[WEB4LIB] What's next after HTML?

[Bill Walker]

Hi.  

Like a lot of places, our library is going to do a re-design next
Spring.  We expect to try to turn all our pages (that we keep) into
XHMTL and use style sheets.  I found a good book by one of the experts,
Eric Meyer, that includes a chapter on converting an existing page:  

http://www.ericmeyeroncss.com/projects/01/

This site gives you a little of the flavor of the book, Eric Meyer On
CSS, so if it looks useful to you, buy the book.  

--Bill Walker
  Reference Dept.
  Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library

>>> Kathy Gaynor <kgaynor at library2.webster.edu> 11/19/02 09:57AM >>>
I've been trying to keep an eye on issues regarding XML, CSS,
Javascript, 
etc.  I was wondering if there was any consensus on steps websites
should 
be taking or directions in which they should be moving.  Probably 99%
of 
our web pages (<http://library.webster.edu>) are straight HTML.  Should
I 
be gradually switching these to Cascading Style Sheets?  Should I be
adding 
closing tags (e.g. </p>) and cleaning up other code to conform to 
XML?  Should we change our document type definitions?

It's so easy just to sit back and ignore all these developments since
most 
have indicated that plain HTML pages will continue to work for some 
time.  I'm concerned, however, that there are steps a responsible
website 
developer (albeit an amateur) should be taking in preparation for
things to 
come.  Much like the steps taken to insure Y2K compliance, I don't want
to 
wake up on the future's equivalent of Jan. 1, 2000 and find I missed
the boat.

Thanks for your advice.  I'm feeling technologically vulnerable these
days 
as my car's battery died on Sunday,  I have a runaway bathroom faucet 
gushing like a geyser that I can't fix myself, and I apparently blew
some 
circuit in the master bath and now half the lights in the bedroom won't

work.  Forget the XML--does anyone know a good electrician in St.
Louis?

************************************************************************
Kathy M. Gaynor, Reference Librarian
Eden-Webster Library
475 E. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO  63119
(314) 968-6950
(314) 968-7113 fax
kgaynor at library2.webster.edu