Web Winners

African Studies: Million Mark in March

The African Studies Center at Penn celebrated the passing of the million mark in March 1998 when the total reached 1,005,534 for the number of monthly hits received by their web site, www.sas.upenn.edu/African_Studies/ AS.html. The Million Hits Party featured a journey through the history of the Penn Africa Web site, from its rudimentary beginnings on PennInfo to its current status as one of the "best sources of information about Africa on the Internet."

The site has been described by the Library of Congress as the "...most comprehensive on-line source for information about Africa" and by the National Endowment for the Humanities as "...one of the best sites on the Internet for education in the humanities." From a modest start of 18,000 hits in October 1994, the Penn Africa web site has grown exponentially, not only in numbers of requests for documents but also in the quality and breadth of the on-line resources made available to readers worldwide.

University Museum: In the Top Six

The University Museum's web site, www.upenn.edu/museum, was selected by USA Today Weekend (December 12-14, 1997) as one of the six best American museum web pages. It was the only archaeology/anthropology web site selected. "Even Indiana Jones would feel at home at Penn's museum Web page," said Cesar G. Soriano, who compiled USA Today's Guide to the Standout Sites after sorting through some 8,000 museum pages on the web-some from galleries around the world and "some existing solely in cyberspace."

The University Museum's site features a "What in the World" mystery object game, virtual exhibitions information, and graphics about Museum research conducted around the world. Virtual visitors can "fly by" ancient Corinth in Greece, visit a Museum gallery or offer their own definitions of "archaeology" and "anthropology." The University Museum was joined by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York; University of California Museum of Paleontology, Berkeley; Franklin Institute Science Museum, Philadelphia; and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Cleveland.

Last summer the University Museum's web site was also featured as a "Web Winner" in The Philadelphia Inquirer's Tech Info section which noted that the "collections of this Philadelphia gem are on virtual display here."

Almanac, Vol. 44, No. 29, April 14, 1998