March 1, 2005 (Vol. 25, No. 5)

URL:
http://bio-ditrl.sunsite.ualberta.ca/

Rating:
Strong Points: Extensive Collection of biological materials
Weak Points: Uninspired design

Summary:
Combine a university project with a department of biological sciences, an interest in the public schools, and digital media and what do you get? Well, as you might expect, you get an interesting Website. The offspring of this unusual “breeding” of interests yields a database of biological images suitable for use in teaching biology. The collection includes animations, video clips, and text segments that have been recognized far and wide (including Science magazine). Bio-Ditrl is not, unfortunately, a fully open site, being subscription-based, so I was unable to access/use all of the materials for this review. The organization funding the effort is nonprofit, however, so the subscriptions are obviously to help pay the bills. Browsing is welcomed, however, and there is a lot to see at the site.

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