This column covers features and resources available through the University's Campus Wide Information System (CWIS). UNT's Home Page on the World Wide Web can be found at http://www.unt.edu.

Another fall semester is upon us. This time last year I was finishing up my masters in Library and Information Science here at UNT and was starting to look for a job. This fall marks the first time in my life where I do not have to attend school (as a student anyway) and so I thought I would dedicate this column to discussing what it takes to become a "Webmaster".

I'm often asked what it takes to do my job. That's one of the toughest questions I'm ever asked. Mostly because I think people want an easy answer (e.g. Take these x # of classes and you too can become a "Webmaster"). Unfortunately that's not really the case.

My Job ...

First let me define my job. In my particular position, my first priority is to make sure that UNT's central Web site (www.unt.edu) stays up and running. This includes managing the server hardware (and any backup servers we may set up) and maintaining the hyperlinks throughout the central Web site. This often requires coordination with our primary UNIX support staff and my assistant (who often is the one who spots & fixes any broken links). Second I support a secondary departmental Web server, the UNT Internet Services Web server (people.unt.edu ) and the remnants of our gopher site. Third I help create any new accounts required by faculty, staff and student organizations need to place sites on our central Web server. I also do the entire server side programming (such as interactive forms, the Web Conferencing System and co-developed the new UNT Internet Services Account management system). My assistant and I also teach several short courses each semester on a variety of subjects. Finally I also keep my eye out on upcoming Web technologies like Java, LDAP, and the multitude of other odds & ends out there.

That's just the basics. That doesn't cover consulting with faculty or staff on new sites, planning meetings, crisis situations (e.g. paged at 3 a.m. in the morning, tech support on the phone while on vacation) or spending an hour on the phone listening to vendors explaining why "Their new Web product is the best solution to your business problems." There's just an awful lot of material that one needs to know to do my job successfully.

Your Job ...

What I really want to point out is that the Web is here to stay. It's a young technology, which is bound to go a billion different ways, and open up new jobs that haven't even been thought up yet. I do think the future of development is going to be in the area of Intranets/Extranets, private networks that use Internet technologies to link them together.

Yes most of these are corporate, but there are several avenues one can pursue in these areas. There is the basic homepage designer, but just knowing HTML won't cut it anymore. JavaScript and knowledge of at least one site creation tool like Microsoft's FrontPage will be a requirement. A basic knowledge of how to use JAVA applets and Active-X controls will be necessary too. RTF majors might want to look into streaming media technologies like Real Audio/ Video, Microsoft NetMeeting, CU-C-ME, and other ways of moving film and video over the Web. Information professionals will be needed to help access all this information (e.g. basic cataloging). System Analysts will be needed to design the networks. System administrators and programmers will be needed to make the systems "run". Who knows maybe there will be a market for physical trainers and naturalists to help the people who are the "cogs" of the Information Revolution to lose those love-handles and get back in touch with reality while on the job.

The necessary computer skills for being a Webmaster often will not be found in particular classes. Things are just moving too fast. The good news is, though, that much of the information you need to learn is out there on the Net for free, and you can often ask the author if you have any questions. Also, the basic skills you need to try out more advanced topics is a much lower hurdle to cross than it was just a few years ago. You can learn the majority of the client-side technology on a decent PC with Windows 95 (or Apple Macintosh) and a good browser like Netscape Navigator 3.0 or 4.0 or Internet Explorer 3.0. The JAVA programming language is available free of charge and Microsoft has even made a free working evaluation of it's JAVA editor available, that contains 90% of it's "for purchase" copy and doesn't time out!

If you want to learn server side stuff, a 486 with 16 MB of RAM and a copy of LINUX will give you the basic tools to try it out.

In conclusion, there are a number of different jobs out there. All that stands between you and one of them is some basic knowledge and the willingness to try.

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