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Lyle Wiley September 10, 2011 Overview: The Folger Shakespeare Library is an exhaustive site of Shakespeare resources with specific large pages for different audiences including a site for students and one for k-12 educators. While the site has a clear focus on selling published Shakespeare works and resources, there is a good deal of free information and resources available for students and teachers alike. These resources include Shakespeare information and history, lesson plans for teachers, study guides, audio and video embedded helps, space for teachers to interact and share ideas and experiences, and a frequently update blog (called "Making a Scene: Shakespeare in the Classroom"). This rather attractive site has some very helpful and interesting resources for the Shakespeare educator. Content: The basic content and intended audiences of this site is easily discerned upon entry. There are numerous authors of the material available on the site, but for the most part the author's contact and educational information is easy to find. The site appears to be frequently updated, and certainly the blog attached to the educational resources on the site is updated often. The purpose of the site is both business and informational which sometimes colors the available information on the site, but there is a large amount of rather good free information including lesson plans, teaching ideas and tips, audio and visual resources, and access to a creative community. There are few external links, but the information available looks to be very helpful to the Shakespeare educator. Design: The Folger Shakespeare Library loads quickly and has a nice aesthetic appeal. Well organized and heavily indexed, the site has an impressive ease of navigation which is complimented by some nice photo design and occasional embedded multimedia (which is always relevant and helpful). Again, much of the material on the site is up for sale; however, there are a good many quality resource

Overview The Folger Shakespeare Library site is the home page for the Folger Shakespeare Library located in Washington, D.C. The site has any number of features that any good library web site would have: an online catalog, listed hours, ask a librarian. The site is designed for teachers, students, scholars, and the average Joe who is interested in Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, and early modern literature. Areas of the web site of high interest are the Visitors section, Students and Families section, K-12 Teachers section (which includes monthly lesson plans), and a Scholars' section. Content The content included on this site is amazing. The Folger Shakespeare Library has a catalog of over half of the world's books published before 1640, and the catalog is, of course, accessible online. There is a section of Hamnet (the online catalog) for electronic resources as well. The site is interactive-offering a free e-newsletter, social media, a calendar of events, and an active blog. There are podcasts chock full of lectures, poetry readings, etc., digital images, an archived list of lesson plans. There is a six minute YouTube documentary on the First Folio! You could spend many happy days lost in this site. Design The site's design is simple, elegant, and business like. It is a light blue color, which is easy on the eyes. Most of the navigation is at the top or to the left. The site is sometimes difficult to navigate unless one has at least an idea of what he or she is looking for. A site map is made available if one gets distracted or lost though.

From the website: Folger Education offers a world of online resources for teachers, from lesson plans to study guides to videos. As a national leader in the way Shakespeare is taught in American classrooms, we believe that the best way to help students succeed is to provide teachers with the best classroom resources possible.