CRM... Cultural Respources and the World Wide Web... Volume 18 No. 9... U.S. Department of the Interior... 1995

37 Pages·1995·9.5 MB·English

by  Department of the Interior

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AS. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
peational Park Service
_, Cultural Resources
yt
NATIONAL Panksenvice |C Ontents ISSN 1068-4999
PUBLISHED BY THE VOLUME 18 NO.9 1995
To promote and maintain high standards
cone meres! | Cultural Resources and the
omaeren World Wide Web
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ——————-———--— nen Jersnenieeaicessieenneipee
Katherine EL. Stevenson . : :
—— What in the World is the World Wide Web? .................2000. 3
EDITOR Diane Vogt-O’Connor
Ronald M. Greenberg
NPS Internet/World Wide Web ...............c.ee. e.ee0 0ee0e 3
PRODUCTION MANAGER Roger G. Kennedy
Karlota M1. Koester
Government Information Policy .....0.... .eee. e.ee. ee. e ee 4
GUEST EDITOR
Henry C. Kelly
Diane Vogt-O'Connor
SPECIAL ISSUE ADVISOR Developing a National Park Service World Wide Website:
Steve Grosz A Brief History... 1.0..ce. eee eens 9
ADVISORS Paul Handly
David Andrews : ;
a The World, The Web, and The Smithsonian ...................... 1]
loan Bacharach Mare Pachter
Museum Registrar, NPS
Randall |. Biallas Forging a Presence on the World Wide Web ................00005. 14
Historical Architect, NPS
David Andrews, Veletta Canouts, and S. Terry Childs
John A. Burns
ArchizectN,P S
HarryA . Butowsky WWW Sites cf Interest to Cultural Resources Personnel ............ 16
a Jonathan Bayless
Pratt Cassity
Executive Director, = . "
National Alliance of Preservation Commissions Searching the Internct through the World Wide Web Pe er ee ee ee 18
Muriel Crespi Hugh O’Connor
Cultural Anthropologist, NP5
upon ahi Electronic Publishing: A Legal and Practical Primer ................ 23
Mark R. Fdwards Melissa Smith Levine
Director, Historic Preservation Division,
Se SS SS an Sa World Wide Web Resources .... 2.0... 0... cc eee ee eee eee 27
Bruce W. Frv Diane Vogt-O’Connor
Chief of Research Publications
National Historic Sites, Parks Canada
lohn Hnedak From the Industrial Revolution to the Information Superhighway
"nen Ey Lowell National Historical Park and the World Wide Web ........ 30
Archeologist. NPS Audrey Ambrosino and Mark Bograd
Antoinette |. Lee
Historian, NPS Gettysburg £ National Military ry Park and the Electronic Frontier ........ 31
lohn Poppeliers Winona Peterson
International Liaison Officer
for Cultural Resources, NPS
Brit Allan Storey Technology and Technology
Hisetonnaan, Bcureaau tof iRecalaAma tiio n Chi: ckamauga and Chattanooga ...0.... .0c e.e ee. eee. ee e ee 33
Jim Ogden
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Stephen A. Mortis Council for the Preservation of the Anthropological Record
en and the World Wide Web... ....... 0.0... cece ee eee 34
Kay D. Weeks ' ,
Techracal Writer-Edror. NPS Diane Vogt-O’Connor
CONSULTANTS
Cover photo: Exit end of Cane Crusher of a Sugar Mill at Estate Annaly in St. Croix, Virgin Islands. Suggests
\li 5 eae Nec hy the motion and interlinked nature of World Wide Web, where all knowledge is grist for the mill. Photography
Ve
Vm. 1. Feeeman by Jet Lowe. Courtesy of the Historic American Engineering Record Collection at the Library of Congress.
ey ey ee Image number HAER VI-8-3.
Statements of foct ome wews are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect an opinion or endorsement on the part of the editors, the CRM
advisors wd comttune © the Natoma! Park Service. Send articles, news items, and correspondence to the Editor, CRM (2250), U.S. Department of the Interior,
~~ —
Nationa’ Fark Secece. Cots af Aovources. PO Box 37127,Washington, DC 20013-7127; (202-343-3395, FAX [phone], Internet: [email protected]).
