CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAjSEMENl Information for Parks, Federal Agencies, Indian tribes, States, LA^GoVernments, and the Private Sectdfe[¥&• «V «|

VOLUME 18 NO. 9 1975

Cultural Resources and the World Wide Web

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Cultural Resources PUBLISHED BY THE VOLUME 18 NO. 9 1995 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Contents ISSN 1068-4999

To promote and maintain high standards for preserving and managing cultural resources Cultural Resources and the DIRECTOR Roger G. Kennedy World Wide Web ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Katherine H. Stevenson What in the World is the World Wide Web? 3 EDITOR Diane Vogt-O'Connor Ronald M. Greenberg NPS Internet/World Wide Web 3 PRODUCTION MANAGER Roger G. Kennedy Karlota M. Koester

GUEST EDITOR Government Information Policy 4 Diane Vogt-O'Connor Henry C. Kelly

SPECIAL ISSUE ADVISOR Developing a National Park Service World Wide Website: Steve Grosz A Brief History 9

ADVISORS Paul Handly David Andrews Editor. NPS The World, The Web, and The Smithsonian 11 loan Bacharach Marc Pachter Museum Registrar, NPS Randall!. Biallas Forging a Presence on the World Wide Web 14 Historical Architect, NPS lohn A. Bums David Andrews, Veletta Canouts, and S. Terry Childs Architect NPS Harry A. Butowsky WWW Sites of Interest to Cultural Resources Personnel 16 Historian, NPS Jonathan Bayless Pratt Cassity Executive Director, National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Searching the Internet through the World Wide Web 18 Muriel Crespi Hugh O'Connor Cultural Anthropologist, NPS Craig W Davis Archeologist, NPS Electronic Publishing: A Legal and Practical Primer 23 Mark R. Edwards Melissa Smith Levine Director, Historic Preservation Division, State Historic Preservation Officer, Georgia World Wide Web Resources 27 Bruce W. Fry Chief of Research Publications Diane Vogt-O'Connor National Historic Sites, Parks Canada John Hnedak From the Industrial Revolution to the Information Superhighway Architectural Historian, NPS Lowell National Historical Park and the World Wide Web 30 Roger E. Kelly Archeologist, NPS Audrey Ambrosino and Mark Bograd Antoinette I. Lee Historian, NPS Gettysburg National Military Park and the Electronic Frontier 31 lohn Poppeliers International Liaison Officer Winona Peterson for Cultural Resources, NPS Brit Allan Storey Technology and Technology Historian, Bureau of Reclamation Chickamauga and Chattanooga 33 Federal Preservation Forum Jim Ogden CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Stephen A. iMorris Council for the Preservation of the Anthropological Record Certified Local Governments (CLG) Coordinator, NPS and the World Wide Web 34 Kay D. Weeks Technical Writer-Editor, NPS Diane Vogt-O'Connor

CONSULTANTS Cover photo: Exit end of Cane Crusher of a Sugar Mill at Estate Annaly in St. Croix,Virgin Islands. Suggests Michael G. Schene Historian. NPS the motion and interlinked nature of World Wide Web, where all knowledge is grist for the mill. Photography Wm. H. Freeman by Jet Lowe. Courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record Collection at the Library of Congress. Design. Imaging, Production-Freeman Publishing Services Image number HAER VI-8-3.

Statements of fact and views are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an opinion or endorsement on the part of the editors, the CRM advisors and consultants, or the National Park Service. Send articles, news items, and correspondence to the Editor, CRM (2250), U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resources, P.O. Box 37127,Washington, DC 20013-7127; (202-343-3395, FAX 202-343-5260, Internet: [email protected]).

2 CRM N^ 9—1995 Diane Vogt-O'Connor What in the World is the World Wide Web?

he World Wide Web (also known Museums, archives, libraries, schools, tribes, pro­ as the Web or WWW) has become fessional organizations, and businesses are all one of the most exciting new tools developing Websites to share their cultural for cultural resource managers in resources with the burgeoning audience of Web T users. the latter half of the 20th century. Combining aspects of publishing, broadcasting, networking, Among the challenges is the need to keep the National Park Service Director teaching, interactive participation, resource shar­ information lively, changing, audio-visually rich, Roger Kennedy and ing, and even fund-raising, the Web offers cul­ story-oriented, and compelling for a relatively Secretary of tural resource managers exciting new young, educated, and feisty international audi­ Education Richard opportunities and challenges. ence. The competition for the attention of this Riley viewing the audience is fierce—leading to a suprisingly high World Wide Web Among the opportunities is the chance to with students from bring your collections, sites, structures, exhibi­ level of sophistication in many cultural Websites Ashburton tions, publications, and expertise into the homes and in many Web users. The payoffs include a Elementary School. and offices of some 10+ million Web users. rich array of public relations, educational, and outreach advantages; as well as the challenge of being able to adequately handle the increas­ NPS InternetfWorld Wide Web ing volume of queries and visi­ tors resulting from the JUver since the invention of movable type, people refractory to change have increasing visibility of your cul­ grumbled that older methods weren't sufficient to get a message across. Smoke sig­ tural resources. nals, drums, and courier pigeons had after all, extended the reach of the human This issue of CRM serves voice. Writing had certainly extended both the reach and the shelf-life of messages. as an entry-level manual for But movable type did have its sway, after which came movable images, some­ cultural resource managers times with subtitles, sometimes not. Now, in what some people describe as the wanting to learn how to use the post-Gutenberg age, we are at work on the process of moving from printed lan­ World Wide Web as both an guage to printed language and images. informational source and as an Internet is a stage in an unfolding process of amplifying the volume of the outreach tool. It contains arti­ data exchanged and the speed of transmission. There is no practical alternative to cles on: the Park Service's participation in this latest evolution of communications. • How to search the WWW for Everybody is going to be using Internet or World Wide Web or something close to effective use; them. • Where to find assistance and We must be among those having resources in all aspects of this capability, just as we needed to Web use and development be among those capable of verbal lan­ work; guage (with children, we call it talk­ • Guidance on future direc­ ing) and capable of making use of the tions in governmental infor­ miracle of writing. The only question mation policy; really becomes, How should we add • Case studies on Web devel­ some wisdom to the store of informa­ opment from the Smithsonian tion? How do we seek some quality Institution, the Committee on amid the burgeoning of quantity? the Preservation of the Anthropological Record, and Roger G. Kennedy the National Park Service; and Director, National Park Service • Guidance on the legal aspects of Web work.

CRM Nfi 9—1995 3 What is the Web? ing in a single searchable place at mini­ The Web is an internationally networked mal cost. information system that presents text including • A superior desktop research tool allow­ databases and high resolution images, sound, and ing access to digital information includ­ video on all aspects of knowledge. The effect is ing databases made or held by libraries, like an ever-growing multimedia encyclopedia that archives, museums, and other cultural is being created interactively and cooperatively by resource repositories and organizations the users. internationally. The World Wide Web is also: • A powerful broadcast studio for sharing • A highly visible place to define who we information on our events, activities, are, what we have, and what we do to a and programs. rapidly growing audience currently esti­ • A web of informational resources uniting mated to be over 10+ million users. cultural resources professionals interna­ • An innovative forum for testing out new tionally through both planned searches ideas for sharing our resources in publi­ and serendipitous browsing via hyper­ cations, exhibitions, interpretation pro­ text links. grams, and educational activities • A place to sell products and request integrating text, graphics, audio, and donations via cooperating associations video. in order to make cultural resources more • A showcase for our staff expertise in self-supporting. "Ask the Experts" columns, online mag­ • A democratic assemblage of information azines, and online chat sessions. that requires basic training before mas­ • A virtual visitors center for sharing prac­ tery is possible. tical information on our cultural • The world's most powerful printshop for resources with tourists. telling our stories and sharing our mis­ • An opportunity to use our cultural col­ sion, history, and vocation with an inter­ lections and resources to leverage fund­ national audience. ing for digitization and outreach projects • The "killer application" that provides a via digital vendors, corporations, and common entry point to all other features foundations. of the Internet. • A powerful antidote to professional iso­ lation in remote areas as the Web Diane Vogt-O'Connor is the Senior Archivist in the allows us to network with our profes­ Museum Management Program of the National Park sional colleagues and friends regardless Service and guest editor of this issue ofCRM. of how distant they may be. • A speedy way to maintain, share, and update policies, procedures, and train­

Henry C. Kelly Government Information Policy

he communication tools provided taken by the Hubble telescope almost as soon as by contemporary technology pro­ the NASA scientists in charge of the project. vide convenient, practical, inexpen­ Interested citizens can look at government Tsive access to people and press releases, proposed legislation, and other information resources worldwide. Anyone with an documents the instant they are released. Online inexpensive home computer willing to spend $10 browsers can now participate in discussion groups a month can sit at home and look at pictures that span the globe, search through digital

4 CRM N2 9—1995 libraries, and explore archival photographic and same virtual space seen on their computer screens. sound recordings ranging from classics to amateur These environments can convey information just productions. While full motion video on demand is as it would be explained if an infinitely patient now expensive, intense competition to deliver expert led you on a field expedition or the way an entertainment products to homes is likely to make experienced manager would apprentice new staff even this service available to most Americans by members so that they could learn the intricacies of the end of the decade. a business. These tools are already transforming the way Computer simulations, of course, allow risks Americans do business. Networked information real expeditions wouldn't allow and permit explo­ and online tools are making standard transactions rations only possible through imagination—explor­ more efficient and providing opportunities to do ing lost cities, the miniature internal worlds of things that were simply not considered possible— cells, or enormous worlds in outer space. These and certainly not affordable—using earlier tech­ advanced, interactive, multi-dimensional systems nologies. Businesses can advertise and sell convey information and ideas in ways that are products through the World Wide Web. Hospitals can send CAT-scans through the net to get expert consulta­ tions from distant special­ ists. Students and scholars can avoid the cost and inconvenience of traveling around the world searching for text or multi-media mate­ rials and search enormous archives, located around the The White House world, without leaving their World Wide Web studies. page. Perspective on What's New Networked information is just the tip of the ice­ berg—the easy part where the artifacts of earlier com­ munications technology (such as prints, photos, recordings) are digitized and transferred to computer archives. Modern informa­ tion technology clearly also offers something qualitatively different—a unique easy to grasp, and in ways that make it easy to ability to create synthetic environments. These bridge the gap to more formal representations of environments permit an entirely novel form of information in words and numbers. communication. Instead of seeing a photograph of The Administration's Broad National an old airplane, for example, a complete three- Information Strategy dimensional representation of the plane can be While it's impossible to predict the impact of constructed in the computer so that it can be these powerful new tools with any precision, there turned and examined from all sides. Moreover, can be little doubt that mastery of the power of simulations permit you to enter the plane and fly it information technology will be essential to the over terrain as historically accurate as archival U.S. economy in decades ahead. It also is likely records permit. that these new tools can be used to achieve real Similarly, completely rendered ecologies can gains in areas ranging from health care, to enter­ be simulated based on archival documentation. tainment, education, public health and safety. These ecologies can be explored by individuals or Recognizing this, the Administration has an groups working together in the same simulated ambitious program designed to ensure that as environment. The individuals joined in the explo­ many Americans as possible are able to take ration need not be in the same physical place. The advantage of new information technologies as individual participants can cooperate only in the rapidly as possible. Since it's obvious that virtually

CRM N*2 9—1995 5 all of the work and investment will be done with­ including health care (medical record man­ out federal direction or funds, the strategy has the agement, digital transfer of X-rays, and following basic elements: other images), education and training, 1. Ensuring that the laws and regulations gov­ intelligent transportation management erning communications encourage private (traffic signals, air traffic control), and a investment and create a competitive envi­ host of other areas. ronment with inter-operable systems—an 4. Providing convenient, efficient access to environment needed both to stimulate government information. The new commu­ innovation and to prevent the emergence of nications technologies can make govern­ monopolies. The Administration has been ment operations and government working with the Congress to design legis­ information much more accessible, more lation that will achieve these objectives. It timely, and more personal to citizens. They has been working with a variety of stan­ can also make it much easier to ask ques­ dards, organizations, and business groups tions and receive responses that are timely, to promote seamless interoperability accurate, and tailored to individual inter­ between systems, to ensure the privacy of ests and needs. communications without compromising These technologies can range in func­ critical law-enforcement responsibilities, tion from providing timely information on and to ensure the protection of intellectual environmental regulations to efficient property. methods of filing state and federal income 2. Ensuring the widest possible access to new taxes. technologies both by protecting universal The information systems can also access to phone, broadcast, and some provide important tools for improving the advanced services in a modernized productivity of government operations, telecommunications market and by provid­ making it easier to coordinate complex ing funds for connecting schools and projects and keep the paperwork to a mini­ libraries to advanced services. Universal mum. service is a key part of the Administration's 5. Ensuring that worldwide communication proposals for telecommunication reform— services are inter-operable with domestic including provisions providing affordable systems. The advantages of the new com­ links to classrooms. The Department of munication systems clearly don't stop on Commerce's Telecommunications and America's borders. U.S. businesses, Information Infrastructure Program pro­ research teams, students, and ordinary citi­ vides matching funds for schools, libraries, zens clearly benefit when they are able to rural health care providers, economic use the internet to reach archives in Italy development agencies, and state and local as easily as archives in Nebraska. governments with innovative proposals for The administration is working with a num­ using telecommunication services. ber of international organizations to encourage all 3. Supporting research in areas key to wide­ nations to achieve universal acceptance of the spread use of advanced information ser­ principles needed to build an efficient global infor­ vices where private funds are not available mation infrastructure that incorporates competi­ either because the risks are too great or the tive, private, inter-operable systems. The effort has benefits to the nation far outweigh the ben­ met with surprising success in spite of the fact that efits that any individual firm could capture. many nations began the decade with their commu­ This has meant investing in key areas of nications systems completely controlled by state advanced computer and communication monopolies. technology (such as the six gigabit test net­ Government Information works being conducted in partnership with Clearly the federal government's central role major telecommunication firms) and key in accelerating the development and use of systems issues relevant to the construction advanced information technologies is ensuring a and evaluation of advanced education and regulatory environment that encourages innova­ training technology. tion and competition. At the same time, the gov­ The user-friendly, graphic interfaces ernment must provide the public with protection now enjoying explosive market growth against monopoly abuse and ensure universal under names like Mosaic and Netscape access to basic services. But the government has resulted directly from federal software other crucial responsibilities—perhaps the most development funding. Federal research is obvious of which is to make the best possible use also funding work in specific applications of the new technology to make its own operations

