The quest to provide information that is timely, relevant, and above all, easy to get to . . .

by Greg McArthur Contents Search Index Home Subscribe ConsultWeb SCD

One of the best things about being able to work in an organization like SCD is to have occasion (on an almost a daily basis) to experiment with our Web site. As "webmaster," I try to keep abreast of new developments in Web technology, while at the same time attempting to strike a balance between what is clearly "bleeding-edge" technology and that which has become relatively mainstream in its use and implementation. Because Web technology is a moving target, it would be folly to presume that we have reached the limits of Web-based information provision and distribution; that our SCD Web site should be frozen at the current browser release level. On the other hand, to reduce our Web site to a least-common-denominator effort ignores a large segment of our user community who have good Internet connections and who want (and may even expect) our site to provide them with state-of-the-art interfaces to information. Tech dance We are thus deeply engaged in a technological dance of give-and-take, fine-tuning, and plain old common sense between what we could do and what we should do with our SCD (and NCAR) Web sites. The nature of the beast dictates a continual reevaluation and assessment of how we present ourselves to the growing community of scientists, researchers, K-12, and general public users who visit our site on a daily basis. Check it out So it is with mixed feelings that I invite you to have a good look at SCD's new home page. There are several new features you will notice immediately. The URL is the same (of course!) but I have yielded to the voices declaiming the use of frames; our new home page is completely devoid of frames (and the same will be true for the NCAR home page in the near future.) In addition, we have installed a search engine that is more robust and user-friendly to our Internet information seekers. This engine has also been added to the NCAR home page. Finally, I have used a simple Helvetica font which should be easier to read no matter what browser/terminal combination you are using. My job, as I see it, is to listen to the community of users we service and to make sure that we give them information that is timely, relevant, and above all, easy to get to. Whatever works best wins. This does not mean that we intend to incorporate every Web-variant functionality that may pop up on the horizon; but we do keep lists and we read a great deal about what is in the offing. In that vein, I encourage all of you to contact me and let me know what you think about the new SCD Web site. And stay tuned!

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