Development of the University of Illinois Web
Introduction
Kaitlin Duck Sherwood
I started working on the Web at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
because of frustrations I had accessing University information through traditional media. Specifically, I was irritated at needing to simultaneously use three different paper documents in order to complete registration. This frustration lead to me develop hypertext versions of the courses catalog and the schedule of classes. The positive feedback that I received from those documents, an almost complete lack of a formal UIUC Web presence, and my utter delight in the technology lead me to take on the task of making the UIUC Web a valuable resource.
My focus was on creating indices for UIUC resources,
developing registration information, and creating navigational aids.
These efforts have been extremely successful. High-level administrative officials
have taken an active interest, usage by students, faculty, staff, administrators,
and people from off-campus is high, and a permanent, full-time position has
been created just to coordinate the university-level Web efforts.
In this paper, I will describe the work that I did over three semesters towards
developing the UIUC Web. In particular, I will:
- Give a history and background of the technology behind the World-Wide Web
- Discuss the history of the Web at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- Discuss the objectives of the project
- Explain philosophical decisions made
- Present major sections of the UIUC Web
- Discuss the impact of the UIUC Web
Go on to Technology History and Background
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Kaitlin Duck Sherwood