6 CRM NS 9—1995 more efficient, more open, and more comprehensi­ Navigating within the Federal Information ble. Infrastructure The federal government is too often seen as a The White House Home Page is centerpiece distant, hostile power operating without concern of the federal government's efforts to make infor­ for the needs of individual citizens. The Clinton mation available. This World Wide Web page administration began with a commitment to make (http://www.whitehouse.gov) provides a single every possible use of new information technology point of entry to the federal digital world. to do the following: Supplemented by the FedWorld collections main­ • Streamline government operations tained by National Telecommunications and • Reduce paperwork Information Service (URL: • Make government operations more open, http://www.Fedworld.gov) the White House Home responsive, and transparent Page leads systematically to federal information— • Drastically cut the paperwork and forms everything from agency press releases to genome required to deal with the government sequences in NIH. The basic page is being Technology clearly can't solve all of the prob­ upgraded to provide more convenient searching lems caused by obsolete government management tools for the majority of us who may not have practices. Technology can provide key tools for known to look for the Weather Bureau inside the achieving federal goals quickly and at an accept­ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration able cost. Private firms have found that informa­ (NOAA) inside of the Department of Commerce. tion technology can only lead to real productivity In addition, a series of specialized entry gains when it is used as an integral part of broad points has been developed for users with clearly management reforms. The Vice President's "rein­ identified interests. The U.S. Department of vention taskforce" has done just this. It has been Agriculture, for example, provides a convenient issuing a stream of dramatic management changes point of entry for users familiar with its extension aimed at making government more responsive to service programs. The Vice President's National its ultimate customers—the citizens it is supposed Performance Review team has worked with the to serve. Information technology plays an impor­ Small Business Administration and the tant role in many of these reforms. Department of Commerce to introduce a U.S. Dramatic gains in the performance of a large Business Advisor page (URL: system like the federal government require making http://www.far.npr.gov.VDOTS) providing a format investments and taking some risks before savings convenient for small businesses interested in find­ can be realized. This is obviously difficult in a time ing practical information on regulations, Small of extreme fiscal stringency. Many agencies are Business Innovation Research programs, and other faced with the problem of maintaining an increas­ topics. ingly expensive system for handling public Creating Digital Records requests and inquiries while finding the funds to While much of the information generated by invest in modern information systems that will the federal government is produced on comput­ eventually make their operations much more effi­ ers—including the word processor used to create cient and less costly. The Administration feels that this manuscript—only a fraction of this informa­ it has developed a balanced approach which can tion is available online. There are several reasons ensure adequate investment in new systems while for this. Some are simple to remedy and others still cutting the overall cost of government. But its much less tractable. plans are vulnerable to budget cuts from the Problems resulting simply from inertia or Congress. lack of understanding on the part of public offi­ Federal efforts to use information have taken cials are real but are being quickly remedied. The three basic forms: more serious problem is finding the funds needed 1. Providing convenient and easy-to-use tools to purchase and maintain the computer and com­ for searching through the maze of govern­ munication equipment needed to make the infor­ ment information and locating what you mation available, to periodically refresh the data, want when you want it. and to reformat it as the communications, soft­ 2. Making raw data available in digital form ware, and hardware systems change. In most cases so that it can be stored, searched, and it should be much less expensive for the govern­ transmitted by the new systems. ment to initially make information available in 3. Providing a convenient way for citizens to electronic form than it is to make it available communicate with the government—both through conventional means, such as printing doc­ sending forms to the government and uments or answering phones. receiving individualized data from the gov­ Agencies find it difficult to justify invest­ ernment. ments in new computer systems while they main-

CRM N2 9—1995 7 tain parallel, older systems to serve people lacking paper, microfilm, original photographs, motion pic­ access to computer communications. The problem tures, sound recordings, and other document types is compounded because many agencies must fund captured using older technologies. The cost of digi­ data dissemination by selling their publications. tizing this information can be very high, though Shifting to free electronic dissemination would dry the actual life of each generation of digital copy up the only source of funds available for making may be shorter than that of the original document. information available in any form. There is an old Digital data can be copied to new storage tech­ debate about whether the economy as a whole nologies at a comparatively low cost. benefits if the federal government charges citizens The bulk of the reformatting cost is associ­ for information which they could use to improve ated with moving original rare materials from stor­ the performance of their businesses or make them age and ensuring that they are properly handled, better citizens. The new technology has forced the described, and made available. Materials with issue into the spotlight at a time when funding for unclear copyright status may also require some any new programs—however cost effective—is dif­ legal research. It would be extremely useful to pro­ ficult to obtain. vide digital representations of archival and In spite of these problems, the administra­ museum materials, such as photographs, sculp­ tion has aggressively encouraged agencies to make tures, or technology of historic interest. material available in digital form. The efforts have The most attractive digital format for met with a considerable amount of success—par­ archival and museum materials would be one in ticularly in agencies familiar with the new tech­ which the digitized image could be manipulated— nologies. A search of the federal digital holdings or even disassembled—as a part of an interactive will, for example, lead to the following: (begin at virtual environment. The cost of creating such rep­ URL:http://www.whitehouse.gov). resentations is now well beyond the reach of agen­ • Extensive collections of National cies with federal collections. Technology costs Agricultural Statistics maintained by change rapidly however. USDA including the National Spatial It is unlikely that much archival information Data Infrastructure database in the Soil on cultural collections will be transferred to digital Conservation Service form using today's tight federal budgets. Instead, • Collections of unclassified satellite pho­ cultural resource managers must develop innova­ tographs from the CIA tive funding approaches including foundation • An enormous variety of real time and funding, partnerships, and cooperative agreements historical weather data and weather with business and academia. satellite imagery from NOAA as well as To be successful, these innovative extensive environmental data and infor­ approaches must take advantage of the enormous mation on geographic, atmospheric, and resource represented by federal archivists, cura­ oceanographic information tors, historians, and other staff. These cultural • Extensive collections of press releases, resource managers are familiar with the signifi­ regulatory notices, and announcements cance of the digitized collections. Cultural resource from most federal agencies managers provide significant "value added" ser­ • Educational statistics from the vices when they share their knowledge and exper­ Department of Education tise about the digitized collections with the public • Seven million references and abstracts in via the new information technologies. the National Library of Medicine Communicating with the Government • GRATEFUL MED software providing Effective use of new information systems inexpensive access to the Library's col­ means much more than simply making informa­ lection of medical and health science tion available in raw form on a modern communi­ information cation network. The effectiveness of the system • The National Park Service's descriptions depends on an ability to reduce the transaction of the 360+ national parks, including costs people experience when dealing with the overviews of trails, camping, weather, government. In particular, this means getting clear, site highlights, and peak tourism; as well timely answers to questions and minimizing the as overviews of all NPS programs from paperwork and hassle involved in responding to curation to the Historic American federal requests for information. Buildings Survey (http://www.nps.gov) We hope that the networks being put in The funding problem is compounded when place will lead to a great improvement in systems the information is not available in digital form. which now depend largely on phone-answering This is true particularly for archival information and paper-mailing. Several additional steps are where documents are available only as ink on —Kelly, continued on back page

8 CRM N2 9—1995 Paul Handly Developing a National Park Service World Wide Website A Brief History

t's been described as an electronic the suite of interpretative tools used by the insurrection. A ground swell of National Park Service staff to convey the experi­ resources and creativity has been set ences and uniquely American spirit that the free, and the key that opened the flood nation's park lands embody. The importance of the The National Park gates Iof this creativity is the World Wide Web Internet as a method of interpretation should not Service World Wide Web home page. (the Web). The Web, the graphical medium of be underestimated. In April 1994, an Executive Order required federal agencies to provide spatial data online for public access. The Internet was clearly the best and most accessible way to provide information across the United States. It was clear that the NPS should provide more than just raw spatial (Geographic Information System [GIS]) data on the Internet, and before long a small group of peo­ ple began developing data applications on the Web that would be attractive to users. By October 1994, fueled by the Yosemite home page devel­ oped by Joe Coho of the Western Regional Office, Patrick Gregerson and the author developed basic home pages for the parks in the then National Capital Region (NCR). A discussion group was formed within NCR to discuss the potential and future direction for the NCR Websites. By January 1995, this truly servicewide revo­ lution had caught the attention of the Director and his staff. The Director applauded the work done on the Web, formalized the program and gave it his support. A small group, made up of WASO program staff, regional staff, a superintendent, and other park staff, was formed to plan out the devel­ opment of the NPS Web program. That same The NPS Museum the Internet, has put a whole new face on the Collections home way information is shared inside organizations month, the first conceptual framework for the NPS page includes pro­ and around the world. The Web has empowered Website was presented at a national teleconfer- files of over 300 millions who can now share NPS museum col­ their stories and information lections; a Treasures of the Nation complete with pictures, sound, exhibit containing and even video. images and The marriage between the descriptions of National Park Service and one of nationally significant objects and speci­ the world's most innovative mens; and bibliogra­ information technologies is eas­ phies and ier to understand by looking at publications created the purpose of the Internet. At its by the NPS root, the Internet is designed as Museum an information tool, and as such, Management pro­ it becomes a natural extension of gram.

CRM N^ 9—1995 9 planning, and other communi­ ties with the NPS. The second session, held in Washington, DC, provided a similar oppor­ tunity for interested parties and other NPS Web develop­ ers to shape the growth and look of the NPS presence on the Web. By National Park Week the NPS Website had grown from a prototype to a full-blown vehicle for convey­ ing interesting information to The National Park ence, and based on that framework, members of the public and to NPS employees throughout the Service Archeology the team agreed to work toward completing the Service. home page. first stage of the NPS Website by March 1995. Soon after National Park Week, Steve For the next two months, an intensive effort Grosz, Steve Pittleman, Chip Jenkins, Betsy was made by team members to flesh out a com­ Chittenden, the author and many others began the prehensive Website for the entire National Park task of producing the first servicewide vision doc­ Service. Each program office was primarily con­ ument aimed at guiding the further development cerned with developing its respective home page, of the NPS Website. By early August the NPS Web but offices with more expertise assisted in the Primer and the NPS Web Manual were released development of multiple home pages. Dave via cc:Mail. Using these two documents, employ­ Duran, of the NBS (formerly the NPS GIS ees throughout the Service have added to the Washington Office) who posted the first draft of growth of NPS's Web development. the National Park Service home page months ear­ The interest and commitment to the NPS lier, worked closely with the author in setting up Web development process by a wide range of NPS and building the current NPS Web Server, even as employees is a reflection of the growing interest in Dave was developing the NBS Website. The the larger Internet community as a whole. The Denver Service Center's Technical Information Center (DSC) scanned the entire Red Book Index The National (The National Parks: Register Index 1993) and sent Information it to the NCR where System home the file was converted page. into Web hypertext mark-up language (HTML) format. This text was the basis for each of the 368 park home transformation from the one-or-two person effort pages. The graphic headers for each page were into a servicewide effort occurred faster than developed largely thanks to Russell Bellknap of many previously thought possible. the DSC's Eastern Team. Each program area of the The NPS efforts have not been lost on the Service contributed to the rapid growth of the Website. It is this "distributed" nature of the Web vast audience of the Internet. Those who have and its authors that is the real power and force contributed to this process should be proud of the behind the exponential growth of the Web in gen­ fact that the NPS Website was rated in the top 5% eral, and the NPS site in specific. of all most popular sites on the Web by Point Survey. Through the dedication of this "grass­ By March 1995, much of the work that had roots" effort, much has already been accomplished been outlined in the original meeting two months and with the growing interest by park staff, who earlier had been completed. Two review and com­ knows where this might lead? ment sessions were held to help hammer out the kinks in the new NPS Website. The first session, Paul Handly is the National Park Service based in Denver, consisted of approximately 20 Webmaster. interested parties from the natural resources,

10 CRM Na 9—1995 Marc Pachter The World, the Web, and the Smithsonian

nce I would have said that a task There may be doubts among some about the as ambitious as creating a vast, usefulness of such efforts—we are still in the age useful, and consistent of faith, not certainty about the potential use of Smithsonian presence on the new enormous visual databases flashed around InterneOt was inherently impossible. This has the world in an instant—but there is also remark­ nothing to do with the complexity of available ably little smugness about the right and the wrong technology. Indeed, online technology has pro­ way to proceed. This leads to a refreshing open­ gressed to the point that it can be said any orga­ ness among participants, genuine discussions nization can master it. The problem faced by the about needs and solutions to needs, and even a Smithsonian is organizational complexity, orga­ certain communal spirit which comes of all being nizational culture, and organizational will. in it together. The Smithsonian, seen from the outside, appears to The central Smithsonian's World be a tightly coordinated insti­ Wide Web home tution. In fact, it is con­ page represents the structed from such an Institution's first amazing variety of resource guess as to the bases (having both public and routes of informa­ tion sought by private funding derived from potential users of many different sources), ori­ the 20-hour-long gins (each museum and site. research center emerged out of different historical circum­ stances and governance struc­ tures), and intellectual focuses (it harbors myriad disciplines and tasks within the larger groupings of sci­ ence, history, and art) that any effort to create a unified strategy of presentation is, to say the least, bound to be an adventure. Why did the effort work in this case? First of all, it must be said that electronic projects of any kind evoke a necessary and refreshing humility from most partici­ pants in the planning process. Very few people in our line of work bring long histories, rec­ ognized expertise, or embed­ ded assumptions to discussions about online pre­ sentations.

