November
21 , 2003
International
Relations Scholars Flock to Ferraro’s Web Site
| 
Photo: Jim Gipe
Vincent Ferraro |
When
Vincent Ferraro, Ruth Lawson Professor of Politics and chair
of international relations, started putting course materials
for his students on the Internet back in 1996, he had no idea
that the project would eventually become an invaluable resource
for international relations scholars worldwide. Now the site,
which is linked to by many major information sources, including Encyclopedia
Brittanica, U.S. News and World Report, and CNN, averages
between 400 and 500 hits per day from a diverse readership. “I
want to make sure my site is a place where scholars can find
reliable information. It’s a professional
obligation,” said Ferraro.
Ferraro credits a former student assistant, Christine Gora ’98, with the
original Web site idea. Gora was learning HTML and was excited about the possibilities
for disseminating information via a Web site. “I started inputting things
and soon realized the enormous power of the Internet,” Ferraro said. “But
there was so much bad stuff on it, I wanted to make it a good place for researchers.”
Ferraro’s Web site grew gradually as he collected and posted more and more
documents. In addition to reports from a host of organizations that he can post
as is, Ferraro has assembled an impressive array of texts that had not been online
previously. He explained that after he underwent bypass surgery last October,
he had lots of time to devote to the laborious process of scanning materials
into the computer. “Now the world can access all four volumes of The
Pentagon Papers, and lots of other out-of-print texts,” Ferraro said.
Every day Ferraro receives materials from people requesting that he link them
to his site. The most satisfying aspect of the work has been “getting emails
from all over the world about things I should know about, read about,” Ferraro
said. “It’s really a global community. It broadens my horizon.” He
also comes across “a flood of contemporary material online” that
he copies and posts to the site. He no longer relies on students to help with
the technical details. “I’ve trained myself, and LITS is spectacular,” he
said. Most of the materials are from the government, so there are no copyright
issues.
Recently Ferraro has devoted much of his time to a Web site for the Iraq War. “I
always try to give historical background for current events,” he said.
He has included information about Iraq at the turn of the last century, the discovery
of oil, events of the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s, and the effect of U.S. cold war
policy.
One of the most challenging aspects of the work has been verifying sources. “This
is a rapidly changing environment,” Ferraro said. “I’m trying
to stay on top of it. A lot of sources are not reputable or verifiable.” He
cross-checks sources for veracity and corroboration before he posts them, and
discusses interpretation of sources with people who provide the information.
Verification is something he emphasizes with his students, who develop their
own Web sites as part of his World Politics class. “My students develop
a critical appreciation of the Web,” he said. “That type of knowledge
is indispensable, so it’s important that students know how to use it.”
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