Maintenance is so booooooooooring -Reply

[Dan Lester]

>>> Thomas McMillan Grant Bennett
<bennettt at am.appstate.edu> 08/14/97 03:59pm >>>
A little off from this discussion,  Can someone tell me the
difference
between a Webmaster and a Webpage Author??

-------------
Well, I'm not sure if there is an "official definition", but to me
the Webmaster is in charge of the entire web.  Many different
people may be authoring webpages.  On our university web
server, for example, there is one webmaster in charge of all
aspects of the whole machine, content, software, developing
new services (indexes, etc.), enforcing standards (in some
cases), helping newbies, etc, etc.  But there are authors in
most departments, each contributing their personal pages or
their departmental pages, whatever.

In the library (http://library.idbsu.edu/), I'm the webmaster,
and for a long time I was the only page creator.  Now a
number of people are doing pages (see the above URL with
/maps/ added, or find via homepage).  The author of those
pages is the Library Asst II in Maps.  She's done a fine job. 
Her pages reflect her authorship, and carry her mailto for both
the flames and the compliments.  She's responsible.  Of
course if she did something wrong or inappropriate, I could
zap her pages and eliminate her access to put pages on the
server.  But of course she won't, and I don't imagine that
would happen....but it sure happens on university servers
where students can create content.  Think of students with
porn pages, business pages (a business of their own), and so
forth.  Most would consider these inappropriate, as they are
illegal or a violation of most AUPs.  They reflect on the
institution.  

Anyway, those are the difference to me....you didn't expect a
SHORT answer from the Cyclops, didja?

cheers

cyclops


Dan Lester, Network Information Coordinator
Boise State University Library, Boise, Idaho, 83725 USA
voice: 208-385-1235   fax:  208-385-1394
dlester at bsu.idbsu.edu     OR    alileste at idbsu.idbsu.edu
Cyclops' Internet Toolbox:    http://cyclops.idbsu.edu
"How can one fool make another wise?"   Kansas, 1979.