The site is hamstrung by irrelevant detail and dense jurisdictional politics. To cite just one example, "Links to the Past"—one of ParkNet's five major sections—lists the following participants in "programs under the NPS Associate Directorate of Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships":

• The Archeology and Ethnography Program
• The Heritage Preservation Services Program
• The Historic American Building Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER)
• The Museum Management Program
• The National Register, History and Education Program
• The Park Historic Structures and Landscapes Program

These programs have numerous subdivisions, linked ad infinitum.

Another example: to celebrate Earth Day (April 22), ParkNet not only published President Clinton's speech—plausible enough, in and of itself—but also a full set of White House press releases, policy statements and initiatives, in complete, unedited and mind-numbing detail.

To make matters worse, the site is technically incompetent. The CGI script for the "America's Album" slide show, one of ParkNet's few visually appealing elements, doesn't work correctly with most browsers. An image conceals part of the headline on the "Collected Heritage" page. Maps are squeezed into a narrow left-hand frame for visitors using Netscape.

America's national parks are glorious; this site is anything but. If you need help in planning a trip, your nearest bookstore or library would be a better bet.

(Reviewed April 26, 1996)