Press Release 6/15/2000
For Immediate Release: June 15, 2000
For additional information, contact:
Ann Bagnell, Publisher
1-610-747-0202, 1-888-ROCKHIL
abagnell@rockhillcommunications.com
WEB FEET GUIDES Partners with MARC Link to Create Interactive Internet Subject Guides for Libraries
BALA CYNWYD, PA—RockHill Communications, publisher of the acclaimed Web Feet * Subject Guide to the Best Web Sites, has announced a new partnership with MARC Link Retrospective Conversion of Provo, Utah. The companies are collaborating on the creation of two new electronic products for libraries, WEB FEET MARC Records and WEB FEET ONLINE.
The new products will be available in July 2000, and will be demonstrated at the American Library Association annual conference July 8–11 in Chicago.
WEB FEET GUIDES are changing the way librarians provide Internet resources to students and patrons, offering safe, unlimited access across libraries and schools to thousands of the best Web sites, either integrated into the library catalog or through the Internet, without filtering. RockHill Communications has been selecting and describing the best Web sites for schools and libraries since 1996, making it the first such company in the industry to publish subject guides to the Internet.
WEB FEET’s comprehensive site descriptions will now be augmented in the electronic products by Library of Congress subject headings and live links to the Internet. As the Internet becomes an increasingly important source of information in schools and libraries, the ability to integrate WEB FEET selections into any library catalog is critical.
Students and patrons will now be able to search their library catalogs by subject—for example, solar system, or Picasso—and they will find recommended Web sites along with books and other media in the library collection. Not only does this help point students toward all types of resources, but it also provides access to safe, reviewed sites, without filtering. Additionally, when many books on a subject are in circulation, students and patrons will also be shown Internet resources to use.
The Partnership
The partnership unites two companies dedicated to content excellence. MARC Link provides the highest quality MARC records for demanding librarians from libraries in every part of the market—from the University of Pennsylvania and the American Antiquarian Society, to the West Memphis Public Library and the North Colonie School District. Following industry standards, MARC Link has created full MARC records for the entire WEB FEET database of several thousand records, as well as for new WEB FEET content and updates added monthly.
WEB FEET has already set the standard for Web site selection and description, with sites chosen by librarians, teachers, and subject-area experts on hundreds of topics ranging from Shakespeare and Dinosaurs to Genealogy and Auto Repair. "The announcement of our electronic products has excited librarians who have found attempting to create their own Web site catalogs both time consuming and frustrating," stated WEB FEET publisher Ann Bagnell. "They have told us that they don’t have the time to search the Internet for the best resources for their patrons, and with these new products, they won’t have to—the best Web sites will be right in their library catalogs or on their library’s own homepage."
WEB FEET ONLINE provides the same searchable, rigorously reviewed material as the original print product and WEB FEET MARC Records for Library Catalogs but also includes some additional tools. The MARC Records and Online versions can be accessed remotely by library patrons, teachers, and students through the library’s or school’s server.
More information can be obtained from www.webfeetguides.com.