Two years ago, when I conceived the crazy notion to create the RFK Library's Web Page, I did so partly as a challenge to myself to learn HTML and partly to jump start the idea on this campus of using the Internet to post information, not just to retrie ve it. Back in 1995, most people on our campus had little notion of what a Web page was, much less how to use or produce one. Our Internet connection was text only and many offices were without reliable power or phone lines to sustain any kind of useful connection. But that's another article.
I had done enough surfing to realize that universities, in general, and libraries, in particular, were beginning to make use of Web pages to post basic information - hours, services, names & numbers. But the better pages also held or led to enough inf ormation to make them a valuable resource themselves.
Armed with Laura Lemay's Teach Yourself Web Publishing in a Week and my slow but reliable 286, I dove into the world of HTML programming in ASCII. My first product was remarkably boring, resembling one of our library handouts. Fortunatel y, Web pages are infinitely revisable. With some tweaks and the introduction of a few links, the page evolved into a much more user-friendly site. It includes the basics, such as faculty names, numbers, hours and a link to our OPAC. But it also include s links to many resources that we use regularly to answer reference questions - lists of publishers, other major library OPACs, several news services, a document delivery source, an online bookstore and music store and several search engines. A remote lo cation like Guam may have different needs from those of other less isolated libraries.
But after you create a page you have to get people to know about it and use it. We programmed our in-house public access stations to default to the RFK Library Web Page and in our training sessions made frequent use of the established links found on t he page. Increasingly, reference librarians found we could preface many of our answers with "...you know, you can get there from our home page." As users made suggestions about their favorite links, I added them when appropriate. It takes awhi le to condition library users but it can be done.
Time has passed and everyone speaks of Web pages now. Many units on our campus have created their own Web pages. Some are well done; some are disasters. To counter some of the worst errors, I worked with our University Information & Technology Commi ttee to draft Web Page Standards and Guidelines. Again, I turned to the Web itself and browsed various university home pages to collect ideas on what to do or what not to do. Also, many institutions have posted their own guidelines. Particular ly useful were those of the University of Wisconsin - Madison [http://www.library.wisc.edu/help/tech/Web_standards.html], Arlene Rinaldi's at Florida Atlantic University at http://www.fau.edu/wise/policy.html and Stacey Kimmel's compilation of policies and guidelines at http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/~Stacey/wwwpols.html. Our own Compu ter Center provided the technical guidelines.
Because Web pages are living documents and the Internet evolves so rapidly, provisions had to be included requiring that each unit with a Web page appoint a liaison whose responsibility it is to frequently and regularly review and test their unit's pag es. Links change or die with alarming frequency on the Web. Nothing is more frustrating to users than to have links fail.
Similarly, when a Web page is created and mounted on the institutional server, some announcement should be made. Our guidelines require that the Public Information Officer and Academic Vice-President be notified that a site is up. Few controls are placed on content but university Web pages need to be announced and made known to those on campus and beyond.
The University of Guam is a small school without any one person having the responsibility or authority as Webmaster. The University of Guam's Web Page Standards and Guidelines provide advice, structure and guidance to new Web page develo pers and allow for some measure of control and protection as Web pages proliferate.
A library Web page or any Web page can be a great source of information and a leaping off point for further research. Confusion on where and how to begin a Web site should not prevent someone who is interested from creating one.