Latino Resources on the Web

Abstract

<p>Use of the World Wide Web in academic libraries has grown exponentially since the mid-1990s and the introduction of easy-to-use browser software such as Mosaic and Netscape. In academic settings, librarians, faculty, and enterprising computer science or engineering students were among the first to recognize and to make use of the potential of this new publishing medium. Early pioneers saw the Web as a unique space in which to organize through hypertextual links various Internet resources. Besides organizing existing material, new information sources could easily be created, mounted on a server, and accessed by others. A solid Latino presence was quickly established on the Web in the form of librarian Richard Chabnin's scholarly CLNet, then at UCLA, and in the irrepressible Ego Web, constructed by Felipe Campos 207 at the University of Texas, Austin.1 It is odd to look back at that time-not that long ago-and recall the marvel and excitement of waiting for Mosaic to load the CLNet home page onscreen. Since those early days, numerous other Latino Web resources and hypertext lists have been developed, but in many ways, these two pioneering sites still represent the opposite poles ofWeb site developmentthose sites developed by subject and content specialists, and those developed by amateur enthusiasts. For Latino resources, there is value in both approaches.</p>