There's a whole new look to CongressLink - http://www.congresslink.org...    
   
To celebrate the 15th anniversary of CongressLink, The Dirksen Congressional    
Center is proud to introduce a new edition of the site. Our interface has a    
brand new appearance, and we’ve streamlined the site to make it faster, easier,    
more intuitive - and a whole lot nicer to look at. Inspired and guided by    
suggestions and feedback from our users, we've re-designed it from the ground    
up and loaded it with new features. We didn't stop at making it look better and    
work more efficiently. We've expanded the content. The site now hosts:    
   
·  81 lesson plans    
   
·  Links to 18 of the best lessons about Congress on the Web    
   
·  12 special projects    
   
·  184 editorial cartoons    
   
·  7   WebQuests    
   
·  Links to 27 of the best Web sites about Congress · Links to 2 online    
textbooks    
   
·  Glossary    
   
·  Historical Notes    
   
·  Up-to-date information about the current Congress: the senators and    
representatives (and how to contact them), their leaders, the congressional    
schedule, pending legislation, campaigns and elections, and more    
   
·  Contemporary and historical information about Congress as an institution,    
the lawmaking process, the nature of leadership in Congress, and the    
characteristics and duties of Congress members    
   
·  27 Expert Views    
   
·  118 Resources    
   
What today we call CongressLink was originally titled "The Dirksen    
Congressional Studies Resource Network." We changed the cumbersome title, but    
the purpose of the site remains essentially the same as first proposed in March    
1996:    
   
·  To take advantage of emerging information technologies to create a vehicle    
for ongoing education about and discussion of Congress and how it works    
   
·  To promote the development of a community of learners who will develop an    
awareness and appreciation of Congress and its capabilities    
   
·  To expand the use of The Center’s archives through the development of "a    
World Wide Web page"    
   
·  To identify, annotate, and link the site to related World Wide Web-based    
resources    
   
We define success for the site in terms of the people who use it. Does it    
satisfy their needs? Is it easy to use? Does it deliver something unique? We    
hope the new version, and the four additional sites in our Web Suite inspired    
by CongressLink, answers with a "yes."    
   
As one reviewer put it,"CongressLink is a model Web site for information on how    
the U.S. Congress works.  It is designed primarily for grade school and high    
school level government and civics teachers and students, but its    
sophistication and range of information make it useful to anyone interested in    
exploring Congress. . . . This is a mature, well-designed, and intuitive site    
that has gone through a decade of revisions and improvements since it first    
went online in 1996. . . . The strength of this site lies in its original    
content and more in its ease of use and solid integration with many of the best    
and most useful Web sites on Congress."    
   
We would enjoy reading your comments about the site. If you have any feedback,    
click on the"Questions and Feedback" link located at the bottom of every page    
throughout the site and complete the online form.    
   
Welcome to CongressLink 6.0 - http://www.congresslink.org!    

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