Becoming an information provider on the World Wide Web: creating quality information sources by Bruce Hunter, BA. A Master's Dissertation, submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science degree of Loughborough University. September 1997 Supervisor: Alan PouIter, MA, MSc, ALA Department of Information and Library Studies © B.W. Hunter, 1997 Abstract The World Wide Web has great potential as an infonnation source, but only if Web sites are suitably maintained. This dissertation aims to discover how it may be possible to aid infonnation retrieval on the Web through appropriate design of Web sites and pages, and by using various tools which are available. The possibility of one tool in each category being preferable is considered, but the conclusion reached is that the choice depends on personal preference and expertise. The World Wide Web is briefly discussed, describing its development from the rest of the Internet, and explaining important concepts. The possible structures for Web sites are explained, and hierarchical structures are dealt with in more detail. The problems of navigating in a hypertext environment are mentioned, and solutions to these problems suggested. Next, the design of Web pages is considered, with emphasis placed on how page layout and typography can improve a page's usability, and methods for using graphics within documents to enhance infonnation retrieval are discussed. Style sheets are a recent development which gives greater control over the appearance of Web pages, and the potential benefits of these are explored. A selection oftools designed to help with the provision ofinfonnation via the Web are examined. Web servers are an essential element in the transfer of documents, and their main functions are discussed. Four examples of servers are compared to detennine ifthere are any major differences. HTML editors and image map creators simplify the creation of Web pages, and this study looks at how they can be used to design pages that fulfil the criteria from the previous section. Finally, tools to produce interactive and dynamic sites are examined. These include the Common Gateway Interface, Java, and JavaScript, all of which can help those using a Web site to locate specific infonnation. Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Alan Poulter, for his help during the writing of this dissertation. I would also like to thank my parents for their invaluable support and advice in the latter stages. Contents List of Tables iv List of Figures v Chapter 1 - Introduction and Methodology 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Methodology 3 Chapter 2 - Introduction to the World Wide Web 8 2.1 The history of the Internet 8 2.2 How the World Wide Web works 10 2.2.1 The Hypertext Transfer Protocol 10 2.2.2 MIME types II 2.2.3 Hypertext Markup Language 12 Chapter 3 - Designing a Web Site 15 3.1 Web Site Structure and Navigation 16 3.1.1 Structure 16 3.1.2 Hierarchies 19 3.1.3 Navigation 20 I I 3.2 Page Design 22 3.2.1 Page Length 23 3.2.2 Identifying the Page 24 3.2.3 Page Layout and Typography 25 3.3 Graphics 29 3.3.1 Graphic File Formats 29 3.3.2 Graphics in Web Pages 30 3.4 Style Sheets 32 3.5 Miscellaneous 36 Chapter 4 - Tools to improve a Web site 43 4.1 Servers 45 4.1.1 Market Share 46 4.1.2 Features of Web Servers 47 4.1.3 Reviews of Some Web Servers 49 4.1.3.1 Apache 49 4.1.3.2 Microsoft Internet Information Server 50 4.1.3.3 Netscape Enterprise Server 52 4.1.3.4 NCSA 54 4.2 HTML Editors 54 4.2.1 HoTMetaL Pro 3.0 56 4.2.2 Luckrnan's WebEdit 2.0 59 4.2.3 Microsoft FrontPage 97 61 4.3 Image Maps 63 4.3.1 How Image Maps Work 63 4.3.2 Server-side and Client-side Image Maps 64 4.3.3 Image Map Creators 65 4.3.3.1 Web Hotspots 65 4.3.3.2 Mapedit 66 4.3.3.3 LiveImage 67 4.4 The Common Gateway Interface 68 4.4.1 ProcesseslMechanisms 69 4.4.2 How Data is Sent 70 4.4.3 HTML Forms 71 4.4.4 Designing Applications 72 4.4.5 Programming Languages 72 4.4.6 Server Side Includes 74 11 4.5 Java & JavaScript 75 4.5.1 Java 75 4.5.1.1 The History ofJava 75 4.5.1.2 How Java Works 76 4.5.1.3 Uses for Java 77 4.5.2 JavaScript 78 4.5.2.1 How JavaScript Works 79 4.5.2.2 Uses for JavaScript 80 Chapter 5 - Conclusions 88 5.1 Web Site Design 88 5.2 How Tools can Help 90 5.2.1 Web Servers 91 5.2.2 Editing Tools 92 5.2.3 Programming Tools 93 5.3 Final Comments 94 Bibliography 97 iii List of Tables Table 4.1: Web server developers, market share July 1997 46 Table 4.2: Web server software, market share July 1997 47 Table 4.3: Common operating systems and COl programming languages 73 iv List of Figures Figure 3.1: Web pages in a sequence. 