4th Anniversary

[Don Napoli]

Congratulations Roy!

It does seem like a very long time ago, but my, how much things have
changed since those days when just a few thousands of us roamed the web and
discovered the joys of instant world-wide publishing. How much our
libraries have changed - a whole new way of looking at information access
and collaboration with new friends we never dreamed we would ever know,
half way around the globe.

God bless you Roy, and all of us, as we move into the next millenium!

Don Napoli

>Tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of Web4Lib. The discussion began on May
>12, 1994, which seems like a century ago. Since that time, well over
>15,000 messages have been posted, and although it may feel that way, most
>of them were *not* on filtering! We are presently at about 3,600
>subscribers representing over 50 different countries. Below is an informal
>look back at the beginning of it all. Those who want a more formal history
>of the list can refer to the Ariadne article I wrote a while back at
>http://www.ukoln.ac.uk./ariadne/issue5/web4lib/ .
>
>Among the earliest posters can be found: Bill Drew, Art Rhyno, Thomas
>Dowling, Nick Arnett, Charles Bailey, Jr., Elizabeth Cherhal, Lee Jaffe,
>Jon Knight, Stu Weibel, Don Napoli, Tony Barry, Brian Kelly, Jim Gerland,
>Pat Cline, Bob Strauss, John Ober (who participated in beginning the
>list), Jim Milles, Traugott Koch, Stephen Sloan, Peter Gorman, and Gleason
>Sackman. Nearly all of these people have made, and continue to make,
>significant contributions to Web systems in libraries and many other
>areas, not surprisingly.
>
>Among the earliest messages I was embarrased to find the following:
>------------------------------------------------------------
>>Date: Wed, 18 May 94 10:06:50 PDT
>>From: rtennant at library.berkeley.edu (Roy Tennant)
>>Subject: Re: Minimum standards for library html documents
>>
>>I took the liberty of taking Bill Drew's recommendations for HTML
>>markup and edited them, including some of the comments from other
>>discussion participants. I think Bill has brought up an excellent
>>point, in that we should strive for some basic standards in HTML
>>markup that recognize the diverse environment in which we find
>>ourselves and the various means by which our users will be accessing
>>our information systems. To that end, I suggest an ongoing process
>>of developing guidelines that can be used to enhance access to
>>webbed information. Below is what might be considered the "first
>>draft" of such a document, thanks to Bill Drew and others:
>>
>>GUIDELINES FOR HTML MARKUP
>>
>>Note: The following guidelines are designed to: 1) enhance access to
>>information in the World-Wide Web by individuals using diverse browsing
>>methods, and 2) provide basic operational standards upon which web
>>users can increasingly depend. It is recognized that it may not be
>>possible, in any given situation, to implement all of the these
>>guidelines, but Web managers are encouraged to support those that they
>>can.
>>
>>* Supply a <MAILTO> URL so that comments can be sent back to the owner
>>from browsers that support this feature.
>>
>>* When using images in a document, use the form <IMG SRC="xxx"
>>ALT="yyy">, wherein "yyy" is text that will display in leiu of the image
>>for those browsers without image support.
>>
>>* When using the ISMAP feature (imbedding URLs inside map files),
>>provide a second document that lists the URLs outside of the map graphic.
>>
>>* Provide access to WAIS via forms or gopher URLs because not all
>>computer platforms or clients currently provide support for WAIS.
>>
>>* Provide a <TITLE> that does not rely on the user having accessed
>>documents from which the document is linked to provide contextual
>>information for interpreting the <TITLE>
>>
>>Roy Tennant
>--------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The embarrasing thing is that I'm not sure what happened to these draft
>guidelines, after they were posted.
>
>There was an early flood of activity on the list, although the volume in
>comparison to today is not all that impressive -- an average of ten
>messages a day for the first several weeks, which compares to about 15-20
>messages a day now. And even as things change, they still remain the same
>(Thomas, does the following sound the least bit familiar, after all these
>years?):
>
>---------------------------------------------------
>>Date: Tue, 24 May 94 15:33:52 -0700
>>From: tdowling at lib.washington.edu
>>
>>As people start leaving the list, please remember to send your unsuscribe
>>commands to the listserv address, not the list itself.
>>
>>Thomas Dowling
>>University of Washington Engineering Library
>>tdowling at u.washington.edu
>------------------------------------------------------
>
>Another very early posting by Thomas presaged a service that has withstood
>the test of time:
>
>------------------------------------------------------
>>Date: Thu, 26 May 94 16:13:34 -0700
>>From: tdowling at lib.washington.edu
>>
>>Rushing in where angels fear to tread, I have recklessly volunteered to
>>keep a list of Library-oriented Web servers.  I hope I'm not biting off
>>more than I can chew, but what I have so far is at:
>>
>>http://www.lib.washington.edu/~tdowling/libweb.html
>>
>>Thomas Dowling
>>University of Washington Engineering Library
>>tdowling at u.washington.edu
>------------------------------------------------------
>
>Don't go there now, it long since moved to
>http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/Libweb/ . Thanks for putting up with my
>reminiscences, and also for helping make Web4Lib what it is today.
>Roy Tennant
>Web4Lib Owner

Donald J. Napoli, Director
St. Joseph County Public Library
304 South Main Street
South Bend, IN 46601
USA
  voice: 219-282-4601
     fax: 219-282-4651
e-mail: donald.napoli at gomail.sjcpl.lib.in.us

"The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those who
sang best."

--John James Audubon