UpDate - Vol. 15, No. 14, Page 1
December 7, 1995
New WWW site included in PC Computing's top 1,001

     The recently revised UD World Wide Web site has been named one of
PC Computing magazine's "Best 1,001 Internet Sites." Under a category
of U.S. universities and schools, UD is one of only 16 institutions,
including Boston, Carnegie Mellon, Ohio State and Stanford
universities and the universities of California at Berkeley, Notre
Dame, Southern California and Virginia.
     For the article in the magazine's December issue, the editors
"spent weeks combing the Web to find the 1,000 hottest, most
informative sites and grouped them into more than 100 popular-interest
categories for easy reference," listing "all the best Web addresses."
     The University, which has had a site on the World Wide Web since
the summer of 1994, recently redesigned its home page and premiered it
in October before an annual gathering of campus Computer Resource
Persons. Each month, the UD home page receives more than 40,000 visits
from off the campus.
     The Web revision was led by a committee, chaired by Janet de Vry
and including representatives from user services, network and systems
services, management information systems, media services, publications
and public relations.
     Design elements and colors provide a unified feel to these top
pages of the Web.
     "Our goal was twofold," de Vry said. "We wanted to use the design
of our pages to help present the University's identity, and we wanted
to structure the pages so that both first-time and frequent users
would be able to access the information they needed easily."
     Featuring a new look and a new organization, the University's
site now opens on a color montage of the campus in three seasons,
overprinted with the interlocking University logo. Below this
illustration, five buttons provide immediate access to widely used
features, including a search engine for all the pages on the UD Web;
campus directories, including phone and fax numbers and e-mail and v-
mail addresses; help; a listing of new UD Web pages; and information
on the Internet.
     Next, the page is divided into four main sections: the Blue Hen
Welcome Center, including Admissions and Conference Centers; Learning
and Research, including Colleges, Libraries and Honors Program; Campus
Life, including Athletics, Faculty and Staff, Bookstore and UD News;
and Offices and Services, including Career Services, Technology,
Central Stores and the Student Services Building. Links within each of
these blocks take the user to additional pages with more specific
information.
     "I think we succeeded," de Vry said. "By considering the
different perspectives and opinions of the committee's members, we
were able to keep in mind the many ways the pages might be used and
the many and varied groups who would be using them.
     "Eileen Garland and Richard Gordon, user services, and Barbara
Broge, media services, worked skillfully to bring the committee's
ideas to reality," she said.
     The response has been positive, de Vry added. "Recently a student
in Finland considering application to the University sent e-mail
complimenting the Web site. 'There's a lot of useful information, and
it really sells your university,' he said."
     To view the UD Web pages, go to: http://www.udel.edu/