CRM N° 9—1995
vr TL 1
Diane Vogt-O’Connor
What in the World
is the World Wide Web?
he World Wide Web (also known Museums, archives, libraries, schools, tribes, pro-
as the Web or WWW) has become fessional organizations, and businesses are all
one of the most exciting new tools developing Websites to share their cultural
for cultural resource managers in resources with the burgeoning audience of Web
the latter half of the 20th century. Combining users.
aspects of publishing, broadcasting, networking, Among the challenges is the need to keep the
National Park
teaching, interactive participation, resource shar- information lively, changing, audio-visually rich,
Service Director
ing, and even fund-raising, the Web offers cul- story-oriented, and compelling for a relatively
Roger Kennedy and
Secretary of tural resource managers exciting new young, educated, and feisty international audi-
Education Richard opportunities and challenges. ence. The competition for the attention of this
Riley viewing the Among the opportunities is the chance to audience is fierce—leading to a suprisingly high
World Wide Web
bring your collections, sites, structures, exhibi- level of sophistication in many cultural Websites
with students from
tions, publications, and expertise into the homes and in many Web users. The payoffs include a
Ashburton
Elementary School. and offices of some 10+ million Web users. rich array of public relations, educational, and
outreach advantages; as well as
the challenge of being able to
NPS Internet/World Wide Web
adequately handle the increas-
ing volume of queries and visi-
tors resulting from the
ce since the invention of movable type, people refractory to change have
increasing visibility of your cul-
grumbled that older methods weren't sufficient to get a message across. Smoke sig-
tural resources.
nals, drums, and courier pigeons had after all, extended the reach of the human This issue of CRM serves
voice. Writing had certainly extended both the reach and the shelf-life of messages. as an entry-level manual for
But movable type did have its sway, after which came movable images, some- cultural resource managers
times with subtitles, sometimes not. Now, in what some people describe as the wanting to learn how to use the
post-Gutenberg age, we are at work on the process of moving from printed lan- World Wide Web as both an
guage to printed language and images. informational source and as an
Internet is a stage in an unfolding process of amplifying the volume of the outreach tool. It contains arti-
data exchanged and the speed of transmission. There is no practical alternative to cles on:
the Park Service's participation in this latest evolution of commur ications. ¢ How to search the WWW for
Everybody is going to be using Internet or World Wide Web or something close to effective use;
them. ¢Where to find assistance and
We must be among those having resources in all aspects of
& & ha 4) TIVUA
this capability, just as we needed to Web use and development
be among those capable of verbal lan- work;
guage (with children, we call it talk- ¢ Guidance on future direc-
ing) and capable of making use of the tions in governmental infor-
miracle of writing. The only question mation policy;
really becomes, How should we add ¢Case studies oi Web devel-
some wisdom to the store of informa- opment from the Smithsonian
tion? How do we seek some quality Institution, the Committee on
amid the burgeoning of quantity? the Preservation of the
Anthropological Record, and
Roger G. Kennedy the National Park Service; and
¢ Guidance on the legal
Director, National Park Service
aspects of Web work.
CRM NY 9— 1995 2
What is the Web? ing in a single searchable place at mini-
The Web is an internationally networked mal cost.
information system that presents text including e A superior desktop research tool allow-
databases and high resolution images, sound, and ing access to digital information includ-
video on all aspects of knowledge. The effect is ing databases made or held by libraries,
like an ever-growing multimedia encyclopedia that archives, museums, and other cultural
is being created interactively and cooperatively by resource repositories and organizations
the users. internationally.
The World Wide Web is also: e A powerful broadcast studio for sharing
¢ A highly visible place to define who we information on our events, activities,
are, what we have, and what we do to a and programs.
rapidly growing audience currently esti- ¢ A web of informational resources uniting
mated to be over 10+ million users. cultural resources professionals interna-
e An innovative forum for testing out new tionally through both planned searches
ideas for sharing our resources in publi- and serendipitous browsing via hyper-
cations, exhibitions, interpretation pro- text links.
grams, and educational activities e A place to sell products and request
integrating text, graphics, audio, and donations via cooperating associations
video. in order to make cultural resources more
e A showcase for our staff expertise in self-supporting.
