Links and Gateways

2Start - 1 Way 2 Start

http://www.2start.co.uk



Described as a "UK portal and directory", 2Start certainly fits a lot in - its homepage includes UK and World news headlines, multiple search engines, shopping and travel links, a translation tool, a route planner and a currency converter, among other things. The front page links to UK-focused news, business and sports sites is also a useful feature. To be fair, there is little original content here, but the site certainly performs a useful purpose in bringing together information from across the Web. 2Start's claim to be "the UK's leading homepage" might be rather wide of the mark, but it is nonetheless a site worth adding to your favourites. [GAS, 9 Mar 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-050804-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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Academic Info - Educational Subject Directory

http://www.academicinfo.net/



Based in the US, Academic Info has a mission statement to "improve access to online educational resources by developing an easy to use subject directory covering each academic discipline". The site certainly is easy to use, its design very simple but effective. The site is divided into a series of Subject Gateways; a Reference Desk section covering how to find information on the Internet; and a Student Centre, with links to higher education information. To some extent, however, this useful content is rather obscured by the number of unrelated banner ads and sponsored links. Nevertheless, although some parts are US-oriented, Academic Info is relevant and useful to a worldwide audience. [GAS, 7 Jun 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-220303-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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BUBL Information Service

http://www.bubl.ac.uk/




BUBL is an Internet-based information service, aimed primarily at the UK higher education community, but freely accessible to anyone via the Web. The site's core feature is a searchable catalogue of 12,000 selected Internet resources, categorised according to the Dewey Decimal Classification system. Run by the Centre for Digital Library Research at Strathclyde University in Glasgow, one of BUBL's key strengths is the quality of its information - all featured resources are evaluated by BUBL staff, who also provide a succinct abstract and helpful subject terms for each resource. BUBL also ranks highly in terms of useability, with an interface which is uncluttered and extremely easy to use. An excellent resource in every respect, deservedly awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 12 Nov 2007].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-310502-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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Pinakes, A Subject Launchpad

http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/pinakes/pinakes.html




Hosted by Heriot-Watt University, Pinakes is a small but very useful site linking to major subject gateways on the Internet. The site's interface, featuring large buttons and well chosen keywords, is clear and effective. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 27 Aug 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-270806-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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UK Active Map of Universities and HE Institutions

http://www.scit.wlv.ac.uk/ukinfo/




Created by Peter Burden at the University of Wolverhampton, this webpage is simply an interactive map with links to every University and College of Higher Education in the UK. It is a simple idea but incredibly useful - as well as the basic link to every institution's home page and deeplinks to particular information resources within each site (e.g. library, students union, admissions, etc.), visitors can now access externally-hosted information such as each institution's Wikipedia entry, EducationGuardian, British Council or UCAS profile, and QAA and RAE 2001 reports. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 6 Nov 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-040303-04
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United Kingdom
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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UniXL Education & Career Information Portal

http://www.unixl.com/



UniXL describes itself as "a university resources directory providing theoretical knowledge for students and academics in subject topics listed in many higher education institutions". The neat and attractive homepage - though looking uncannily like the Google Directory - links to various themes, many with useful definitions and descriptions as well as links. As yet, the site's coverage in any given area is rather limited, but this will no doubt improve as the site develops. Among UniXL's extra features, its 'Universities' section, with A to Z listings of English-speaking universities in various countries, is especially useful. However, a major omission for a site claiming to be an academic resource is its lack of context - who's behind it, where are they from, and how are they qualified to do what they do. [GAS, 27 Aug 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-230104-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
PRIMARY GATEWAY LISTING: Other Information Resources » Resources
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WWW Virtual Library

http://www.vlib.org/




The VL describes itself as "the oldest catalogue of the Web", and unlike commercial catalogues, it is run by a loose confederation of volunteers, who compile pages of key links for particular areas in which they are expert. These individual indexes live on hundreds of different servers around the world, but the portal at http://www.vlib.org/ maintains a catalogue linking these pages, and offers a search facility for the entire VL. Subjects such as architecture, planning, landscape, civil engineering and transport are all represented. The interface is starting to look very dated now, but the WWW Virtual Library nevertheless remains an important and valuable resource. Awarded a Sapling Commendation. [GAS, 5 Mar 2006].



ENTRY NUMBER: oth-050101-01
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: United States
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See also (2)

Culture >> Links and Gateways
Housing >> Links and Gateways

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