CRM I\m 9—1995 1 1 In the Smithsonian's case at least, humility came into play even in central administrative planning. There was, blessedly, no rigid master plan from on- high which began the process of our online conversion. From the first, it was recognized that we had to tap into the The Smithsonian's energy and intuition of those staff first comprehen­ around the Institution who had long sive experiment in been testing the possibilities of the Net the development and other electronic options. of an information- rich and user- A full year before January 1995, friendly home when we began our determined effort page was con­ to create an all-Smithsonian Website, ducted by its we had invited anyone in the National Museum of American Art in Smithsonian community who had an a two-year rela­ electronic project to a staff-only multi­ tionship with a media fair. This was facilitated by the commercial online resourceful director of our Information service. Age exhibition at the National Museum of American History. The effect was electric (no pun intended). We also benefitted from a few years of testing online possibilities with such commercial services as America Online (AOL) and CompuServe. The AOL connection was particularly useful as a galvanizing force because, although coordination was centered in a pan-Institutional office, experience was monitored by a users' group from throughout To bring these vital and disparate experi­ the Institution. The high morale within the group, ments together to create the dense Smithsonian which owed much to the sensitive coordination of Website launched in May 1995, took a number of our Office of Elementary and Secondary happy circumstances. The first was the arrival of Education, led to a voluntary decision to return the 10th Smithsonian Secretary, I. Michael whatever profits came to individual units from Heyman, who, when installed in September 1994, AOL participation into a common pool to improve announced his commitment to the electronic trans­ online strategies. formation of the Institution. To underscore his In all organizations there are pace-setters. In commitment, he appointed a Counselor for ours, there were a number who, to paraphrase a Electronic Communications, whose 20-year back­ country song, "were online before online was ground in the Institution was programmatic, not cool." Chief honors go to the National Museum of technical, and asked him to work directly with the American Art, whose director saw the possibilities newly arrived Senior Information Officer, the first of building new audiences and therefore directed in the Smithsonian's history. museum energies and resources to understanding Within months the decision to create a pan- the programmatic uses of the medium. Institutional Website was made. How fast this It wasn't enough to get technical knowledge; could be achieved depended in part on how the curators had to be involved from the first. On quickly the Secretary's mandate permeated the the science side, the curator of a major exhibition, institutional culture; but the toughest issue was Ocean Planet, decided to develop a parallel online finding a lead figure to guide the process of con­ exhibition, which would test the differences structing both a central home page and home between the presentation of information in physi­ pages for the many museums, centers, and offices, cal space and cyberspace. In this she was aided by which were all in dramatically different stages of a dedicated NASA volunteer. Fundamental to both preparation. The National Science Foundation's pioneering strategies was the recognition that this "gift" of a senior staffer to marshall the effort was the first medium whose presentations were answered this need. As a bonus, Peter House continually affected by the interaction of the audi­ brought to the task unflagging energy and an out­ ence. sider's perspective on the vagaries of our organiza-

12 CRM N<2 9—1995 tional culture. His questions helped establish Any systematic attempt to go online forces frameworks for the Institution's construction of an organization to reexamine its bank of pub­ home pages that answered not only our needs but lished materials. Things that sit on the shelf can also those of potential users. suddenly look embarrassing or at least out of date What we learned in the doing rather than in the harsh light of the electronic environment. the thinking about a Website would take pages to Our central visitor information unit reexamined all relate, but a few hard-won insights bear telling materials presented for usefulness in the new briefly. Our first temptation, to get the home page medium. out as fast as possible, was, fortunately, resisted. It We also had to ask ourselves whether cen­ is true that online is a forgiving medium; unlike tral information packages were as necessary in other forms of publication one can correct mis­ cyberspace, where a visit to an individual museum The Smithsonian's takes or fill in later information. can happen through a simple click. Many of the first systematic museums, research centers, and offices continue to attempt to make It is best to think of the first presentation of available a large a Website as a comprehensive first impression of challenge the notion of a central home page which database of an institution. The more planning that is done in requires a number of transactions before coming graphic images advance, the richer the experience of the user and to their particular home page. At the very least, was launched by the more likely a return visit and the possibility of however, everyone seems pleased that the central its photography initiative got the entire institution thinking about unit, the Office of "feedback." The second and opposite temptation, Printing and to stand pat with all the information initially pre­ the uses to which a home page might be put. Photographic sented and not to perpetually update and revise, The future of our Website will depend on a Services. must also be resisted. A Website is a form of pub­ number of things. We'll need to create a regular lication not entirely fluid nor entirely fixed. monitoring and updating system which not only reflects changes in the Institution but also reflects the knowledge we're gaining about what our elec­ tronic audiences want of us. We'll need to be innovative in the creation of new online experi­ ences shaped by more clearly formulated educa­ tional goals. And we'll need to develop a more systematic pan-Institutional strategy of digitally capturing and making available increasing num­ bers of the images and objects we hold. No one yet understands the full potential of this medium. Within our first 13 weeks we regis­ tered over 4 million "hits" on the home page, 20% from outside the United States. But who are these electronic visitors? How do they use the informa­ tion provided? Will they want to visit the actual not virtual Smithsonian more or less? Will they overwhelm us with increasing requests for infor­ mation, and should we mind? What we do know is that our audiences are less and less passive in their interaction with the Smithsonian. They want to see more of what we have, to address more and more of what we say, and participate more in the communities of infor­ mation that we represent. The electronic revolu­ tion is not alone the cause of this change but it will certainly prove to be one of its most powerful manifestations. We had all better be ready.

Marc Pachter is the Counselor for Electronic Communications, Smithsonian Institution.

CRM Na 9—1995 13 David Andrews,Veletta Canouts, and S.Terry ChiIds Forging a Presence on the World Wide Web

Rule #/:A Website is better than a publication. Our biggest challenge wasn't technical (aside from the daunting deadlines we faced to get things Rule #2:A Website is not a publication. up and running). The primary Web language, hypertext mark-up language or HTML, is a lot like Rule #3:There are no rules. the formatting codes typesetters used before desk­ top publishing came along; even without conver­ his is the reality that the NPS cul­ sion software, HTML isn't difficult to master. What tural resources center confronted we had instead was a medium that refused to fit after hastily assembling a Web our organizational paradigm. team earlier this year. We faced a Our Web customers—the general public— mediuTm still in its infancy, much like television in would have little use for a program-by-program 1946. Unlike other modes of communication, presentation of mission statements. Clearly, the there were, and are, few guidelines on how to use public's interest crosscut our organizational boxes; it effectively. Nevertheless, we had our orders, archeology, for example, resides in several differ­ straight from Director Kennedy himself: Mobilize ent offices. The audience would want to access a the medium, now. topic in a quick and simple way, the electronic One thing we knew: This wasn't print. Gone equivalent of one-stop shopping. was linearity, since a site can link to one or a hun­ But who was the general public? The mostly dred other sites, not to mention cross-linking to upper-income subscribers of Web browser ser­ areas within itself. A trifold brochure presents vices? What about kids? And what about our pro­ information in sequence, with panels opened and fessional colleagues in other organizations—were The National Park read as the design dictates. With the Web. viewers they a subset of "general public"? Service's first choose the order—or exit altogether, going from a attempt to provide petroglyph site at Chaco Canyon, say, to France's To complicate matters, no one was com­ World Wide Web newly discovered cave art with the quick click of a pletely sure how to employ the new tool. Some access to cultural mouse. Out the door too are regular schedules and wanted to use the Website for public relations. resources ser- Others saw it as an education medium. Still others vicewide is the editions, since information can be updated at will. "Links to the Past" wanted to use it to market publications. In truth, And though the Web isn't TV, visuals rule, few understood it and fewer still had the browser home page. This sound bites speak volumes, chat groups are "live." project is a multi- access necessary to understand the Web's multiple disciplinary collabo­ and the audience is large enough to light up an voices. rative effort. Arbitron box—literally millions for a cost less than This made inspiring teamwork difficult— printing a four-color brochure. These are the num­ which was our job—especially among groups that bers enticing the Park Service and thousands of hadn't worked together before. Cooperation was other organizations worldwide onto the Web. vital to putting our best face forward to the public. At first, the Web team got hung up on tech­ nical issues like mastering HTML and debating an office-by-office approach vs. posting answers to the most frequent public inquiries. The team coa­ lesced soon after we crafted a concept and story board, put together thanks to our experience in electronic and desktop publishing (the National Archeologieal Database. Federal Archeology). It was precisely because of this experience—which put us ahead on the learning curve—that our pro­ gram chief encouraged our involvement in the team effort.

14 CRM \v 9—1995 The presentation of the concept sparked a over. Several corporations, notably Adobe and brainstorm. Why not offer customers easy access Netscape, are collaborating on a formatting pro­ to information on all the fascinating resources we gram for Web pages, and Quark plans to market manage? Nationally significant lighthouses, Civil Orion (TM), a tool for converting layout files for War battlefields, museum collections, sunken Web use. Even now, a Website boasts the ability steamboats—these things, coupled with informa­ to broadcast an almost unlimited amount of infor­ tion on preserving them—would grab and hold mation. viewer attention. The discourse shifted to a In the National Park Service, it doesn't take resource-based approach, which was ultimately much to see the potential of this tool for an organi­ adopted. Essential to implementing the concept zation that is itself a nationwide network. Now was an understanding of the breadth of our pro­ that the deadline heat is off, we have the time and grams and what they have to offer, as well as a management support to tailor the medium to our grasp of how to navigate browsers to it. needs. A Cultural Resources Web team was set up Since time was of the essence, we focused on with co-team leaders. Within our own program, loading almost ready resources into the site. The we've kept our initial Web group standing to build curation program digitized 100 high-resolution on the expertise gained so far. That way, we'll be photos of premier artifacts; the Geographic better equipped to deal with the core questions Information System (GIS) lab had maps of many facing site developers. Civil War battlefields; our program could link the So is a Website a tool for public relations, for site to the National Archeological Database. marketing, or for education? Probably all of the There was and still is controversy over what above, and more. As our program works to spin off constitutes effective communication on the Web. an electronic version of our quarterly, Federal Some people in the center scanned in thick Archeology', aimed at non-professionals, we realize reports, while others limited what they loaded to we can achieve both education and public rela­ bite-size bits. The trick, it seems, is to place longer tions goals. Meantime, we acknowledge that we documents (like legislation) in the deeper layers, must improve access for our professional col­ for ambitious browsers who really want to dig into leagues as well (a whole other audience perhaps a topic. Long copy on top, we think, has to be deserving its own Website). Our challenge is to absolutely riveting for the audience. Otherwise, come up with a structure that prompts viewers to click and they're gone. explore all the byways we provide, without losing In our program, we're adopting the less-is- quick access to more traditional offerings like pub­ more approach as we flesh out the archeology and lications lists. ethnography segment of the site. We're being care­ But then again, maybe we should publish ful not to overload the screen, especially the upper some things exclusively on the Web and forget layers, which we believe encourages site surfers to about printing them altogether. Or maybe we stick around. should compile more of our information as data­ So, does a Website best a publication? It bases, which are better suited to electronic media depends on your audience and your communica­ than print. This sort of ongoing self-evaluation is tions goals. Print is more expensive, but boasts taking place at many government agencies as they portability, sharp focus, and—in the hands of a forge their online presence. good writer and designer—a better ability to com­ In the NPS cultural resources center, the municate the message. You control exactly what World Wide Web is doing nothing less than mak­ goes in, who gets the information, and how they ing us rethink how we program the work we do. look at it. These are crucial elements in, say, a It's a medium to be reckoned with. fund-raising piece for a museum. A Website can reach millions at a minimal David Andrews is Managing Editor and Designer of cost, but only those with the right software, and Federal Archeology, published by the Archeology and you lose some control over the material. Right now Ethnography program. the Web severely constrains design, layout, and Veletta Canouts is Deputy Chief of the NPS typography, so it makes sense to professionally Archeology and Ethnography Program, located in the design only the most important, uppermost layers National Center for Cultural Resources Stewardship of a site. Then there is the problem of getting your and Partnerships in Washington, DC. She is also message heard amidst the clatter of thousands of Program Leader for the National Archeological other sites springing up. Just letting people know Database. you're online is a challenge itself. S. Terry Childs is Program Leader for Federal The promise of the Web, however, is enor­ Archeological Collections, Records, and Reports (and mous. Some experts expect that the sophisticated NADB-Reports). capabilities of CD-ROM will ultimately migrate

