[WEB4LIB] Re: advice please

[Tony Barry]

At 9:42 PM -0800 23/3/01, J.M. Latham wrote:
>Vendors have seized on HTML as a reason not to pursue interface design.  I
>don't think anyone is doing research these days on how to continue to
>expoit technolgoy to serve the end-user.  Too many times I have heard "We
>give you the ability to design your own interface!"  Well, not too many of
>us have much sense when it comes to interface design.

HTML or XHTML give you the ability to do your oen interface design. 
This doesn't mean YOU do it as you can outsource the task to a 
specialist firm. Be wary though. Many such firms specialize in glitz, 
which impresses CEOs rather than utility.

What library should demand from ILMS vendors is the use of standards 
such as openURL http://www.sfxit.com/open/index.html and flexibility 
in the way data can be gathered and exported from the underlying 
database.

Tony
-- 
phone  +61 2 6241 7659
mailto:me at Tony-Barry.emu.id.au
http://purl.oclc.org/NET/Tony.Barry