“Ask the Experts” columns, online mag- e A democratic assemblage of information
azines, and online chat sessions. that requires basic training before mas-
e A virtual visitors center for sharing prac- tery is possible.
tical information on our cultural e The world’s most powerful printshop for
resources with tourists. telling our stories and sharing our mis-
e An opportunity to use our cultural col- sion, history, and vocation with an inter-
lections and resources to leverage fund- national audience.
ing for digitization and outreach projects ¢ The “killer application” that provides a
via digital vendors, corporations, and common entry point to all other features
foundations. of the Internet.
e A powerful antidote to professional iso-
lation in remote areas as the Web Diane Vogt-O'Connor is the Senior Archivist in the
allows us to network with our profes- Museum Management Program of the National Park
sional colleagues and friends regardless Service and guest editor of this issue of CRM.
of how distant they may be.
e A speedy way to maintain, share, and
update policies, procedures, and train-
Henry C. Kelly
Government
Information Policy
he communication tools provided taken by the Hubble telescope almost as soon as
by contemporary technology pro- the NASA scientists in charge of the project.
vide convenient, practical, inexpen- Interested citizens can look at government
sive access to people and press releases, proposed legislation, and other
information resources worldwide. Anyone with an documents the instant they are released. Online
inexpensive home computer willing to spend $10 browsers can now participate in discussion groups
a month can sit at home and look at pictures that span the globe, search through digital
4 CRM Nv 91095
libraries, and explore archival photographic and same virtual space seen on their computer screens.
sound recordings ranging from classics to amateur These environments can convey information just
productions. While full motion video on demand is as it would be explained if an infinitely patient
now expensive, intense competition to deliver expert led you on a field expedition or the way an
entertainment products to homes is likely to make experienced manager would apprentice new staff
even this service available to most Americans by members so that they could learn the intricacies of
the end of the decade. a business.
These tools are already transforming the way Computer simulations, of course, allow risks
Americans do business. Networked information real expeditions wouldn't allow and permit explo-
and online tools are making standard transactions rations only possible through imagination—explor-
more efficient and providing opportunities to do ing lost cities, the miniature internal worlds of
things that were simply not considered possible— cells, or enormous worlds in outer space. These
and certainly not affordable—using earlier tech- advanced, interactive, multi-dimensional systems
nologies. Businesses can advertise and sell convey information and ideas in ways that are
products through the World
Wide Web. Hospitals can
send CAT-scans through the
net to get expert consulta- Wclew me lo the
tions from distant special- White House
ists. Students and scholars
can avoid the cost and
inconvenience of traveling
around the world searching
for text or multi-media mate-
rials and search enormous
archives, located around the
world, without leaving their
The White House
World Wide Web studies.
page. Perspective on What's
New
Networked information
is just the tip of the ice-
berg—the easy part where A
OS,n e. Gutevactive Crtixons’ Handbook
the artifacts of earlier com-
munications technology
(such as prints, photos,
recordings) are digitized and
President's Vice President's
transferred to computer Welcome Message Guest Book Welcome Message
archives. Modern informa-
tion technology clearly also
offers something qualitatively different—a unique easy to grasp, and in ways that make it easy to
ability to create synthetic environments. These bridge the gap to more formal representations of
environments permit an entirely novel form of information in words and numbers.
communication. Instead of seeing a photograph of The Administration's Broad National
an old airplane, for example, a complete three- Information Strategy
dimensional representation of the plane can be While it’s impossible to predict the impact of
constructed in the computer so that it can be these powerful new tools with any precision, there
turned and examined from all sides. Moreover, can be little doubt that mastery of the power of
simulations permit you to enter the plane and fly it information technology will be essential to the
over terrain as historically accurate as archival U.S. economy in decades ahead. It also is likely
records permit. that these new tools can be used to achieve real
Siniilarly, completely rendered ecologies can gains in areas ranging from health care, to enter-
be simulated based on archival documentation. tainment, education, public health and safety.