CRM N2"9— 1Q95 15 Jonathan Bayless WWW Sites of Interest to Cultural Resources Personnel

t is now perhaps a cliche to start an future, when journals, magazines, and perhaps article about the World Wide Web even our own daily administrative business is (WWW) with exclamations about the accessible over the Net, we will find the Internet I hundreds and thousands of new sites just as indispensable. being created every day. The publicity generated So what does the World Wide Web have to about the Web has surely offer? Other articles in this reached every professional series have addressed this The home page of involved in cultural question at length. The the Virtual Library: resource preservation. strongest reason, in my Architecture and Landscapes site However, for the majority opinion, for gaining access which may be of cultural resource profes­ to the WWW is to gain the found at sionals in the National knowledge and experience httpJIwww.clr.toron Park Service, the Internet necessary to create our own to.edu: 1080Mrtual- and all its allure remains a sites. But in order to even­ liblorch.html distant subject with no tually place our own obvious relevance to the resources on the Internet, daily tasks of managing we must first take advan­ cultural resources. And tage of the opportunities to perhaps for some offices, learn and explore what oth­ there could be compelling ers have done. Because arguments that such only those with a working The home page of access would not improve knowledge will be able to the Artsource site the quality of their accom­ develop their own well- which may be found at plishments. At least in the designed WWW sites and http:llwww.uky.edul short term. But such argu­ provide open access to the Artsourcelart- ments will not remain true for very much longer. cultural resources and research records that we sourcehome.html Just as we have manage as a public trust. seen electronic mail For a look at a virtual museum exhibit, I like revolutionize the the Smithsonian Institution at http://www.si.edu. speed and intercon­ For an excellent example of a museum exhibit on nection of information the web containing imagery, video, and sound, and individuals within check out the White House craft show at an agency or office, http://www.nmaa.si.edu. Perhaps the video clip of the World Wide Web Hillary Clinton's introduction still suffers from the holds even greater limitations of current technology. But the choice of potential to provide looking at the collections either from a material connections between type (ceramics, metals, etc.) and artist categories, interested public and or a room-by-room tour of the White House, professionals every­ shows the potential for customized user where. It is hard to approaches, and the images of the collections are think back only a few simply beautiful. short years ago, before For a look at a growing network of histori­ email, to when paper- ans, archivists, museum curators, preservation based transmission of groups, and historical societies, the History all documents was the Computerization Project at norm. In the near http://www.history.la.ca.us/history gives hundreds

16 CRM N2 9—1995 sites at http://nfrcg.gov/home-page/ htmls.html. And an important look at our new Interior agency, the National Biological Service, can be gained at http://www.nbs.gov. Be sure to look at their interactive map available from their home page, that points you to the appropriate regional office and gives addresses and contacts. The NPS has just put together a "NPS World Wide Web (Internet) Primer" to help parks "capi­ talize on opportunities presented by the Internet." It's available to NPS staff on cemail by requesting it from the address "NPS Webmaster." And yes, it seems that in the virtual reality of the World Wide Web, you can call yourself whatever your mind's eye envisions itself to be. Myself, I've been consid­ ering the nickname of a 13th-century Chinese The home page of of annotated directories and the chance to order a poet, who called himself the "travelling abode of the White House free copy of the History Database tutorial on com­ Craft Show which may be found at puter database management. An entire series of http:llwww.nmaa. virtual libraries are up and running. Try architec­ si.edu ture and landscapes at http://www.clr. toronto.edu: 1080/VIRTUALLIB/arch. html, or museums at http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/archive/other/ museums.html. A number of sites contain regular updated listings of cultural resource related sites, and so make "surfing" much easier. These include the UNESCO World Heritage Center's "Internet Resources for Heritage Conservation, Historic Preservation, and Archeology" site at http://hpb.hwc.ca: 7002/ ICOMOS_Main_Page.html, and Artsource, called a "Point of networked resources on Art and Architecture" at The home page of the Virtual Library: Museums, which may be More from the http://www.uky.edu/artsource/artsourcehome.html. found at http:llwww.comlab.ox.ac.uklarchivelotherlmuseums.html White House A good starting place is the subject-oriented Craft Show. Internet resource guides at the vagrant weed." While we system curators do http://www.lib.umich.edu/chhome.html. travel quite a bit, I'm still not sure such a title Many have seen the National Park Service's would convey the intended meaning, even in the own Website at http://www.nps.gov, which virtual reality that grows more significant and real includes information on a variety of parks, along with each passing day. with a large body of cultural resource information. But many have not seen the Department of the Jonathan Bayless is the System Curator, Pacific Interior's home page at http://www. Great Basin System Support Office, National Park info.er.usgs.gov/doi/doi.html. It provides hypertext Service, San Francisco. access to all the bureaus within the department. Being professionally interested in biological museum collections, I found it very productive to access a listing entitled "Internet Resources for the Biologist" that contains addresses for almost 80

CRM N^ 9—1995 17 Hugh O'Connor Searching the Internet Through the World Wide Web

he Internet is an enormous, What Can Be Searched on the Internet? dynamic, and evolving multimedia As of this writing, the Internet has grown to encyclopedia of all human knowl­ include: Tedge and opinion. You can tap this • Several thousand telnet and FTP sites, searchable encyclopedia from a desktop com­ containing an estimated 3 million acces­ puter. Within the last several years great progress sible files, including duplicates and has been made in making the Internet's store of alternate versions. Telnet is a program knowledge and human expression more precisely that connects your computer to another accessible; but we are not yet at the point where one, and allows you to search the precise subject searching of the Internet is gener­ remote computer as if your computer ally easy, common, consistent, or well-under­ were a linked (connected) terminal. FTP The search screen ofYahoo! which stood. The Net is, we may say, still in its "Wild is the Internet's "file transfer protocol," may be found at West" phase. a "downloading" utility. httpjlwww.yahoo. This article will cite and briefly discuss some • About 9,000 gophers (menu-based infor­ com of the major Internet search and retrieval tools, mation search systems). and lists currently available on the World Wide • Over 14,000 USENET newsgroups Web (WWW or the Web). The Web is the multi­ (online discussion groups whose mes­ media portion sages may be accessed via the Internet). of the Internet • Almost 13,000 email-based mailing lists containing (online discussion groups whose mes­ images, text sages appear in your email box once files, and audio you subscribe) running on the listserv, and video listproc or majordomo list management clips. This arti­ software. These discussion groups are cle's approach sometimes generically called listservs. will be to con­ • More than 5 million World Wide Web centrate on pages. tools that, in • Several hundred substantial, searchable the author's databases—like the online U.S. Code experience, are and Code of Federal Regulations—that the most com­ are popping up on the Internet every prehensive, day, faster than the most dedicated powerful, and Internet students can track. Many of useful for scan­ these are based on the WAIS (Wide- ning large Area Information Server) system. regions of the What are the Best Known Internet Search Internet. Many Tools? good systems From its inception in 1969, when it con­ will go unmen- sisted of four linked computers, until the 1990s, tioned in this the Internet was largely used by the government, review; but I its contractors and the academic research commu­ have attempted to keep the list and my comments nity. As the Internet grew, creative programmers short in the belief that it is better to know about a developed a range of Internet search tools includ­ few really good Internet searching tools than about ing: the many, many good but limited and overlapping • Archie, a program to identify the soft­ ones that are constantly appearing. ware and text files available at the thou­ sands of computers accessible by FTP

18 CRM N^ 9—1995 (the Internet's file transfer protocol). What are the Problems with the Internet Currently there are about 38 Archie sites Search Tools? in existence. Since Archie searches file Search results are often not precise. The names and descriptions, files that lack Internet is in constant flux, and Archie, Veronica, descriptive names and appropriate and other indexes, however frequently generated, descriptions can be missed. For Archie cannot keep up with that flux. Within the last few to work perfectly you must already know years, the ease of searching the Internet has the name of the file you are searching improved dramatically, principally through the for. development (as part of the World Wide Web) of • Veronica, a program created to index rapid search engines with relatively simple search information made available by gophers. statement or screen menu displays presented to Currently, about 20 Veronica "servers" users. exist. Veronica search results are fre­ By 1993, gopher systems were being discov­ quently of limited relevance and the ered and used by rapidly-rising numbers of new links to gopher menus provided are Internet explorers. But by the end of 1994, it was often incorrect, leading to missed con­ the World Wide Web, with its hypertext links, nections. These errors occur because high-resolution graphics, and multimedia file con­ Veronica indexes of gopher sites are tent, that had taken over much of the Internet constructed only periodically; they can­ community's attention. At the same time, the Web not keep up with the constant changes incorporated the Internet searching tools that pre­ that occur across the Internet. ceded it, making them easier to use. • Jughead, a program that thoroughly Along with the availability of new Web- indexes a single gopher site. based Internet search tools, however, there is still • Hytelnet, a program that organizes a touch of the old chaos in that the tools are of access to the many Internet-connected widely varying power and coverage. They are computer systems (telnet sites) and that appearing with little correlation at various sites; permits users to sign on and search from and the search results one gets from different tools remote locations. that cover the same basic database (World Wide Once developed, the Internet search systems Web pages, for instance) are different. It is now tended to be overloaded with demand. In possible to find something fairly easily and response, "mirror sites" that duplicated the origi­ quickly on almost any imaginable topic; but, using The search screen nal search sites were developed to help distribute any one of the new Web-based search tools, you ofWandex, the this demand. For any given search system generally cannot hope to have searched the World Wide Web Wanderer Index (Veronica, for instance) the different sites and Internet comprehensively on any such topic. which may be servers have different levels of activity due to What Search Tools are Available on the found at varying time zones. Recommended Internet prac­ World Wide Web for the Whole Internet? http:llwandex. tice calls for searchers to use the search site that is As the Web has emerged as the most active netgen.comlcgil geographically closest to them before attempting to wandex and frequently-used Internet utility outside of use more remote search sites. email, it has also begun incorporating the other Internet features (gophers, newsgroups, FTP capa­ bility) that, up till now, have existed separately and involved the use of different software. It is now possible, for instance, to do an Archie search from several Websites (see http://pubweb..nexor.co.uk/public/archie/servers.ht ml), or to search thousands of USENET news­ groups for messages containing specific keywords. The latter can be done at a Website called the DejaNews Research Service (http://www.dejanews.com/), which as of the time of this writing is still available free of charge. Another free service involving the USENET system is Stanford University's Netnews Filtering Service (http://woodstock.stanford. edu:2000/), through which one can submit an emailed profile of keywords that are run periodically—daily, if one prefers—against the newsgroups that are received at Stanford. Registrees are sent a regular email

CRM N2 9—1995 19 message consisting of the first several lines of each Open Text Web Index, InfoSeek, ALIWeb, the retrieved newsgroup message that matches the World Wide Web Worm, the World Wide Web keyword profile. The full text of any partial mes­ Wanderer, WebCrawler, EINET Galaxy, Harvest sages that look interesting is obtainable on Broker, CUI (Centre Universitaire d'Informatique), demand. Searches of "gopherspace" using public CUSI (Configurable Unified Search Index), and Veronica servers are possible through a Web SawySearch, among still others. Although several browser at gopher sites like: of these search systems started out as experimen­ gopher://gopher.scs.unr.edU/l 1 /veronica. tal systems developed in academic computer sci­ Other such services include a HYTELNET ence departments, it is common for them to page (http://www.usask.ca/cgi-bin/hytelnet) that migrate from academia to a commercial site that provides a rough index and access point to com­ has agreed to support the growing load of searches puters permitting remote access by the general on its own hardware as a free public service. public through the Internet telnet utility; the How Do the Various WWW Search Tools "WAIS Access through the Web" page Compare? (http://www.ai.mit.edu/the-net/wais.html) that lets None of these search tools searches quite the some Web browsers access so-called Wide Area same database in quite the same way. The syntax Information Server databases; and the "Search for of search statements and the number of relevant Mailing Lists" page at the University of Indiana items each system will allow you to display, for (http://SCWWW.ucs.Indiana.edu/mlarchive/). The instance, vary widely. Some of the search services latter is a database of email-based discussion perform "relevance ranking" on search results to groups running on the listserv, majordomo, or list- indicate how appropriate a particular retrieved proc software. It permits users to identify groups item is to your search query. Each service offers a on their topics of interest from among nearly slightly variant range of search options and some 13,000 available ones. Again, all of these rather are definitely easier and faster to use than others. amazing search services may be used free of Some are well-documented, some are not. charge as much as one likes. To illustrate this variability, the phrase There are also several powerful search ser­ "National Park Service" was used as the search vices that concentrate on the World Wide Web statement on several of these systems in early itself. Among these are included Yahoo!, Lycos, the September 1995. The results are in the box below.

Search Tool Name Number of Comments &URL Items Found (Hits)

Yahoo at 6 items Retrieved 6 separate Web pages when the "National Park http://www.yahoo.com Service" was treated as a character string (adjacency searching) in which all words must appear next to each other in the same specified order before they will be retrieved.