17 Figure 3.2: Web pages in a grid. 17 Figure 3.3: Web pages in a hierarchy. 18 Figure 3.4: Web pages in a Web. 18 Figure 3.5: An example of anavigation bar. 21 Figure 3.6: Examples of good and bad page layout. 25 Figure 3.7: A selection of icons 30 Figure 4.1: The client/server system. 45 Figure 4.2: Screen shot of HoTMetaL Pro. 57 Figure 4.3: Screen shot of Luckman's WebEdit. 59 Figure 4.4: Screen shot of Microsoft FrontPage. 62 Figure 4.5: Screen shot of Web Hotspots. 66 Figure 4.6: Screen shot of Mapedit 67 Figure 4.7: HTML form showing checkbox, radio, text, submit, and reset inputs. 71 Figure 4.8: How a server processes a document containing Server Side Includes. 74 Figure 4.9: Example of JavaScript hierarchy. 79 v Chapter I - Introduction and Methodology Chapter 1 - Introduction and Methodology 1.1 Introduction The World Wide Web has been in existence for several years now, and there are many Web sites of varying quality. People who publish information on the Web need many traditional publishing skills, but also have to take into account specific aspects of electronic publishing. This dissertation looks at how information can be made available over the World Wide Web and how this information can be made easily accessible to people more familiar with printed sources, with the aim of enabling them to fully utilise the potential of the Web. The organisation of Web sites can be, and often should be, different from that of books or journals, and the layout of the pages is also critical for ease of use. To help Web authors and designers, a nwnber of style guides have been written describing how to structure documents; pages, and Web sites. A recent development designed to overcome the limitations imposed by HTML on the appearance of Web pages are Style Sheets. These can be used to achieve a consistent presentation amongst related pages and to design specific document layouts. The essential Web servers which supply documents when requested and execute CGI scripts differ from each other in the facilities they support and in their ease of use. 1 Chapter I - Introduction and Methodology Various software packages are available to simplify the task of creating and maintaining Web sites. HTML authoring tools can be used to achieve the required structure and layout and also carry out some site management tasks. Image map creators can be used to design image maps which provide the ability to link to information from pictures, supplementing plain textual descriptions. The Common Gateway Interface can provide users with interactive searching facilities to help them find the specific information they require and can create documents 'on the fly'. Further improvements can be made to Web pages by using Java and JavaScript (the best supported of the scripting languages) to extend the range of interactive abilities. A great many books, articles, and Web pages have been written about every aspect of running a Web site, from configuring servers to writing and designing Web pages. These information sources are mainly concerned with the technical aspects of the processes involved, and little specific attention is given to how to improve the quality of information provision. Web page design guides describe how to make pages look good using HTML, which is important, but many of them do not explain how this can be used to ensure that people visiting the site find the information they are looking for. Similarly, style sheets are generally discussed in relation to the appearance of documents without stating why an improvement of appearance is useful. The books and sites dealing with Web servers are largely focused on how to set up and run a server and do not include much advice on how this can be used to benefit the end user. Sources concerned with the programming aspects of the Common Gateway Interface, Java, and JavaScript concentrate more on how to write the scripts than on 2 Chapter I - Introduction and Methodology what can be done to improve information retrieval, with the exception of the database searching capabilities of the Common Gateway Interface. The aim of this study is to discuss how to create and maintain a high quality information source on the World Wide Web.