These ecologies can be explored by individuals or Recognizing this, the Administration has an
groups working together in the same simulated ambitious program designed to ensure that as
environment. The individuals joined in the explo- many Americans as possible are able to take
ration need not be in the same physical place. The advantage of new information technologies as
individual participants can cooperate only in the rapidly as possible. Since it’s obvious that virtually
CRM Nv 9—1995
wy
all of the work and investment will be done with- including health care (medical record man-
out federal direction or funds, the strategy has the agement, digital transfer of X-rays, and
following basic elements: other images), education and training,
1. Ensuring that the laws and regulations gov- intelligent transportation management
erning communications encourage private (traffic signals, air traffic control), and a
investment and create a competitive envi- host of other areas.
ronment with inter-operable systems—an 4. Providing convenient, efficient access to
environment needed both to stimulate government information. The new commu-
innovation and to prevent the emergence of nications technologies can make govern-
monopolies. The Administration has been ment operations and government
working with the Congress to design legis- information much more accessible, more
lation that will achieve these objectives. It timely, and more personal to citizens. They
has been working with a variety of stan- can also make it much easier to ask ques-
dards, organizations, and business groups tions and receive responses that are timely,
to promote seamless interoperability accurate, and tailored to individual inter-
between systems, to ensure the privacy of ests and needs.
communications without compromising These technologies can range in func-
critical law-enforcement responsibilities, tion from providing timely information on
and to ensure the protection of intellectual environmental regulations to efficient
property. methods of filing state and federal income
2. Ensuring the widest possible access to new taxes.
technologies both by protecting universal The information systems can also
access to phone, broadcast, and some provide important tools for improving the
advanced services in a modernized productivity of government operations,
telecommunications market and by provid- making it easier to coordinate complex
ing funds for connecting schools and projects and keep the paperwork to a mini-
libraries to advanced services. Universal mum.
service is a key part of the Administration's 5. Ensuring that worldwide communication
proposals for telecommunication reform— services are inter-operable with domestic
including provisions providing affordable systems. The advantages of the new com-
links to classrooms. The Department of munication systems clearly don’t stop on
Commerce's Telecommunications and America’s borders. U.S. businesses,
Information Infrastructure Program pro- research teams, students, and ordinary citi-
vides matching funds for schools, libraries, zens clearly benefit when they are able to
rural health care providers, economic use the internet to reach archives in Italy
development agencies, and state and local as easily as archives in Nebraska.
governments with innovative proposals for The administration is working with a num-
using telecommunication services. ber of international organizations to encourage all
3. Supporting research in areas key to wide- nations to achieve universal acceptance of the
spread use of advanced information ser- principles needed to build an efficient global infor-
vices where private funds are not available mation infrastructure that incorporates competi-
either because the risks are too great or the tive, private, inter-operable systems. The effort has
benefits to the nation far outweigh the ben- met with surprising success in spite of the fact that
efits that any individual firm could capture. many nations began the decade with their commu-
This has meant investing in key areas of nications systems completely controlled by state
advanced computer and communication monopolies.
technology (such as the six gigabit test net- Government Information
works being conducted in partnership with Clearly the federal government's central role
major telecommunication firms) and key in accelerating the development and use of
systems issues relevant to the construction advanced information technologies is ensuring a
and evaluation of advanced education and regulatory environment that encourages innova-
training technology. tion and competition. At the same time, the gov-
The user-friendly, graphic interfaces ernment must provide the public with protection
now enjoying explosive market growth against monopoly abuse and ensure universal
under names like Mosaic and Netscape access to basic services. But the government has
resulted directly from federal software other crucial responsibilities—perhaps the most
development funding. Federal research is obvious of which is to make the best possible use
also funding work in specific applications of the new technology to make its own operations
CRM N° 9—1995
re)
more efficient, more open, and more comprehensi- Navigating within the Federal Information
ble. Infrastructure
The federal government is too often seen as a The White House Home Page is centerpiece
distant, hostile power operating without concern of the federal government's efforts to make infor-
for the needs of individual citizens. The Clinton mation available. This World Wide Web page
administration began with a commitment to make (http:/Awww.whitehouse.gov) provides a single
every possible use of new information technology point of entry to the federal digital world.