Wandex, 9 items the World Wide Web Wanderer Index at http://wandex.netgen.com/cgi/wandex

Open Text Index at 637 items http://www.opentext.com:8080/com.html

WebCrawler at 500 items displayed Note: WebCrawler only allows 500 retrievals, although it ranks http://www.webcrawler.com out of 1,466 them all in descending order of relevance. retrieved

Lycos at 974 items Note: Lycos does not perform true adjacency searching, http://www.lycos.com/ but instead simply finds all the selected terms in the material in whatever order. This search strategy increases hits but decreases relevance. Relevance ranking is performed on search results.

InfoSeek at >200 items InfoSeek does not return a result greater than 200, and does not http://www.infoseek.com/ report how many additional relevant hits there are beyond 200.

20 CRM N^ 9—1995 What are the most Comprehensive Internet they index, rather than just the title and perhaps Search Tools on the WWW? some summary descriptive text. Some search The most comprehensive databases of Web engines do not perform true adjacency searching pages at this time (September 1995) appear to be but rather just look for the appearance of all the Lycos, the Open Text search terms in whatever order—an approach that Web Index, tends to raise the number of retrieved items. WebCrawler, and Perhaps more importantly, some of these InfoSeck. The only search tools and services explain the rules under commercial service which they operate better than others. It is not among these, unusual for users to be presented with a search InfoSeek, may become form, into which they are to type their search more of a system of terms, with no up-front, explicit statement of choice as the demand whether the system will assume the words must be on the free systems adjacent (such as National Park Service); or that grows, causing access they are related by an implied Boolean AND or OR problems and slowed operator ("architecture" and "vernacular" but not response time, while "garage"); or whether the system performs trunca­ its commercial nature tion by searching the words as character strings limits use enough to that may be separate words or the root characters avoid or delay over­ of longer words (for example, "photo" which might load. This is specula­ get you "photograph" or "photosynthesis"). tion, but it would be a The Web search systems' main pages will logical outcome of the usually have a link to explanatory text that will go kind of growth in into these details, or may perhaps link to a more numbers of people elaborate version of the search form with all search with Internet access features and options made explicit. But the casual that has occurred over the last few years. For The search screen user in a hurry may not bother with this and may another site on Web searching tools, see "World of Open Text therefore not be made aware of the ways to make a Index, which may Wide Web Robots, Wanderers and Spiders" at search more efficient. Retrieval on the WWW is be found at http://web.nexor.co.uk/mak/doc/robots/robots.html. currently more art than science. If comprehensive­ httpjlwww. opentext.com: In a recent article ("Searching the World ness is your goal, carry out your search on several 8080lcom.html Wide Web: Lycos, WebCrawler and More," Online, systems. A WWW search should always be consid­ July/August 1995, pp. 48-53), Greg Notess sug­ ered more advisory than definitive. gested a strategy that takes into account some of How is News and Current Information the differences and limitations of the Web search Searched on the Internet? engines. "For single keyword searches of a large Another important area for Internet search database, use Lycos. For multiword searches with and retrieval is that of news and newsfeeds. It has an AND, try WebCrawler. For gopher resources, try become apparent to many news agencies that dis­ veronica. And for a time-consuming comprehensive tribution of news stories and wire service material search, use CUSI" (p. 53). The CUSI site may be is yet another useful application of the Internet. found at URL: http://web.nexor.co.uk/susi/cusi.html. There is, in fact, an entire news service (ClariNet To these guidelines we might add that Yahoo! eNews—see http://www.clarinet.com/) that is avail­ is especially useful if you want a fairly quick search able only through the Internet. through major Web resources only and when you One particularly ingenious (and, once again, want good search results without the requirement free of charge) site on the World Wide Web is the that they be comprehensive. Another reason for CRAYON site. CRAYON here stands for "Create using Yahoo! is that it has extensive links to the Your Own Newspaper." It is the product of Jeff other Internet searching systems and so has Boulter, a student at Bucknell University, who has become an excellent gateway for those who want to hyperlinked a variety of Internet news sources and run the same basic search through several different enabled the user to design his or her own "front engines. end" for selecting which of these sources to use How Can Searching Techniques Be Improved? and what order to view them in. The user designs a Several factors account for differences in personal newspaper with its own title that will pre­ results from one search tool to another. The number sent the day's news whenever accessed. of actual Web pages being searched by the systems The Crayon news options are so wide as to varies. Some search engines are also searching allow for true personalization of the result. It is gopher and FTP sites as well as Web pages. Some possible, for instance, to include or exclude inter­ services search the entire text of the Web pages national news, sports, weather, and even comic

CRM N^ 9—1995 21 publications (numbering in the hundreds) with some kind of Internet presence. That presence varies widely, from titles that offer a growing and searchable full-text backfile to those that simply show you part of a current issue and tell you how to subscribe to the paper edition. Some of the best sites that collect links to the nation's and the world's growing stock of enews titles include Taxi's International News (http://www.deltanet.com/users/taxicat/newstand. html), Steve Outing's Online Newspaper Services Resource Directory (http://www.nyc.pipeline.com/edpub/ e-papers.home.page.html), the Ecola EZ Home Page (http://www.ecola.com/ez/), UNCG's News The search screen strips, and to lay out the selected sources in cus­ and Newspapers Online Worldwide ofWebCrawler tomized order. Some of the news sources, like Time (http://www.uncg.edu/~cecarr/news/) and "Onramp which can be articles, arc themselves hyperlinked to related past Access—Newspapers on the Net" found at articles from the same source—providing a dimen­ (http://www.onr.com/newspaper.html). These are bttpjlwww. only five of many such sites, some of them consist­ webcrawler.com/ sion of historical searchability to your newspaper. The developer of CRAYON linked a variety of ing of articles and general information on the phe­ free sources from different sites on the Web into a nomenon of electronic news, that are available cleverly-conceived central home page. This is a through the World Wide Web. great example of the way originally disparate Web Sites that provide comparable links and content can be "sliced and diced" and otherwise information on non-newspaper publications on the reassembled into new, value-added products Internet include: "On-Line Magazines" through the device of hyperlinking. CRAYON, (http://www.middlebury.edu/~otisg/zines.shtml), which had 81.403 subscribers internationally as of the ZineRak (http://www.greencart.corn/zinerak/), September 10, 1995. may be found at John Labovitz's E-Zine List http://sun.bucknell.edu/~boulter/crayon/. (http://www.mer.net/~johnl/ There are several sites, usually commercial, e-zine-list/index.html) and Internet Resources for that now offer searching of general and specialized Zines and EZines newsfeeds. Sometimes it is possible to set up an (http://www.acns.nwu.edu/ezines/ The search screen article profile that can retrieve news regularly on net-resources.html). of Lycos which can topics of continuing interest to the user. Sites to What Comprehensive Searching Services be found at Exist? httpjlwww. investigate for news retrieval include InfoSeek lycos.coml (http://www.infoseek.com/Home), NewsPage There are a few Websites that offer more (http://www.nevvspage.com/), NewsHound, a San comprehensive searching capabilities. The All-In- Jose Mercury News service One Internet Search site (http://www.sjmercury. (http://www.albany.net/~wcross/all Igen.html) is com/hound.html) and actually a system that links to over 100 Internet introNEWS at databases. Through various points within All-In- http://www.gold.net/info. One, for example, one can search for the meanings highway/internews/. of acronyms, perform a news search through CNN What is ENEWS and Interactive, determine the distance in miles Where Do You Find It? between two user-specified U.S. locations, search The field of auto­ the U.S. Code or the Code of Federal Regulations, mated news services, or check out the Internet Movie Database. All-In- "enews", is a subset of elec­ One may be expected to keep growing into a vir­ tronic publishing (which tual reference collection as more database systems includes magazine and are linked to the All-in-One shell. journal publishing as well) A fairly new commercial service that claims and is evolving very rapidly powerful search capabilities is the NLightN service right now. There are a num­ (http://www.nlightn.com/), from The Library ber of Internet sites that Company. NLightN searches the Internet as well attempt to offer comprehen­ as bibliographic databases and a set of full-text sive links to all those news­ reference sources. It seems intent on becoming a papers and other news single source through which the classic databases

22 CRM N2 9—1995 If you can find a person or agency that cares enough about a particular subject to maintain a home page for it. chances are that person or agency will rigorously maintain the page. Such sites can sometimes be found by doing a very broad term search on the Yahoo! site or any of the other search systems to which it provides links. One can also consult the root index of an extensive system called the World Wide Web Virtual Library (http://www.w3.org/ hypertext/DataSources/bySubject/Overview.html) which organizes and links Websites as if they were part of some vast online research library—which, in fact, is just what they are. In Conclusion The Internet will continue to grow in content and complexity. Web pages grow over time, and incorporate new relevant links as they are discov­ The search screen well-known in libraries are accessible along with ered or as the developers of new pages have them oflnfoSeek which all the new content offered by the Internet. linked to established ones. This is the almost self- can be found at indexing aspect of the Web. The search tools, http:llinfoseek.coml What are Hotlists? Finally, one must mention the large number indexes and resource lists that we have covered in of often subject-specific personal "hotlists" that this article are among those that can help keep have been brought up as Web pages. Many indi­ one's Internet time as focused and productive as it viduals have created and maintained guides to the is possible to be in such a dynamically evolving Internet sites that cover topics of interest to them. situation. As Web pages, these incorporate direct hyperlinks (mouse-clickable immediate transfers) to those Hugh O'Connor is the Director of the Research sites. Such pro-bono enthusiasm means that the Information Center of the American Association of individuals will probably maintain and build those Retired Persons. sites over time through their own diligent research—saving all of us a lot of effort.

Melissa Smith Levine Electronic Publishing: A Legal and Practical Primer

T ules Verne's 1863 prediction that in developing a systematic electronic publishing pol­ the 20th century, "Photo-telegraphy icy that covers the technical and legal issues pre­ allowed any writing, signature or illus- sented in this article. The policy must be free of I tration to be sent far away... Every confusing technical and legal jargon if it is to serve as wired," was a foresight worthy of the as a useful guideline for staff. Please note that this best Jclairvoyant. article presents a very brief overview of volatile The Opportunity and complex areas of the law. Recent technological advances provide The Challenge astonishing opportunities to make information Electronic publication over commercial quickly, inexpensively, and widely available in online services and the Internet presents new legal ways never before possible. In order to minimize challenges as legislatures, courts, and businesses legal risk while using this new medium, consider catch up to technology already a part of everyday

CRM Na 9—1995 23 life for many Americans. For example, defamation in online discussions requires thoughtful consider­ law generally provides recourse for publication ation to avoid a chill, actual or perceived, on the (communication to a third parry) of false written growth of this dynamic medium. ("libel") or spoken ("slander") remarks that hold Non-Legal Considerations living persons or corporations up to hatred, con­ Because images may be downloaded and tempt, or ridicule. A corporation recently sued altered in unpredictable ways, consider the ramifi­ Prodigy for libel when a subscriber posted a mes­ cations of distributing culturally sensitive materi­ sage accusing the corporation of criminal conduct. als via digitized means. "The area of 'electronic Prodigy was found to be responsible for the curation' raises issues of access and control that offending message because it assumed the legal are similar to the curatorial issues involving physi­ role of a publisher by reviewing and managing cal objects," according to Christine Steiner, messages posted through its system and because it Secretary and General Counsel of The J. Paul exerted editorial control over content, such as Getty Trust. "[These issues require a] balance screening messages for obscenities. between providing access to the image while main­ taining control over its subsequent uses by oth­ ers." Publication of images such as of prisoners of war, Holocaust-related materials, or photos of Native Americans or their sacred objects require particular sensitivity. Terence Winch, Head of Publications at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, and his staff extensively research the identity of subjects in images of Native Americans depicted in old pho­ tographs and seek permission to use those images where possible from the person, their descendants, or tribal members. Winch also recommends that old images of objects be carefully researched. The sacred nature of certain objects may limit the use of such pho­ tographs to certain circumstances. New pho­ tographs of sacred objects are used in consultation with appropriate tribal leaders. This special care is Kalahikiola Church By contrast, a 199] case held CompuServe also consistent with the American Indian Religious in Kahala, Hawaii, not to be a "publisher" in an analogous libel suit. Freedom Act of 1978, which provides that it is one of the images Why the contrary result? CompuServe did not "the policy of the United States to protect and pre­ shared through the actively manage and review materials transmitted serve for American Indians their inherent right of World Wide Web on the National through its system and acted more like a "common freedom to believe, express, and exercise the tradi­ Park Service Links carrier" than a publisher. "Common carriers," such tional religions of the American Indian. ." to the Past home as mail and telephone services, are typically not The Freedom of Information Act page. held liable for the content of transmissions made The Freedom of Information Act requires through them because of the public interest in that governmental agencies provide access to cer­ uninhibited communication and First Amendment tain governmental records. Online services are an concerns—as well as the impracticality of having efficient, cost-effective way for agencies to make common carriers review all those messages. commonly requested materials available as If you elect to monitor an online discussion required by FOIA, such as organizational descrip­ you may be considered a "publisher" because you tions, rules of procedure, final opinions, and pol­ exert control over the nature of participation in the icy statements. FOIA exempts certain matters from discussion. As a "publisher" you arguably may be disclosure with written justification, such as where responsible (and therefore liable) for the contents disclosure might create an "unwarranted invasion of a discussion, such as obscene or defamatory of personal privacy" (such as certain medical or statements or the transmission of copyrighted personnel records). Some other exemptions material without permission of copyright owners. include matters of national defense or foreign pol­ If you represent a part of the federal government, icy; "trade secrets and commercial or financial be cognizant of participants' First Amendment information" which may be privileged or confiden­ rights. Active control over online participation may tial; "records or information compiled for law be viewed as censorship. Excluding postings that enforcement purposes"; or "geological or geophysi­ contain obscenities may violate rights protected by cal information and data, including maps, con­ the First Amendment. Governmental participation cerning wells."

