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Women's Wire Web Guide | |
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A Book Review
By: Carol J. Elkins June 1997 |
I haven't yet finished reading The Women's Wire Web Guide, but I simply could not wait any longer to tell you about it. Written by Ellen Pack, this book's 486 pages contain brief (but informative) descriptions of thousands of the best World Wide Web sites of interest to women. No matter what you are interested in, this book is sure to help you learn more about it.
The first chapter describes how to get online and helps you become comfortable with what you will find there. The rest of the chapters are organized into subject areas, and each one contains subtopics that are chock-a-block full of descriptions of interesting and informative Web sites. For example, here are the subtopics in Chapter 6, "Family":
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Do you want to know about careers and networking, news, politics, and the law, relationships? It's in there. Are you troubled about your mental or physical health or perhaps your relationship (single, married, gay, just friends)? It's in there. Are you looking for entertainment to fill all that leisure time <grin> or sites that discuss fashion and beauty? It's in there. You'll find sites about your family's education, your personal finance and business, and your environment (home, garden, pets, etc.). There's plenty of information about technology and the Internet, sites addressing community and social service, and a huge list of reference sites (libraries, dictionaries, genealogical references, and many, many more). And finally, if you don't have a lot of leisure time to shop, this book describes hundreds of sites where you can buy clothes, books, music, flowers, and hobby materials; book travel reservations; and shop for automobiles.
The sheer volume of informative sites could be very overwhelming, but Ellen Pack makes it easy for you to quickly skim the material if you don't want to read every word. She places graphic icons next to the 100 best Web sites; sites that have international appeal; sites that have kid appeal; and the favorite sites of the staffers at Women's Wire. In addition, every chapter begins with a list of 10 useful things you can do on the Web and contains the following easy-to-spot sections:
It's no wonder I haven't finished the book yet. There is so much material here that you'll be dog-earing pages and attaching lots of sticky notes to help you return to sites of particular interest. But Ellen Pack respects your time and doesn't waste space describing sleazy, poorly designed sites. Her staff has thoroughly researched and described each site. She says, "I have never believed that women need or want special treatment. Nor do I believe that women have a set of interests that can be easily defined...It is with this in mind that I dare to create a directory to the Web for women, one that demystifies the technology, helps women discern the most useful and entertaining sites on the Web, and tosses stereotypes to the wind."
You will want this book near your computer. You will probably not be willing to loan it out too long to a friend. Solution: loan the book to a friend, but keep the CD ROM copy of the book (included) for yourself. This could be the best $29.99 you've invested in a long time.
Visit Women's Wire at http://www.women.com
for more information.
Book graphics used with permission.
Copyright © 1997
Carol J. Elkins
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