Reviewed:
3rd October 1996
By:
Alison McNab
The Argus Clearinghouse describes itself as a "central access point for value-added topical guides which identify, describe, and evaluate Internet-based information resources". I have been accessing the Clearinghouse for several years (including its previous incarnation as the Michigan Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet Resource Guides) to assist users in finding Internet resources in a particular subject area. The development of subject gateways and more sophisticated search tools for the Internet has not resulted in the Clearinghouse becoming redundant, as it has grown in size and scope as well as enhancing the quality of its collection.
Responsibility for the Clearinghouse moved to Argus Associates Inc ( http://argus-inc.com/ ) in mid-1996. Its origins lie in a decision taken in mid-1993 by the library school at the University of Michigan to collect and organise subject resource guides for the Internet, in the belief that human effort in organising the Internet is as vital as the development of software solutions. Many of the first guides to be added to the colllection were developed by staff and students from the library school. Guides are now freely contributed by individuals from around the world; the authors are clearly identified, and contact details for them are normally available.
Over 400 guides are accessible through the Clearinghouse - most are HTML documents with live links, although some are only available in plain text. Resource guides usually cover information resources which may be accessible by the World Wide Web, gopher, telnet and FTP as well as discussion lists and newsgroups. The subject approach of the guides ranges from those with a narrow focus, such as "Knots on the Web" ( http://www.clearinghouse.net/inter/1105.html ) the guide to Knots, Knot Tying, Knot Art, and Mathematical Knot Theory, to those covering a large academic discipline, for example the "Resources for Economists on the Internet" ( http://www.clearinghouse.net/inter/945.html ) guide.
Clearinghouse Web site.
Guides can browsed with the assistance of the 12 subject categories into which they are classified. A local search engine searches the "cover" (or information) pages of Clearinghouse guides; full-text searching is only available on plain text guides.
The Clearinghouse has developed a Collection Development Policy ( http://www.clearinghouse.net/docs/submit.html#CDpol ) to assist in the selection of guides for inclusion. Once a guide has been selected for inclusion in the Clearinghouse, it will be evaluated and rated. The process of rating guides included in the collection began in late 1995, and is not yet complete for all guides. The criteria ( http://www.clearinghouse.net/docs/ratings.html ) used to rate guides includes: level of resource description, level of resource evaluation, guide design, guide organizational schemes and guide meta-information. The date on which a guide was last checked by Clearinghouse staff is noted on the "cover" page of each guide, and those guides which have not been updated in the previous 12 months are moved to an "older guides" section within each subject category.
The above aspects of the Clearinghouse make it a high-quality resource of particular benefit to information specialists seeking to guide new Internet searchers to relevant resources, particularly in a subject area which the former may not be expert in.
At one time it looked as though BUBL ( http://www.bubl.bath.ac.uk/BUBL/ ) was going to be a rival to Clearinghouse in its collection of UK-based subject guides to the Internet. This aspect of BUBL has not been developed recently, and it is unclear whether these will be updated and form part of the LINK (http://catriona.lib.strath.uk:80/ISC4) service.
However, the greater breadth and timeliness of the Clearinghouse has resulted in it becoming the authoritative collection for such resource guides. As with much of the rest of the Internet, the Clearinghouse will only develop if individuals continue to contribute to it - new submissions ( http://www.clearinghouse.net/docs/submit.html ) for consideration in its collection are actively sought.
Material on this page is copyright Ariadne/original authors. This article last updated/links checked on 11-Jul-1997