24 CRM m 9—1995 Copyright of this sort may be mandated by procurement lan­ Prior to dissemination of the vast array of guage. material in government collections, staff must Fair Use assess copyright status. Copyright is governed by "Fair use" is an exception to copyright pro­ the Constitution, the Copyright Act of 1976, case tection that permits limited use without the per­ law, and through international treaties like the mission of the owner for purposes such as satire, Berne Convention. The Copyright Act of 1976 parody, criticism, news reporting, and research. grants protection for any original work from the Do not assume that simply because a proposed moment of fixation in any tangible medium of use is educational in nature that it is a fair use. expression. Authors have the exclusive right to Any use of a protected work without a license reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute constitutes infringement, even if the use is inad­ copies by sale or other transfer of ownership, pub­ vertent . Whether a use is a "fair use" is subject licly perform, and to publicly display their works. to a case-by-case analysis of these factors: "the Copyright extends to: literary works; musical purpose and character of the use, including works; dramatic works; pantomimes and choreo­ whether the use is of a commercial nature or is graphic works; pictorial, graphic, and sculptural for nonprofit educational purposes; the nature of works; motion pictures and other audiovisual the copyrighted work; the amount and substan­ works; sound recordings; and architectural works. tiality of the portion used in relation to the copy­ Copyright notice and registration are no longer righted work as a whole; and the effect of the use required for protection; however, registration does upon the potential market for or value of the provide certain advantages in case of an infringe­ copyrighted work." ment suit. Only an author's expression of facts and A recent case addressed whether fair use ideas are protected, not the underlying facts and applied to the photocopying of a journal by scien­ ideas themselves. Note that physical ownership or tists engaged in research on behalf of their possession of materials is not necessarily a useful employer, a private corporation that subscribed to indicator of ownership of corresponding copy­ the journal for the scientists' use. The corporation rights. If you want to use work protected by copy­ did not obtain permission or pay additional com­ right, you must obtain the permission of the pensation to the publisher of the journal for the copyright owner. Lee Woodman, Manager of photocopies. The court held that the photocopy­ Multimedia Projects for the Smithsonian ing was not a fair use but an infringement of the Institution's Office of Telecommunications, advises, copyright held by the publisher of the journal. "You have to be a detective to be sure that if there This construction of fair use does not bode well is a copyright, you know who owns it, whether it is for those who reproduce materials subject to active, and get all necessary permissions." copyright, whether in electronic or print form, Works For Hire without the permission of and possible compensa­ Unless otherwise agreed in writing, employ­ tion to copyright owners. ers automatically own the works of their employ­ Public Domain ees created within the scope of employment as A work is "in the public domain" once its "works for hire." By statute, a work made for hire copyright expires, meaning that no copyright pro­ may also be specially ordered or commissioned tection exists. Additionally, any work prepared by from an independent contractor provided the par­ a federal employee within the scope of employ­ ties expressly agree in writing that the work shall ment is automatically in the public domain. be considered a work made for hire for use as a Copyright protection for works produced after contribution to a collective work, motion picture, January 1, 1978, endures for the life of the author audiovisual work, translation, supplementary plus 50 years. For joint works, duration is mea­ work, compilation, instructional text, test or sured from the death of the last surviving author answer material for a test, or atlas. If you hire plus 50 years. Anonymous works, pseudonymous independent contractors to create source material works, and works made for hire are protected for or create a home page or World Wide Website, be the greater of 75 years from first publication or sure that you enter a written contract before the 100 years from creation. The rules governing contractor begins work. The contract should duration of copyright for works created or pub­ expressly state that the contractor's work is a work lished before January 1, 1978, are sufficiently for hire and that, if for any reason it is deemed not complex to warrant assistance from an attorney to be a work for hire, that the contractor transfers experienced in copyright law. to you (your employer) his or her rights including The Rights of Publicity and Privacy copyrights in the work prepared under the contract The quest does not end with determination (and all work materials developed in preparation of copyright status. Even if a work is in the public of the work). If spending federal monies, language domain, multiple permissions may be required to

CRM N2 9—1995 25 use a single work. Say your archives include a any public disclosure of private information, mate­ photograph taken in 1959 by a journalist within rial that places a person in a false light, embar­ the scope of his employment at a newspaper. The rassing situations, and nudity (whether of adults photo was never published, and the copy in your or children). If working with material that raises a possession was given to the archive by the photog­ red flag,obtai n permission from the subject or his rapher's family. The photo is of a movie star, who or her estate. Remember, fair use applies only to is still very much alive and continues to be well- copyright and not to publicity and privacy claims. recognized. You know that the copyright in photo Obscenity itself may be owned by journalists' employer as a Nudity in any form also raises the red flag of work for hire, even though the photo was never obscenity and pornography claims. Nude images published by the newspaper. of children are particularly inflammatory. Any The newspaper still exists so obtaining copy­ visual depiction of a minor engaged in sexually right permission is straightforward. However, the explicit conduct, including "lascivious exhibition movie star's permission may be required to repro­ of the genitals," should be reproduced only with duce her image. Celebrities or "public figures" the most careful consideration. Dissemination of often have a legal right of publicity that protects an image (not just the solicitation of a minor to the economic interest in their name, likeness, pose for such images) may result in criminal voice, and other aspects of their persona. Whether penalty even in the absence of any commercial and how the right applies depends on the applica­ purpose. Educational, medical, or scientific images ble state law—some states do not recognize it at disseminated for legitimate academic purposes are all, and there is no applicable federal law. A con­ less likely to fall under the purview of "sexually servative approach is to seek permission from explicit conduct"; there is legislative history that celebrities or their families (some states extend the indicates that legitimate sex education materials right for a period after death) particularly if a pro­ would not be considered child pornography. posed use is more commercial than educational. In selecting any images that depict nudity, Reproduction of an image on a t-shirt to be sold is consider creating a board of advisors who have likely to require permission. Digitization for trans­ appropriate subject matter expertise. An advisory mission via an online service where the service is board can make substantive evaluations of the sci­ available for no subscription fee and is primarily entific or educational merit of disseminating par­ for educational purposes is less likely to be trou­ ticular materials and ensure that all delicate blesome. If the photo were of a politician or other matters and culturally-sensitive materials are pre­ public official, publicity would be even less of a sented in an appropriate context. Criminal penal­ concern because dissemination of information ties for child pornography make it advisable to be about the activities of public officials is deemed to extremely conservative in any depiction of nude be in the public interest. children—even if disseminated for academic pur­ The risk of violating the right of privacy, the poses. While there are applicable federal statutes "right to be let alone," is minimal in the case of laws, varying state laws make any definitive state­ the movie star and the pubic official because both ment on obscenity and child pornography prob­ seek out public attention and voluntarily live in lematic. An electronic publication policy should the public eye. However, if the photo was taken recognize these issues, require an evaluation of without permission in a private context—if per­ the reason and merit of disseminating sensitive haps the photographer used a telephoto lens to images, and direct staff to consult with their gen­ catch his subjects at home—publication of the eral counsel's office for assistance. image could infringe upon the subject's right of Conclusion privacy. Also, a photo taken in a private setting Digitization and online endeavors require with the subject's consent for a particular use thoughtful consideration of legal risks to facilitate (such as the photographer's personal photo album) efforts to provide the widest possible access to should not be used for another purpose (such as information while respecting the legal rights of digitization for international online dissemination) others. The United States government is a won­ without the permission of the subject. drous source of information waiting to be digitized The right of privacy tends to relate to private for easy access anywhere, anytime, by anyone. persons more than celebrities because private per­ Even Jules Verne would be impressed. sons generally do not seek life in the public eye. Private persons may lose protection if they Melissa Smith Levine is an attorney in the become the subject of newsworthy attention; this Smithsonian Institution's contracts office where she balances privacy interests with First Amendment negotiates contracts for the Institution's business concerns. Red flags for privacy issues are: material activities, including online services, multimedia prod­ that intrudes on one's seclusion or private affairs, ucts, publishing, and licensing.

26 CRM N2 9—1995 Diane Vogt-O'Connor World Wide Web Resources

nformation on the World Wide Web is now widely available in book stores, libraries, on public television stations, through university and community col­ lege coursesI , via vendors and traveling work­ Louvre site of shops, and on the Internet. Below is a list of WebMuseum at some of the better resources currently available. http:llsunsite.unc. edullouvre, one of It is hard to go a single day without announce­ Dougherty, Dale and Richard Komana. The Mosaic the images shared ments of several new Web publications or sites. Handbook for Microsoft Windows. Sebastol, CA.: through the World The roughly five million pages on the Web are O'Reilly & Associates, Inc., 1994. Wide Web. evolving rapidly, often changing on a daily basis. Eager, Bill. Using the World Wide Web. Published volumes and journals, while easy to Indianapolis, IN.: Que Corporation, 1994. This use, tend to go out of date very rapidly. Web- 648-page book provides an overview of the based tutorials and indexes tend to provide the WWW and URL sites. It was a pioneering work most current information, although WWW in 1994. addresses, called URLs or uniform resource loca­ Gilster, Paul. The Internet Navigator: The Essential tors, tend to change frequently. Although Jay Guide to Network Exploration for the Individual Staton generously checked all of these URLs on Dial-Up User. 3rd ed. New York: John Wiley September 8th, by the time this issue is pub­ and Sons, Inc. 1995. This 600+ page book lished some of the URLs below will no longer be includes information on locating service correct. Happily, when a Website moves the providers; sending and receiving email; using manager will often maintain the old location as a "mail-only" access; using Telnet and FTP; cross-reference to the new site location. A simple searching with WAIS, WWW, Archie, Veronica, click of the mouse usually links you to the new and other tools; and understanding bitnet. address of the site. *KroI, Ed. The Whole Internet User's Guide & The list below includes some basic books Catalog. 2nd ed., Sebastol, CA.: O'Reilly & and tutorials for newbies (Web novices), as well Associates, Inc., 1994. This 543-page book is as Web tools and guidance for preparing Web the basic book on the Internet; with only one pages. Several listserv indexes are given, although chapter devoted to the WWW. If you read only new users will benefit from reading about one Internet book, this should be it. Netiquette in the basic sources before getting *Waltz, Mitzi. The Internet International Directory. heavily involved. There are also lists of powerful Emeryville, CA.: Ziff-Davis Press, 1995. This Web browsing and searching tools, as well as a oversized 526-page book includes a hyperlinked brief list of favorite cultural sites. Items marked CD-ROM containing the full book text allowing with a * are highly recommended. For more infor­ you to link immediately to sites listed by click­ mation, watch the Curatorial Bulletin Board of the ing on their addresses—as long as you already National Park Service. have an Internet service provider and modem. Basic Books The book includes an introduction and history * December, John and Neil Randall. The World of the Internet; information on international Wide Web Unleashed. 2nd ed. Indianapolis, IN: Internet connectivity; hardware and software Sams Net, 1995. This 1,346-page volume needs; how to get an Internet account; how to includes an introduction to the WWW and sec­ locate Internet addresses; Netiquette; security tions on web browsers and connections, web and user safety; Internet resources, tools, and navigation tools and techniques, Web explo­ navigation tips; how to search; and information ration by topic, preparing Websites, managing on personal connections and research uses. Web servers, Web trends, references, a net There is also information on legal issues, as well directory, a glossary, and an index. as subject and geographical indices.

