Why VolcanoWorld Needs Help
VolcanoWorld is a huge World Wide Web site providing accurate and interesting (we hope) information about volcanoes to kids, teachers, parents, geologists, tourists, reporters, and anyone else who visits. And a lot of people visit! During 1996, VW had 396,000 guests, and we hit 150,000 visitors in the first 2 months of 1997. In 1998, 1,500,000 guests visited VW. In 2004 we have that many visitors in one month!!

We have worked to make VW an exchange of information among people, not between machines. We made VW interactive so that you can give us comments (including photos and reports of eruptions), and can ask experts questions and get real answers. We hope that the volcano lesson plans have improved teaching about volcanoes in schools, and that our explanations of why volcanologists love their work will inspire adults and kids to strive to fulfill their own dreams. We have tried to make VW a model for other sites on the Web which aspire to be the world's best source of information for their subjects.

We are now planning to provide additional types of information about volcanoes to people who might want it. Many people who e-mail questions to VW's Ask A Volcanologist section are interested in visiting volcanic areas or buying videos, books, or other volcano-related products. The VW Opportunities page contains paid sponsorship information from companies that have volcano-related products. These may include hotels and bed and breakfast inns near Mt. St. Helens, Kilauea, and other volcanoes; helicopter tours of volcanoes; volcano tours; books, videos, and photos of volcanoes; and anything else that seems relevant. You will not find ads for cars, tobacco, shoes, or other products that have nothing to do with volcanoes. And you won't find any ads at all unless you want to. Rather than plastering annoying advertising banners at the top of the VW Home Page and other frequently visited pages, we will restrict them to a special section of VW where there will be nothing else. This will protect you from being bothered by unwanted commercial information. We hope that this public TV-like model for supporting VW will be welcomed by our many visitors. We think of it as simply supplying more useful information to you!

Please use the VW Comments page to contact us if you would like to place an ad!

Chuck Wood, VW

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