HIV InSite, provided by UCSF, SFGH, and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is an exhaustive clearinghouse of AIDS related information for practitioners, patients, and others interested in the topic. One of its highlights is Today's News, a summary of daily news stories derived from many sources. Anderson Publishing Co. Users are encouraged to read the explanatory guide to the directory, which explains selection policies and organization of titles. At the heart of the site is the lookup page, where commercially available solvents can be queried by any of eight variables, including solvent name, Chemical Abstracts Number, chemical category, or synonym.
Users can select by nine property ranges or do full text searches.
The real power of this site lies in the fact that most of the searchable interfaces are really gigantic pull down menus. Unfortunately, most variable explanations are produced via JavaScript rather than HTML or text interface. Nevertheless, this is a powerful and flexible database that contains a great deal of easily accessible information. Activities in Botany, Chemistry, Children's Literature, Geology, Physics, and Zoology, are simply explained and designed to engage children's curiosity and to help them learn. The philosophy of the site is explained in the Constructivism section.