WWW@UNT.EDU

        By Mark Wilcox, CWIS Coordinator ( mewilcox@unt.edu)

        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. It was previously called "Cobwebs."

        Here we are again. Another column, another name. The name looks like an e-mail address because it is one, www@unt.edu, is the best way to get a hold of UNT's web staff.

        This issue of Benchmarks is dedicated to the World Wide Web, specifically the Web in 1997. The Web in general will continue to be an exciting technology to watch as it continues to develop both on the Internet and at UNT.

        New Web Site, New Tools

        This year is already nearly half over and it's amazing the amount of things happening here at UNT with the Web. The new Website at http://www.unt.edu (the Internet Gods willing, it will be up by the time you read this) is the first truly collaborative effort made on the official Website. It's not perfect but it is a vast improvement on previous versions and we've put the infrastructure in place so that it can be updated on a more frequent manner. Hopefully you find it easier to use and better looking too.

        The number of department and colleges/schools who are coming up is growing too. Tools such as Microsoft Frontpage and Netscape Navigator Gold (hush you out there who think you should only code HTML in Notepad -- you don't have to provide the tech support :-) are making creating fully functional websites a fairly painless task. HTML was always designed with the idea that the document creator could focus on content and that presentation would be easy to implement. It was not designed for the bragging rights of who knew the most HTML tags. Anyway, it's getting easier to make Websites.

        This is a good thing. I don't know if the Web will be the savior or killer of the world or UNT. I do know that we are providing redundant pathways to information available on this campus which provides improved reliability and convenience. This is only helpful, if the information providers (e.g. the Web Page creators) maintain accurate and current information, thus the need for easy HTML creation (see above).

        Distance Learning

        Distance learning is another hot topic in academia. This is where you use a computer, or video or teleconference or a combination of those technologies to take a course. It's possible to even get a full degree or Masters in a subject this way. There are several pluses and minuses to this initiative. UNT is actively pursuing and adding DL classes to its course offerings.

        Short Courses

        The CWIS office is reworking the short courses taught by the CWIS. Look for at least one additional level of HTML classes (so we'd have a basic, intermediate and advanced) and classes that focus on using Netscape Gold or Microsoft Frontpage as a HTML editor. Netscape Gold is recommended for student users and Microsoft Frontpage for faculty and staff.

        Summing it up

        In conclusion I would say that the Internet as a whole will continue to improve and UNT will be right there along with it. This technology is still new, raw and immature. We're still learning how to make it work, both the technology and also how to make the technology work for us.

        Again if you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to send us an e-mail at www@unt.edu.

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