A Website Review on the American Cultural History 1960-1969 Webpage Essay Example for Free

A Website Review on the American Cultural History 1960-1969 Webpage Essay Kingwood College Librarys American Cultural History 1960-1969 webpage (http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade60. html) is a webpage dedicated to the dessemination of information regarding the 1960s. It dubs itself a web and library guide, and is hosted and managed by the Kingwood College Library, an educational organization in Kingwood, Texas. Its stated purpose is to â€Å"help the user gain a broad understanding and appreciation for the culture and history of the 1960s† (Goodwin, para. 2). The site itself is authored by Susan Goodwin. Unfortunately, no information in the site listed Ms. Goodwins credentials, and checking the Kingwood College Library for any information regarding the author proved futile as well. The webpage is primarily aimed for the general public, with information that is collected and compiled from different sources which are mostly official or scholarly in nature (some information, however, are linked from Wikipedia, a source generally not accepted by the academia). As such, the information can be considered valid and true, and is presented clearly and matter-of-factly, without any embellishments or personal views and opinions, and without any technical jargon that may confuse the lay reader. At the start of the page, the reader is immediately treated to a fact sheet of the decade, with hard facts about the population, the national debt, and the average salary, among others. Information is also placed in major categories, providing a coherent and easy to follow structure to the whole article. Since content is generally collected from the various sites off the internet and books, information and content ranges from the common to the not-so-common, but all are generally interesting and well-presented. Most of the major points are presented as links which redirect to another website discussing that particular subject matter. This is where most of the webpages problems lie, as a significant number of links (25, to be exact) are either broken or non-existing, redirecting the reader to the main site instead. One of the links even redirects to the wrong article. For an information-driven webpage run by an educational organization, such mistakes reflect poorly on the structure and management of the webpage itself. Another thing some people (especially researchers wanting complete information) might have an issue with is how the webpage cites its sources. After every category, the author lists the books which have more information on the subjects presented in that category. However, the author did not list the specifics of the book, ie. , date of publication, author, actual page information, etc. For a researcher who needs these information, this is a great omission on a website that considers itself a bibliographic essay. Also, the website design can be improved; as it is, it is presented in a simple and drab manner. Inspite of the faults stated above, the webpage gives enough historical information and data for any general aspect of popular culture in the stated era. And with how it is presented, via links and redirects, the reader can just connect on other links on the given website for more information about that particular subject matter. The webpages goal is to give out as much information as it can, in a concise and direct manner. In this regard, it has succeeded rather well. References Goodwin, S. (2006). American Cultural History 1960-1969. Retrieved December 20, 2007, from http://kclibrary. nhmccd. edu/decade60. html