MUNCIE, Ind. -- Need to know the proper use of a knife and fork? Ball State University has the answer on the World Wide Web.

The information is included with nearly 150 pages of data at the university's Career Services web site. The site has received a gold award for Internet excellence from Minneapolis-based Adguide Publications Inc.

Dining etiquette seems to be one of the most popular topic for site users this semester, said webmaster Joseph P. Goodwin, associate director of Career Services.

"Job seekers need to know proper table manners when prospective employers take them to meals," Goodwin said.

But for those who already know their Emily Post, Career Services covers all aspects of career planning and job seeking. Included is Career Services' "Job Search" magazine, issued each semester, with information on writing resumes, job interviews, preparing for graduate school and making the transition from college to career.

"If we have information we think is helpful to people and we can figure out a way to put it on-line, we will," Goodwin said.

Goodwin said the home page (http://www.bsu.edu/careers/) averages about 1,100 hits per month. Topic pages for which user counts are available, only 15 percent of the total, average nearly 4,000 hits a month.

While most users are Ball State students, Goodwin said the site has received praise from Internet searchers around the country.

"Yours is by far the best organized and most complete I have found in many, many hours of searching the Internet," a 29-year old homemaker and mother in Texas commented. "Your web site has given me so much valuable information on having a fully rounded sales approach, including a portfolio, that I feel sure to be successful in my attempts."

In bestowing the gold award, Adguide Publications' Steven Rothberg described the site as "clean, easy to navigate" and praised its content.

"Too many sites are all flash and no substance," Rothberg said. "You have a site of which you should be proud."