to do the following: Supplemented by the FedWorld collections main-
e Streamline government operations tained by National Telecommunications and
* Reduce paperwork Information Service (URL:
e Make government operations more open, http:/Awww.Fedworld.gov) the White House Home
responsive, and transparent Page leads systematically to federal information—
e Drastically cut the paperwork and forms evervthing from agency press releases to genome
required to deal with the government sequences in NIH. The basic page is being
Technology clearly can't solve all of the prob- upgraded to provide more convenient searching
lems caused by obsolete government management tools for the majority of us who may not have
practices. Technology can provide key tools for known to look for the Weather Bureau inside the
achieving federal goals quickly and at an accept- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
able cost. Private firms have found that informa- (NOAA) inside of the Department of Commerce.
tion technology can only lead to real productivity In addition, a series of specialized entry
gains when it is used as an integral part of broad points has been developed for users with clearly
management reforms. The Vice President's “rein- identified interests. The U.S. Department of
vention taskforce” has done just this. It has been Agriculture, for example, provides a convenient
issuing a stream of dramatic management changes point of entry for users familiar with its extension
aimed at making government more responsive to service programs. The Vice President's National
its ultimate customers—the citizens it is supposed Performance Review team has worked with the
to serve. Information technology plays an impor- Small Business Administration and the
tant role in many of these reforms. Department of Commerce to introduce a U.S.
Dramatic gains in the performance of a large Business Advisor page (URL:
system like the federal government require making http:/Avww.far.npr.gov.VDOTS) providing a format
investments and taking some risks before savings convenient for small businesses interested in find-
can be realized. This is obviously difficult in a time ing practical information on regulations, Small
of extreme fiscal stringency. Many agencies are Business Innovation Research programs, and other
faced with the problem of maintaining an increas- topics.
ingly expensive system for handling public Creating Digital Records
requests and inquiries while finding the funds to While much of the information generated by
invest in modern information systems that will the federal government is produced on comput-
eventually make their operations much more effi- ers—including the word processor used to create
cient and less costly. The Administration feels that this manuscript—only a fraction of this informa-
it has developed a balanced approach which can tion is available online. There are several reasons
ensure adequate investment in new systems while for this. Some are simple to remedy and others
still cutting the overall cost of government. But its much less tractable.
plans are vulnerable to budget cuts from the Problems resulting simply from inertia or
Congress. lack of understanding on the part of public offi-
Federal efforts to use information have taken cials are real but are being quickly remedied. The
three basic forms: more serious problem is finding the funds needed
1. Providing convenient and easy-to-use tools to purchase and maintain the computer and com-
for searching through the maze of govern- munication equipment needed to make the infor-
ment information and locating what you mation available, to periodically refresh the data,
want when you want it. and to reformat it as the communications, soft-
2. Making raw data available in digital form ware, and hardware systems change. In most cases
so that it can be stored, searched, and it should be much less expensive for the govern-
transmitted by the new systems. ment to initially make information available in
3. Providing a convenient way for citizens to electronic form than it is to make it available
communicate with the government—both through conventional means, such as printing doc-
sending forms to the government and uments or answering phones.
receiving individualized data from the gov- Agencies find it difficult to justify invest-
ernment. ments in new computer systems while they main-
CRM N° 9—1995
NS
tain parallel, older systems to serve people lacking paper, microfilm, original photographs, motion pic-
access to computer communications. The problem tures, sound recordings, and other document types
is compounded because many agencies must fund captured using older technologies. The cost of digi-
data dissemination by selling their publications. tizing this information can be very high, though
Shifting to free electronic dissemination would dry the actual life of each generation of digital copy
up the only source of funds available for making may be shorter than that of the original document.
information available in any form. There is an old Digital data can be copied to new storage tech-
debate about whether the economy as a whole nologies at a comparatively low cost.
benefits if the federal government charges citizens The bulk of the reformatting cost is associ-
for information which they could use to improve ated with moving original rare materials from stor-
the performance of their businesses or make them age and ensuring that they are properly handled,
better citizens. The new technology has forced the described, and made available. Materials with
issue into the spotlight at a time when funding for unclear copyright status may also require some
any new programs—however cost effective—is dif- legal research. It would be extremely useful to pro-
ficult to obtain. vide digital representations of archival and
In spite of these problems, the administra- museum materials, such as photographs, sculp-
tion has aggressively encouraged agencies to make tures, or technology of historic interest.
material available in digital form. The efforts have The most attractive digital format for
met with a considerable amount of success—par- archival and museum materials would be one in
ticularly in agencies familiar with the new tech- which the digitized image could be manipulated—
nologies. A search of the federal digital holdings or even disassembled—as a part of an interactive
will, for example, lead to the following: (begin at virtual environment. The cost of creating such rep-
URL:http:/Avww.whitehouse.gov). resentations is now well beyond the reach of agen-
e Extensive collections of National cies with federal collections. Technology costs
Agricultural Statistics maintained by change rapidly however.
