision) provides an introduction to web sites devoted to helping students develop research topics and papers in high school and college courses. In my September feature, I've gathered a collection of Web Links on "Internet Research for Skeptics" to see if I can definitively answer the question. Additional background information on the Web is collected in my "Work in the 1990s" continues this focus on using the web for interdisciplinary research into contemporary trends of work and employment.

Because the Web is still so new, there are many questions raised about how researchers can critically evaluate the quality and contents of information provided on the Web. In my November feature on "Becoming a Better Web Researcher", I introduce resources that can help schlars and researchers to use the Web more effectively and efficiently. In my December collection, I'll help you become more "net savvy" as I provide an update on Net users and usage under my "Staying on Top of the Net" feature.

My Purpose in Building this Library

I view this library as serving the needs of scholars like me who desire access to a wide range of resources from one central location. Over time, it will continue to expand to cover many other subject areas to enable my visitors to seek online sources of a vast array. New links will be added weekly, and I always welcome suggestions for new items and topic areas.

Concluding Note

This library collection has become quite large and has placed great limits on my available time for providing carefully annotated descriptions of individual links. It is important for my library visitors to cultivate a critical eye for evaluating the quality and effectiveness of web resources for individual research needs. I encourage you to explore the benefits and limitations of different links for your own research needs and interests--just as you would do when conducting research inside a real library.