The African American Experience In Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Cu [Paperback]

Abdul Alkalimat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 20, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0745322220 | ISBN-13: 978-0745322223

The World Wide Web is the greatest source of information used by students and teachers, media and library professionals, as well as the general public. There is so great a flow of information that it is necessary to have a tool for guiding one to the best and most reliable sources. This important new guide to the African American experience in cyberspace fills this need for people in all areas of Black Studies and Multiculturalism. There is no search engine list that can match the quality of sites to be found in this book.Alkalimat provides an easy to use directory to the very best websites that deal with the African American Experience. The first section covers every aspect of African American history, while a second section deals with a diverse set of topics covering society and culture. Each chapter has a brief essay, extensively annotation on the five best sites for each topic, and then a group of good sites and a short bibliography. This book is designed for a course at the high school or college level. This book should be kept near every home computer that people use to surf the web for Black content.Most people have found out that the major corporations and governments have been the dominant uploaders of information into cyberspace. This volume is different because it is a serious introduction to the full democratic use of the web. These websites will introduce people to the people who are serious about ending the digital divide because they are busy uploading information about the most excluded and marginalized people, the African American community. Many of these sites are being established by Black Studies academic programmes, as well as community based organizations and institutions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[Alkalimat's book] is not only an invaluable resource for all interested in the Black experience, but it is also testimony to the proliferation of African American voices on the Internet. -- Mark Kornbluh, Director, MATRIX: The Center for the Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences On-Line, Michigan State University it provides an extensive annotation and an interpretation framework for black studies...no college or community library should be without it. -- Barnes and Noble This stellar array of Africana digital archives, primary source material, streaming audio and video, syllabi, e-texts, music, photos, art, literature, bibliographies and webliographies should be in every personal and institutional library whose users want to use cyber-rources to better understand Africa and the Diaspora. -- Dorothy Washington, Librarian for the Black Cultural Center at Purdue University Highly recommended -- CHOICE ...accessible and straightforward...invaluable. -- Bacchra Online

About the Author

Abdul Alkalimat is Professor of Sociology and Director of the African Studies programme at the University of Toledo, where he has engineered the only known Internet-based course taught from Africa to students in the U.S. He moderates the largest African-American Studies discussion list H-Afro-Am and created and edits Malcolm X: A Research Site as well as eBlack Studies. He served as cyberorganizer for the 1998 Black Radical Congress held in Chicago, Illinois. He is presently guest editing an issue of Black Scholar devoted to cyberspace and the Black experience.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (December 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745322220
• ISBN-13: 978-0745322223
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,721,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable and timeless, June 30, 2008

By 

AfroAmericanHeritage (Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The African American Experience In Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Cu (Paperback)

I could review this book in one word: Indispensable! Abdul Alkalimat is a sociologist and pioneer in the development of Black Studies, currently serving as moderator of H-Afro-Am electronic discussion forum. Books about Internet resources can become outdated quickly as web sites move and administrators needlessly change directory naming protocols. But this book is so much more than a mere directory of useful sites that it will have a long shelf life. It provides extensive annotation and an interpretive framework for Black Studies, organized by major historical periods and themes. It includes a wealth of printed resources as well, making it valuable even to someone who rarely ventures online. No college or community library should be without it. And at this price, neither should any home bookshelf.

5.0 out of 5 stars a web guide of durable value, February 4, 2004

By 

"dimanakate" (South Portland, ME) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The African American Experience In Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Cu (Paperback)

Dr. Alkalimat's book is that rare print guide to the Web which will endure even as the Web grows. Not only are the sites described and listed the richest and most stable, but the organization of the book will clarify your understanding of the African American experience in cyberspace and out. It has been so slow and frustrating to dig through search engines for the good stuff -- this book is near my computer for good. Should be near any family, school, university or community PC/Mac as well. A model approach for presenting the work of any population that is mistakenly understood as unplugged. And low priced too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of _The African American Experience in Cyberspace_, January 6, 2004

By 

brian (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The African American Experience In Cyberspace: A Resource Guide to the Best Web Sites on Black Cu (Paperback)

This book is OFF THE HOOK!

Everybody is online and uses Google.com or some other search engine but often a typical search gets mixed results. And you can't always count on the first ten selections taking you where you want to go.

THIS BOOK IS A ROAD MAP to resources in cyberspace that make up an entire curriculum for people in school or just anyone trying to become wise about the historical experiences of the Black community.

There is an organized table of contents and a detailed index, so its great for browsing or finding a specific site - checking things out in general or searching to answer a specific question.

Every Black Studies program should require all students to get this, and then use it for all their classes. We all go to the web for everything anyway, so we might as well all use the best road map to Black cyberspace.

It's a very useful resource for families too!