The last word -- or where to begin to find it -- on any issue that relates to employment, the workplace or human resources can now be found on the World Wide Web at http://workindex.com

This site, which is certain to be bookmarked by anyone in the field of human resources, is the product of a collaboration between Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR) and Human Resource Executive magazine.

"This collaboration provided us with an opportunity to pool our resources with those of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations to provide the public with a valuable service," said Ken Kahn, a 1969 graduate of the ILR School and founder of LRP Publications, which owns Human Resource Executive.

Workindex.com covers a myriad of issues related to human resource management, including benefits, training, technology, law and compensation. In addition, workindex.com makes it possible to search for employment by providing links to various online job banks and career centers. Once a suitable job opening has been found, there are numerous links for finding help in writing a resume and preparing for the job interview, including tips on how to dress.

The real worth of workindex.com is that it can save users a lot of time and frustration in navigating the Internet. A simple search using one of the familiar search engines will call up over a million entries under the heading "training." But a visit to workindex.com will cut through Web clutter and provide the salient information.

"I think of the Web as a giant yard sale," said Gordon T. Law Jr., director of the Martin P. Catherwood Library at the ILR School. Law worked with Kahn in the development of workindex.com. "There's a lot of stuff out there, and you have to find it. That's what we've done with this site. We've harvested the best sites into one location. We've done the yard sale picking for the Web browser."

Before being included in workindex.com, each site was subjected to a rigorous review by Catherwood Library staff. "We examined how current the information was and who built the site," Law said. "It's analogous to when we buy a book; we certainly look at the subject, but a major clue of the book's merit is the publisher."

Some of the links included in workindex.com are:

• The National Center for Employee Ownership
• Training Net -- The Internet Resource for Training, Human Resources and Development Solutions
• Bureau of Labor Statistics
• Social Security Online
• Recruiters OnLine Network (RON), billed as a quick, effective way to reach recruiting and employment professionals, post a resume or find firms, worldwide, that fit one's career goals and contact them directly.
• Home pages for various unions, among them the United Auto Workers, United Steelworkers of America, Service Employees International Union, National Association of Letter Carriers, Communications Workers of America and Teamsters Union.

One of the most interesting links sends browsers to the Salary Relocation Calculator supplied by the Center for Mobility Resources. The calculator compares cost of living figures for various cities. Here, browsers can enter the city and state in which they work and then their current wage. By clicking on another city, the Salary Relocation Calculator will compute how much money one needs to earn in that city to maintain a suitable quality of life. According to the Salary Relocation Calculator, $75,000 in San Francisco is equivalent to $40,000 in Syracuse, and a $100,000 salary in Manhattan is comparable to one of $36,444 in Mobile, Ala.

Workindex.com is fully searchable by key word.

Workindex.com is also one of the many links available from the ILR School's newly enhanced home page, WorkNet@ILR, which can be found at .

The official ILR School Web site first went online in 1994, but as traffic increased -- more than 700 virtual visitors a day and more than 900 links to the site -- Catherwood Library officials decided to re-examine the site's layout and content. What is now available is an attractive easy-to-use, full-service Web site with special sections that enable users to immediately identify areas of interest. The ILR School's organizational chart, which used to appear on the home page, has been replaced with a colorful original drawing by Ithaca artist William Benson depicting the silhouette of an academic building. The building's interior is divided into six panels, providing links to sites labeled: Faculty and Staff, Students, Alumni, ILR School, Catherwood Library, and In the Workplace.

One of the ILR School's most popular sites remains that of the Catherwood Library, which contains the most extensive collection of industrial and labor relations materials at any university in North America. At the site, one can post a question for a reference librarian or download unedited copies of various federal reports on such issues as child labor and findings from the Dunlop Commission and the Glass Ceiling Commission, among others.

Individuals who were instrumental in the development of WorkNet@ILR were Constance Finlay, reference librarian; John Goddard, technical services librarian; Laurie Ray, graphic designer, Cornell Media Services; and Cornell undergraduates Scott Nesmith and Josh Pollak.