final chapter, The Siegel Saga

[Bob Long]

In the interest of finally putting this topic to bed....
        My remark that Siegel's book goes "against the grain" refers to the
fact that he promotes the "throwing out" of  standard HTML tags like <P>
(paragraph) and <HR> (horizontal rule), in favor of a more design/layout
oriented approach using 'workarounds' like tables and pixel shims.
        I was not attempting to degrade librarians in any way. I work with
them everyday, I'm even married to one. So please don't misconstrue my
meaning. But I do feel that librarians are more inclined to embrace the
structured approach to web documents. And why not? Structure is indeed very
useful for large databases and searchable indexes. This is not to say that
the layout approach is not equally valid.
        David Siegel's book is a wonderful reference on web design. I
recommended it as such. On another note, part of my job is to design web
pages for six different county library systems. I use many of Siegel's
techniques to do this. So the idea that the two don't mix is not completely
accurate.
        The two styles are working towards each other. I believe that
someday we will have the best of both. Until then I will continue to do
everything in my power to create the best looking web pages I can. Because I
too am focused on my job, and want to do it well.
        Bottom line: If you are comfortable with the standard tags, carry
on. If you think you would like a little different approach, give Dave's
book a try. The man knows of what he speaks.

Bob