The Library of Congress Web site at www.loc.gov recently received an "Outstanding Website" award from the Web Marketing Association. The award recognizes excellence in Web site development in a number of categories.

Award entries are judged against a standard of excellence and then against other entries in the category. A minimum score must be achieved to qualify for an award. Entries are judged on the following seven criteria: design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use.

The competition's judges represent the various relevant disciplines and are distinguished experts in their fields. Judges include members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, content providers and Webmasters.

The Library's Web site at loc.gov offers several specialized sites, including:

• American Memory, which presents more than 10 million multimedia items from the collections of the Library and its partners,
• America's Library, a site for kids and families,
• Global Gateway, a site of international collections from the Library and around the world,
• Exhibitions, featuring virtual tours of major Library exhibitions,
• THOMAS, a site dedicated to the workings of the U.S. Congress,
• The Wise Guide, a monthly magazine, andLC Catalogs, which provides access to catalog records for the multimedia collections.

The Library of Congress, the nation's oldest federal cultural institution, is the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items in all formats on which information is recorded -- books, manuscripts, periodicals, newspapers, prints, photographs, films, sound recordings and digital materials.
KW