Specs for an ideal public library web browser

[Ulrich Babiak]

On Wed, 18 Sep 1996, Joseph Schallan wrote:

> Would the group be interested in working together to
> develop a list of specifications for an "ideal" library
> web browser?  During the year I've been on web4lib I've
...
> Perhaps when we're done we could approach a developer
> with the idea of developing extensions aimed specifically
> at our needs.  I would be quite willing to pay a reasonable

I have thought about this - back when Mosaic was still an alternative
and its code was available for free. There was a development
group at a german university who made a special version of mosaic
for X-windows (not for library use, but I talked to them anyway).
The problem is that those    who are knowledgeable enough to do
it won't waste their brains for a small market like libraries.
On the other hand, with all the internet cafes popping up there
must be a big interest in a stable and useful kiosk-mode browser.

I would assume that nowadays, with the advanced features the browsers
need to make information of all kind accessible, it will be
really difficult to build a new library-browser from scratch.

What about microsoft's Explorer development kit? If I got that 
right you can use it to add/remove functionality to the I-Explorer.
Has anybody ever tried it? I would be interested in the results.


Ulrich Babiak                         StadtBibliothek Koeln
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