CRM N^ 9—1995 27 Journals HTML Developer's: WWW + HTML Developer's Rubenstein, Dick. Internet Voyager: Where to Go on JumpStation, maintained by SingNet and hosted the Net (A monthly journal available from Blue by One World Information Services at Dolphin Communications, 83 Boston Post Road, http://oneworld.wa.com/htmldev/devpage/dev- Sudbury, MA 01776 for $78.) This journal page.html reviews sites on business and finance, comput­ HTMLFAQ: Hypertext Markup Language ing, special interests. It also provides brief news Frequently Asked Questions at about the net, net resources, and cultural trends http://www.umcc.umich.edu/- as well as providing a help column. ec/www/html_faq.html Stand Alone Software Tutorials HTML info/CERN: Hypertext Markup Language Guide to the Internet from Software Labs at 8700 Working Materials from CERN (European 148 Ave, NE, Redmond, WA 98052; tel: 206- Center for Particle Physics) 869-6729. http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/MarkUp/Ma Internet Informer for Windows from Software Labs rkUp.html (see address above) Hypermedia and the Internet by David Green at Basic Online Training http://life.anu.edu.au/education/hypermedia.html * Beginner's Guides-Yahoo: Computers-Internet- Introduction to HTML: The Scholarly Beginner's Guides entry from Yahoo at Communications Project of the Virginia http:/Avww.yahoo.com/Computers/Internet/Begin Polytechnic Institute and State Universities ner_s_ Guides// Libraries at http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/reports/soa- Compass in Cyberspace: Internet Training from sis-slides/HTML.Intro.html John S. Maklowich at *Lemay. Laura, Teach Yourself Web Publishing http://www.clark.net/pub/journalisnVbrochure. with HTML In A Week. Indianapolis, IN.: Sams html Publishing, 1995. (book) Entering the WWW: A Guide to Cyberspace at Morris, Mary E. HTML for Fun and Profit. http://www.hcc.hawaii.edu/guide/vvww.guide. Mountain View, CA.: SunSoft Press, 1995. html (book) Internet Resource: Internet Resource Discovery, Multimedia File Formats on the Internet at Organization, and Design by Lous Roosenfeld http://ac.dal.ca/~dong/contents.html and Dr. Joe Janes, School of Information and 'WWW Style Manual: A guide to creating WWW Library Studies, University of Michigan at sites at http2.sils.umich.edu/~lou/60694.html http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/StyleManual_Top. ITTI: Information Technology Training Initiative HTML (United Kingdom): Writing HTML, A tutorial for creating WWW pages http://info.mcc.ac.uk/CGU/ITTI/ITTI.html at http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/tut/ Navigating the Internet, workshop for teaching the Yahoo's main directory for HTML at Internet via email by Richard Smith at http://www.yahoo.com/computersAVorld_Wide_ gopher://jake.esu.edu/ll/;HELP/net_stuff/training Web/HTML Navigating the Internet workshop mail to: list- Indexes, Navigational Tools, [email protected] Body:subscribe navi­ and Guides to Special Interest Services gate YOUR NAME * All in One Internet Search at Start Web: Where to Start for New Internet Users http://www.albany.net/~wcross/all 1 srch.html (html) by James Milles at http://www.law.cor- Argus Guide to Internet Tools and Resources at nell.edu/test/newuser4s.html http://argus-inc.com/guide.html Training Materials Gopher at The Clearinghouse for Subject-Oriented Internet gopher://trainmat.ncl.ac.uk Resource Guides at Yale Internet Help at gopher://yaleinfo.yale.edu http://www.lib.umich.edu/chhome.html Hypertext Markup Language and Hypermedia Global Network Navigator Home Page: at Bad Style Page for Websites: A light-hearted guide http://nearnet.gnn.com/gnn/gnn.html. to html at http://www.earth.com/bad-style Information Filtering Resources at *A Beginner's Guide to HTML: The National http://www.ee.umd.edu/medlab/filter/ Center for Superconduducting Applications' Internaut at primer at http://www.zilker.net/users/internaut/index.html http://www.ncsa. uiuc.edu/General/InternetAVW Internet Browsers: Sources for Internet Browsers W/HTMLPrimer.html and Client Software at Heslop, Brent and Larry Budnick, HTML http://life.anu.edu.au/links/syslib.html Publishing on the Internet. Chapel Hill, NC: Ventana Press, 1995. (book)

28 CRM N<2 9—1995 Internet Tools/EARN HTML: European Academic Publically Accessible Mailing Lists: Research Network Association Guide to http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/ Network resource Tools in HTML at A Few Favorite Sites of Interest http://www.earn.net/gnrt/notice.html ArchNet, provides a way to search archeological * Internet Tools/December: A list summarizing resources by region from this site, at Internet tools from lohn December at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/ArchNet; also check ftp://ftp.rpi.edu/pub/communications/internet.too out their Ethnohistory and Ethnoarchaeology ls.readme or the John December Web Index sites. Page at http://vvww.rpi.edu/~decemj/index.html. California Museum of Photography Website at •Library of Congress Directory of Internet User http://cmpl.ucr.edu Guides at gopher://marvel.loc.gov:70/l 1/inter- Center for Creative Photography (University of net", "Internet Resources" Arizona) Website at * Lycos Home Page for Hunting WWW Information http://dizzy.library.arizona.edu/branches/ccp/ccp. at http://lycos.cs.cmu.edu/ html National Science Foundation Resource Guide to Columbia University Digital Library Projects at Internet Resources at http://www.columbia.edu/cu/libraries/projects/in ftp://ds.internnic.net/resource.guide/overview dex.new.html The Net: Descriptions of how to access information Computer Literacy Bookshops Home Page at through Mosaic/Web by Robert Thau at http://www.clbooks.com/ http://www.ai.mit.edu/the-net/overview.html Cornell University Rare and Manuscript *Net Cruiser: Netcom online guide at Collections at http://rmc-vvww.library.cornell.edu http://www.netcom.com/netcom/netcrz.html Discussion Lists for Historians at http:/neal.ctsta- The Online World by Odd de Presno (a shareware teu.edu/history/world_history/histlist.html book) via email at Emory University in Atlanta's Michael C. Carlos [email protected] Body: get to where. Museum at Also available via at http at http://www.cc.emory.edu/CARLOS/carlos.html http:login.eunet.no/~presno/ French Art is a lovely Website at http://dmf.cul- Searching the Whole WWW at ture.fr/files/imaginary_exhibition.html: also see http://www.usf.edu/search.html http://www-Ieland.stanford.edu/~golnas/irnpres- •Stanford News Filtering Service at http://wood- sionism/impressionists.html and stock.stanford.edu:2000/ http://acacia.ens. fr:8080/home/massimin/sis/sis. URL guide/NCSA/NCSA: A Beginner's Guide to html URLs by Marc Andressen George Eastman House at http://www/ncsa/uiuc.edu/demoweb/url- http://www.it.rit.edu/~gehouse primer.html Getty Art History Information Program at WAIS Searching: A Searchable Directory of WAIS http://www.ahip.getty.edu Servers at http://www.wais.com/directory-of- Government Information Sources at servers.html http://iridium.nttc.edu/gov_res.html and at •WWW Virtual Library at http://lib-www.ucr.edu/govpub/ http://www.w3.org/hypertext/DataSources/bysub- Kodak (including PhotoCD information) at ject/overview.html http://www.kodak.com *Yahoo serves as a link to all other search services Library of Congress Exhibits at at http://www.yahoo.com http://lcweb.loc.gov/homepage/exhibits.html Yale Overview of Worldwide Internet Resources at Mississippi State University has excellent art http://www.cis.uyale.edu/HTML/WorldwideWebT hotlinks at op.html http://www.msstate.edu/Fineart_Online/art- Zen and the Art of the Internet by Brendan Kehoe resources (1st edition) at Museum Education Site License at http://www.ensta.fr/internet/doc/zen.html http://www.umcp.umd.edu/MESL/home.html has Listservs excellent digital information *Email Discussion Groups at NASA's excellent site at http://www.nova. edu/Inter-Links/listserv.html http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/history/history.html has LISTSERV Home Page at lots of images. http://www.tile.net/tile/listserv/index.html National Archives and Records Administration is at LISTSERV User's Guide (by ftp): at http://www.nara.gov and at ftp://ftp.msstate.edu/docs/words-i/\'et-Stuff/list- gopher://gopher.nara.gov: 70/1 serv.guide National Library of Medicine is at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd.dir/oli.dir

CRM NS 9—1995 29 National Museum of American Art exhibit Secrets University of Kansas World History Index at of the Dark Chamber at http://history.cc.ukans.edu/history/index.html http://www.nmaa.si.edu/secrets/secretshtml/secre University of Southern California's WWW virtual ts.html Library Anthropology Pages at Online Computer Library Center Internet Resources http://www.usc. edu/dept/v-lib/anthropology.html at http://www.oclc.org:6990 University of Michigan School of Library and Robotic Tele-Excavation Site allows viewers to Information Studies at interactively access a robotic arm at a remote http://wils.umich.edu/UMDL site at WebMuseum at http://sunsite.unc.edu/louvre is an http://www.usc.edu/dept/raiders/story/index.html award winning site. Seamless Website-Law and Legal Resources at World of the Vikings includes artifacts, history, http://seamless.com/ runes, and other fascinating bits of Smithsonian Institution Home page at Scandinavian and English history at http://www.si.edu/ http://www.demon.co.uk/history/index.html University of California, Berkeley Museum Informatics Project at Diane Vogt-O'Connor is the Senior Archivist in the http://www.mip.berkeley.edu Museum Management Program of the National Park University of Georgia at Service. http://scarlett.libs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett.html

Audrey Ambrosino and Mark Bograd From the Industrial Revolution to the Information Superhighway Lowell National Historical Park and the World Wide Web

t is not surprising that the city that a home page on the Lowell Folk Festival. The festi­ launched the Industrial Revolution in val, the largest free folk festival in the nation, is the 1820s is jumping aboard another sponsored by the park, the City of Lowell, the Photo by Gretchen revolution some 175 years later. Regatta Festival Committee, and the National Sanders Joy, cour­ I Lowell, Massachusetts is widely recognized as Council for Traditional Arts. It takes place each tesy Lowell the first successful industrial city in the United year on the last full weekend of July and features National Historical States. Heralded for its "golden experiment" in Park. three days of traditional music, dance, crafts, and industrial capitalism and technology in the early- food. The Festival's home page (URL 19th-century, Lowell was a showpiece for the http://www.uml.edu/Lowell/FolkFestival) was newly emerging nation and the world. Today, developed in June 1995 by park volunteer Manuel Lowell National Historical Park, the National Fernandes, using information and photos already Park Service unit charged with preserving and being used for more traditional promotion. interpreting the history of the American The Lowell Folk Festival Website includes a Industrial Revolution, is eagerly experimenting rundown of festival events, schedules, directions, with some of the newest technology—the Internet accommodations, and information about festival and the World Wide Web—to help make that performers and craftspeople. Early indications are history more accessible. that it has been successful in helping to spread the At Lowell National Historical Park, current word about the festival. As one electronic mail activities on the World Wide Web include posting message from a "web surfer" put it, "We wouldn't

30 CRM N2 9—1995 be going if it weren't for the Website. Someone grant would be followed by an NSF Informal forwarded the URL to my wife, she mailed it to Science Grant to produce the Virtual Museum. It me, and I forwarded it to my father in Maine who would be designed not only to make information is coming down that weekend. . " Future plans for and resources available, but also to facilitate inter­ Lowell Folk Festival site include the addition of active education for learners of all ages. Potential both audio and video clips as well as presenting a exhibits may include weaving on a virtual loom, festival retrospective (the 1996 festival will be designing and building machines online, live video Lowell's 10th). Other current World Wide Web feeds of existing park interpretive programs, and efforts at the park include building on the Lowell opportunities to understand how water turbines National Historical Park section of the NPS home and waterwheels work. The intention is to encour­ page, adding more in-depth information about age visitor interaction with the exhibits, the park, park resources and visitor offerings. and other electronic visitors. Another potential park Web project involves Lowell National Historical Park represents a a partnership with a group called the Concord unique collection of cultural resources which are Consortium and with the Charles River Museum interpretively rich, exceptionally educational, and of Industry in Waltham, Massachusetts. The highly enjoyable for those who visit the park. The Consortium, an innovative group of educators park themes and sites are both diverse and com­ based in Concord, Massachusetts, has submitted a plex, lending themselves well to the ambitious and planning grant to the National Science Foundation exciting virtual museum experience described to design a Virtual Museum of Invention and above. The project would take advantage of cur­ Technology, which would be based on resources rent technology to present the industrial revolution available at the Park, the Charles River Museum, story, would offer additional opportunities for and other sites located in the United States and interactive education, and ideally encourage a abroad. wider audience to visit and to learn about our The proposed Virtual Museum would be nation's unique historical and cultural treasures. modeled in part after the Berkeley Museum of Paleontology Website which features the Berkeley Audrey Ambrosino is Public Information Officer and Museum as the primary resource with a "virtual Mark Bograd is Supervisory Curator at Lowell subway" providing connections to other themati- National Historical Park, located in Lowell, cally-linked museums (including museums in Massachusetts. Russia and France). The Consortium's planning

Winona Peterson Gettysburg NMP and the Electronic Frontier

mong Gettysburg National tions made in the assessment have caused the Photo by Richard Military Park's significant cultural park to take a closer look at what has been done Freor, courtesy resources are 90+ archival collec­ in the past, and to begin planning for the future Gettysburg National tions totaling over 500 linear feet of these significant holdings. For the purposes of Military Park. A of soldiers' diaries, letters, and photographs; this article, the Gettysburg archives are defined Gettysburg Battlefield Memorial Association as the non-official, audio-visual, textural and records; and reference copies of the records of electronic records acquired or created by the the first park commissioners and historians. In park for the purpose of reference, exhibitions or December of 1994, an assessment of Gettysburg resource management. National Military Park's records was completed The cultural resources branch of the by the WASO Senior Archivist. Recommenda­ Resources Management Division requires ongoing

