Linking to resources within sites

[rjtiess at juno.com]

Unless a site offers premium information which is
only rightfully attainable through registration and
a certain login page or a site contains information
it no longer links to and/or does not support in its
active pages, I see no problem, personally or
professionally, with the practice of linking to
something other than the main page of a site.
In fact, I'm telling you it's necessary.  Anyone
familiar with ANY of the government and
university sites knows damn well the information
is never on Page One. And this reality extends
well beyond the .gov and .edu domains.

As various information specialists, we must 
preserve the capability of directly accessing
specific information.  I have two analogues in
mind:  the telephone and the book in the library
setting.  One can find and call a telephone
number that does not reach the main line but
goes to something like the Customer Service
Department or some other line.  Why call the
main desk if you know your party's extension
or direct number?  So why point people to
www.anywhere.xyz if the actual known path is
www.anywhere.xyz/1/2/3/4/5/abc.htm?

Secondly, with books--particularly in libraries--
we can and must reference sections directly.
It is not enough to tell the patron where
the book is.  The patron must be guided to
the book and then to the section relevant to
her or his query, if known.  Any other practice
under the ideal circumstance of knowing
exactly where information is amounts to
reprehensible behavior on the side of the
information professional:  You are here to
direct and connect people with information,
not to point to books and say, Check over
there, if you have the time and know where
the relevant information is.

A main page at a website functions as a
Table of Contents, sometimes like an index,
although that is speaking favorably.  Most
websites simply fail at this and offer little
guidance as to what's behind Page One.
Every website is essentially a [graphical]
user interface, and there's no reason why
a user, patron or colleague should be
compelled to find a particular resource if you
know where it is.  Many major sites still
do not have site-specific seach engines,
making resource navigation even more
difficult.

As far as authority is concerned, any
wise webmaster/site development team
would do well to include at the bottom of
every page a HOME button and possibly
a copyright statement and the institution's
name.  And href statements pointing to
such remote sites should indicate (either
in preface or within the link/javascript
mouseover statement)  that these are
remote resources--not only to reinforce
authority but to enforce the standard
disclaimer of no informational warranties,
necessarily implied endorsements, and the
lack of control over resources at remote
sites.

It's within every organization's immediate
interests to consider this last part when
developing any resource guide, and
it's within everyone's interests, with the
first part of this paragraph, to plainly
indicate the author or host of this
information, particularly if a browser is
functioning in "kiosk" mode, where no
Location line is visible, or if someone
is using Lynx, where the current URL is
not always immediately apparent.

I think one possible reason webmasters would
want their e-patrons to access all materials
at their site site through the main page is
site counters, which generally are posted
at the first page.  Few sites put a site
counter on every page.  But hit counts are
historically inaccurate and better website
stats are available serverside.  Another
possible reason is that site designers want
to be able to do all the informing and
directing.  In a commercial environment,
perhaps there are some ads a website
owner would like you to peruse prior to
using a specific service (although if it is
such a commercial site there's likely to be
banners at the ultimate URL anyway).
Another possible reason is frames:  if a
site establishes an order of frames within
which they want their content displayed--
and this too is silly as anyone with a
updated browser such as Navigator 4
can right click and open the frame in a
new window.

Whatever reason is cited, as long as the
information linked to is free or licensed
or public, appropriately cited and linked
to in good faith, website owners should have
little or no reservation with people linking to
specific content at their site.  If they're
concerned people are not going to associate
a service with their main site, they should
put a logo and a home button on every
page.  Takes less than a minute to do that.
If you're going to the trouble of putting data
on the web, developing interfaces and
services, and if you're not going to provide
a clear, dependable path to that data, you're
lucky anyone links to you to begin with.

There are new sources every day, and
unless you own the monopoly on some
information or service, if in sufficient
demand, it will be offered and implemented
better or freer at some other location.  If
you're site is too large, investigate search
engines, site maps, and all other options.
You should be flattered an information
professional holds your site in such regard
that she or he recommends it to patrons.
Protective behavior stifles information.
Copyright law, patent law, international
intellectual property agreements are there
to invoke should any infringements be
suspected.  Other than that, if your data is
free and public, treat it as such and enjoy
the hits, any way you get them, and
consider how to better represent and
publicize your product or informational
offerings in the future.  As webmaster
of more than a few sites I try to make
sure navigators, no matter how they
get to a page, have an understanding
where they are and how to get back to
the main page through a Home link, where
visitors can explore other areas of a site.
I also try to provide links back to major
subsections and key parts of a site.
I encourage other site developers to do
the same.

As chaotic web resources have become,
we all need to know there are some places
we can depend upon without any further
restrictions.  Let's keep it that way and
improve upon that, for everyone's sake.

Take care.

Robert J. Tiess
rjtiess at juno.com




















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