CRM N2 9—1995 31 access to the information contained within these then one must complete some legwork before archival collections to perform its daily functions. entertaining offers like that mentioned above. To Thus, the bulk of the park's archives has fallen reformat the archival information without a means under the mantle of that branch and has been to retrieve it makes the information practically used as a tool for NPS mission-oriented research. useless to the prospective user. Gettysburg NMP is There has also become an increased interest by currently in the process of developing a finding aid the American public in the events that shaped the for the archives. Once this vital component is com­ beginnings of military parks and in the history of pleted the project can proceed. the historic preservation movement. Researcher There are a number of software programs on demand has placed yet another burden on already the market that would provide assistance in the tasked cultural resources. Interestingly enough, it development of a finding aid. Whatever you has only been within the past decade that these choose should provide good collection manage­ holdings were deemed of significant value to per­ ment capabilities as well as a versatile, standard sons other than park historians. means of documenting your holdings. The park is Since mid-January of 1995 the park has currently assessing the potential benefits of having been on a vision quest for the future of the long-term volunteers, interns, and/or privately- archives. What follows is a description of where funded contract employees assisting park staff in we have been, and in which direction the park the completion of this phase of the project. would like to find itself going. For those of you When funding is found, we also plan to pur­ also on your vision quest, don't give up! We are chase a software program to support and facilitate all out there together and much of this is this work as well as the necessary hardware to get uncharted territory. It has been Gettysburg's expe­ the project to its full potential. Currently, we are rience that most everyone contacted for informa­ forming a partnership with the Adams County tion and resources are more than willing to share Historical Society and Gettysburg College, whose their expertise. collections provide a nice complement to the hold­ The ultimate outcome of this project is to ings maintained by the National Park Service. preserve the original documents, organize the Ultimately, these combined collections (as well as information about the documents in a logical man­ those under the purview of the park's curator) ner, and to make the documents and their finding should be networked and made accessible to aids accessible to researchers. The new more researchers. accessible format must reproduce the original and Using contacts from the Department of allow for the retirement/protection of the originals. Agriculture who are providing technical and infor­ Once the newly formatted information is accessi­ mational support, we hope to expand the park site ble, the park will conserve the originals and then on the World Wide Web to make these archival store them appropriately. Some of this conserva­ collections accessible to researchers all over the tion will be accomplished through an agreement world. It will be some time before the park is pre­ with Harpers Ferry Center's Division of pared to make this step; however, it continues to Conservation. be part of the planning for meeting the ultimate The park has been approached by several goals of the project. private organizations wishing to digitize the collec­ The park hopes to develop a means of hav­ tions at no cost to the park. These vendors hope to ing funds funnel back to this project to defray develop a number of products using park archival some of the costs and to support upgrades in tech­ materials as content. The vendor would profit by nology as they develop. As public demand selling the products under the vendor's name(s). increases for photo duplication, there is a market Under some circumstances, the park might obtain for that service. This project will make the process a portion of the profits. of image-making less time consuming while at the Similar projects are being explored in other same time providing revenue to the park. parks. Gettysburg acquired contracts and agree­ Various sources of funding are being ments from these parks and closely considered explored. One of the avenues entertained was to them. The positive side of such collaborative "hire" a project director through a grant to be sub­ arrangements would be that the archival collection mitted by a cooperating non-profit organization. digitization could be quickly accomplished, using This person would oversee the digitization of the the expertise and personnel of the private com­ collection, write grant proposals for continued pany. However, such collaborative work assumes financial support, and oversee the work of the that the fundamental building blocks, such as long-term volunteers or other staff. General over­ archival finding aids, are in place. sight would still be the responsibility of the park The first question to be asked is whether or historians. not a good finding aid exists. If the answer is "no,"

32 CRM m 9—1995 A few words of caution when undertaking a ing. Numerous sources provide training that has a project of this sort: technology is changing at a high price tag attached. What we have learned mind-boggling rate of speed. This is not a good has been through trial and error. We have benefit­ excuse for doing nothing; however, some of the ted from many phone conversations with people companies providing services have kept up the who are also taking these same tentative steps changing pace; others have not. Make sure you toward a technology which contrasts markedly identify your needs, then work to find the best with the aging archives in their care. It would be match out there. desirable to have NPS-sponsored training and a In many cases, microfilming will still be a sharing of resources currently found among its necessary component in your strategy since micro­ staff throughout the agency. There is a great pool film lasts 10 to 20 times as long as digital media of knowledge among all of the parks in the system and is not software-dependent as some com­ as well as in other government agencies. We pressed images and proprietary packages are. should be working together for the good of the Digital images can be used to produce long-lived National Park Service. computer output microfilm, just as digital images Some day researchers will be able to access can be produced from microfilm. Many major our information resources without leaving the preservation organizations are currently recom­ comfort of their own homes. This technological mending this two-part approach as it provides the advance will ultimately save the government time best combination of long-term preservation and and money, put resources in the hands of those access advantages for significant materials. Your who need it most, and help the NPS meet its mis­ park may end up using a number of different sion to leave its cultural resources unimpaired for media depending on the types of collections you the use and enjoyment of future generations. hold. One area that seems to be out of reach Winona Peterson is a historian at Gettysburg because of budgetary constraints is that of train­ National Military Park.

Jim Ogden Technology and Technology Chickamauga and Chattanooga

hickamauga and Chattanooga cartridges, and some variant parts), the Fuller National Military Park commemo­ Collection reflects significant technological devel­ rates and preserves portions of opments that fueled industrial advances in the two significant Civil War battles— United States. Amassed by the Fullers over more Burnside Fourth the BattlCe of Chickamauga and the Battles for than 50 years, the collection is a nationally-impor­ Model 1864 Chattanooga. For thousands of visitors, an tant cultural resource. Fuller's lifetime of work has Carbine, Fuller Gun adjunct to studying the fields of these important been the foundation on which many more recent Collection. Photo by engagements is the time spent learning from the Ray Parks. arms scholars and researchers have built their Claud E. and Zenada Fuller Collection of studies. While some of these investigators have American Military Shoulder Arms. Displayed in advanced the scholarship on certain weapons the Chickamauga Battlefield Visitor Center in much further than what Mr. Fuller was able to do Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, the Fuller Collection is in the first half of the 20th century, Mr. Fuller's one of the premier assemblages of our nation's work is still a benchmark for those laboring in the military longarms from the Colonial period field. through World War I. Now, a modern technology will help inter­ With 355 exhibited weapons and several pret and make Mr. Fuller's knowledge more read­ hundred associated items (bayonets, scabbards, ily available. This spring, Chickamauga and

CRM N^ 9—1995 3:, Chattanooga National Military Park and the breech area photograph of the weapon, and other Southeast Field Area's Museum Services Division applicable data including cross references to began the process of converting the data on the related arms in the collection. This electronic sys­ Fuller Collection to CD-ROM. In addition to data tem will replace the present need for the visitor to from the newly updated Automated National leave the collection display area and inquire at the Catalog System (National Park Service automated information desk (where a staff member has to museum catalog) catalog records, Mr. Fuller's 700 retrieve a bound copy of Mr. Fuller's typescript pages of typescript notes on the weapons, a pair of notes from the National Military Park's photographic images of each weapon, and other Longstreet/Thomas Library). With CD-ROM termi­ data from Fuller's papers will be included in the nals in the collection exhibit area, visitors will be CD-ROM format. When completed, the CD-ROM more directly served and additional research inter­ will represent each weapon in the Fuller Collection est will be fueled. A controlled means to provide and most of the associated items as well as incor­ the visitors with a hard copy of the data is also porating Mr. Fuller's knowledge of his collection. being explored. Visitors viewing the collection who desire When the project is completed, modern tech­ more information will be able to access the CD- nology will be providing access to technology of an ROM information by entering the weapon's dis­ earlier age; Mr. Fuller's legacy to the American played catalog number into one or more terminals people will be entering today's information age. in the exhibit area. The system will then display the descriptive data on each weapon from the Jim Ogden is a historian at Chickamauga and ANCS catalog card, the text of Mr. Fuller's notes Chattanooga National Military Park. on that weapon, an overall photograph and a

Diane Vogt-O'Connor Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records and the World Wide Web

nthropology is concerned with the study, documentation and under­ standing of human biological, cul­ Atural, and linguistic diversity. Anthropological archives are unique and irre­ The CoPAR WWW placeable repositories of primary data about site at http-.ll human and cultural diversity, commonalities lcweb.loc.gov/ homepage/ among peoples, anthropological research, as well exhibits, html. as the history of the discipline. What is CoPAR? A new organization created by anthropolo­ gists, archivists, librarians, and scholars, the Council for the Preservation of Anthropological Records (CoPAR) identifies, preserves, and encourages the use of the archival and manuscript collections documenting anthropological research. CoPAR's goal is to convince record produc­ ers, collectors, and holders that they are stewards

34 CRM N2 9—1995 of these records, responsible to future generations. the subjects, producers, collectors, hold­ Anthropological archival and manuscript collection ers, and managers of the records. stewards must preserve and make accessible their • To be aware that there are often conflict­ records. CoPAR plans to ensure the preservation ing ethical and legal issues relating to and access of these records by: those records and their potential users. • Cooperatively training the record stew­ • To collaborate with subjects, producers, ards collectors, holders, and managers of • Identifying potential resource sources records to ensure the proper preservation and cooperators for this work of, and access to these records. • Developing a master descriptive data­ What is the Project Schedule? base, the National Guide to Workshops were held in spring 1995 to pre­ Anthropological Records, on the World pare the ground for the National Guide to Wide Web. Anthropological Records. The first workshop— What is the National Guide to held in Tempe, Arizona, in March 1995—devel­ Anthropological Records? oped a discipline-wide set of minimal descriptive CoPAR will encourage records creators, col­ standards for anthropological records based on lectors, and holders to participate in the National archival professional standards. The second work­ Guide to Anthropological Records database to be shop—held in Reno, Nevada, in April 1995— mounted on the World Wide Web. The database developed a framework for outreach and education will document the location, content, and preserva­ of the various archival, anthropological, and tion status of existing anthropological records, library constituencies including standards, guid­ thus serving as a union guide of anthropological ance, and workshops. archives, manuscripts, and personal papers in the A proposal for development of the database United States at the archival collection-level. was submitted by Arizona State University staff to An average descriptive record in the Guide is the National Center for Preservation Technology expected to be around 2,000 characters with the and Training and the National Endowment for the data query form including the following fields: Humanities in spring 1995. Work on the database • Archival collection title is scheduled to begin in fall 1995. pending fund­ • Accession number ing. • Principle investigator/collector Who Sponsors or Collaborates with CoPAR? • Sponsor/funding source Collaborating institutions include the • Temporal context of the data following: • Dates of the collection -Arizona State University's Department of • Keywords on the Anthropology -Subject/topic -University of Arkansas's Center for Advanced -Culture/ethnicity Spatial Technology -Linguistic systems -University of Nevada at Reno's Department CoPAR's work involves the development of: of Anthropology • Database files based upon a survey on -Arizona State Museum anthropological archives, libraries, and -National Park Service's Museum individuals' holdings Management and Archeology and • Search engine Ethnography programs. • Data entry system CoPAR is also sponsored by the major • User (searcher) interface for use via anthropological organizations in cooperation with WWW and telnet protocols that includes the Society of American Archivists and the -Map Viewer with zoom and hide American Library Association. The Wenner-Gren capabilities Foundation for Anthropological Research has pro­ -Place marks vided ongoing funding for the project. For a peek -Variable Display capabilities at CoPAR plans, see the CoPAR WWW site at What is CoPAR's Charge to Records http://aspin.asu.edu/provider/anthro/copar. Creators, Collectors, and Holders? CoPAR believes that anthropological records Diane Vogt-0'Connor is the Senior Archivist in the stewardship implies responsibilities: Museum Management Program of the National Park • To ensure that the records are preserved Service. for future generations. • To be aware that the information found in archives has complex meanings for

CRM N^ 9—1995 35 —Kelly, continued from page 8 Epilogue being taken to simplify transactions with the fed­ Technology is producing a dramatic change eral government. in the way we communicate with each other and • A system will shortly be in place which with the reservoir of ideas that we've inherited. will allow businesses to transmit their Such a profound change in such a fundamental annual wage reports to the IRS electroni­ part of the human experience is likely to reshape cally, greatly reducing the paperwork the way the world works and lead to major leaps associated with annual wage reports. in the productivity of all forms of organizations— • The President has ordered all agencies including public organizations. to accept all data submissions in elec­ Unlike the productivity gains of the indus­ tronic form. Work is underway to find an trial revolution, these gains can be made while acceptable way to validate submissions increasing the way products and services are tai­ with an electronic signature and to pro­ lored to the interests and needs of individuals. tect sensitive private information. They can increase the real choices and real power • Experiments are underway that will available to individuals as well as introducing new allow a wide range of public benefits to opportunities for collective activities. be distributed electronically through The Administration is doing everything it can automated teller machines and point-of- to ensure that Americans benefit from the revolu­ sale retail terminals vastly reducing tion and avoid the dangers inherent in rapid paperwork and reducing fraud. change. We're certainly intent on seeing that the Clearly this is just the beginning, transac­ federal government is more responsive and "user tions ranging from national park camping reserva­ friendly." tions to Medicare claims are likely to be conducted through the Internet in the near future leading to Henry C. Kelly is the Associate Director, Office of major productivity gains in government as well as Science and Technology Policy, Technology Division, vastly improved service. Executive Office of the President.

U.S. Department of the Interior FIRST CLASS MAIL National Park Service Postage & Fees Paid Cultural Resources U. S. Department of the Interior P.O. Box 37127 Washington, DC 20013-7127 G-83 OFFICIAL BUSINESS CRM PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE $300 VOLUME 18 • NO. 9 Cultural Resources Washington, DC