USDA including the National Spatial It is unlikely that much archival information
Data Infrastructure database in the Soil on cultural collections will be transferred to digital
Conservation Service form using today’s tight federal budgets. Instead,
¢ Collections of unclassified satellite pho- cultural resource managers must develop innova-
tographs from the CIA tive funding approaches including foundation
e An enormous variety of real time and funding, partnerships, and cooperative agreements
historical weather data and weather with business and academia.
satellite imagery from NOAA as well as To be successful, these innovative
extensive environmental data and infor- approaches must take advantage of the enormous
mation on geographic, atmospheric, and resource represented by federal archivists, cura-
oceanographic information tors, historians, and other staff. These cultural
e Extensive collections of press releases, resource managers are familiar with the signifi-
regulatory notices, and announcements cance of the digitized collections. Cultural resource
from most federal agencies managers provide significant “value added” ser-
¢ Educational statistics from the vices when they share their knowledge and exper-
Department of Education tise about the digitized collections with the public
e Seven million references and abstracts in via the new information technologies.
the National Library of Medicine Communicating with the Government
e¢ GRATEFUL MED software providing Effective use of new information systems
inexpensive access to the Library's col- means much more than simply making informa-
lection of medical and health science tion available in raw form on a modern communi-
information cation network. The effectiveness of the system
¢ The National Park Service's descriptions depends on an ability to reduce the transaction
of the 360+ national parks, including costs people experience when dealing with the
overviews of trails, camping, weather, government. In particular, this means getting clear,
site highlights, and peak tourism; as well timely answers to questions and minimizing the
as overviews of all NPS programs from paperwork and hassle involved in responding to
curation to the Historic American federal requests for information.
Buildings Survey (http:/Awww.nps.gov) We hope that the networks being put in
The funding problem is compounded when place will lead to a great improvement in systems
the information is not available in digital form. which now depend largely on phone-answering
This is true particularly for archival information and paper-mailing. Several additional steps are
where documents are available only as ink on —Kelly, continued on back page
8 CRM NY 9—1995
Paul Handly
Developing a National Park 4
Service World Wide Website
A Brief History
t's been described as an electronic the suite of interpretative tools used by the
insurrection. A ground swell of National Park Service staff to convey the experi-
resources and creativity has been set ences and uniquely American spirit that the
free, and the key that opened the flood nation’s park lands embody. The importance of the
The National Park
gates of this creativity is the World Wide Web Internet as a method of interpretation should not
Service World Wide
Web home page. (the Web). The Web, the graphical medium of be underestimated.
In April 1994, an Executive Order required
' Netscape - [The Naional Park Service Home Page] >|] federal agencies to provide spatial data online for
Fie Eat View Go Gookmarks Options Directory Help | public access. The Internet was clearly the best
[Back Jonas | Home J |R eload| i vaaes| ]O pen | Print | Find J | sep J and most accessible way to provide information
Location: [httpuAvww_nps.gov! across the United States. It was clear that the NPS
should provide more than just raw spatial
(Geographic Information System [GIS]) data on
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE g@
the Internet, and before long a small group of peo-
ple began developing data applications on the
Web that would be attractive to users. By October
Welcome to the U.S. National Park Service 1994, fueled by the Yosemite home page devel-
oped by Joe Coho of the Western Regional Office,
The National Park Service is dedicated to conserving unimpairetdh e natural and cultural resources of
the nation's parklands, and througha variety cfn ationaalnd international programs, extendintgh e Patrick Gregerson and the author developed basic
ben fits ofn atural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation to people throughout this home pages for the parks in the then National
country and the world.
Capital Region (NCR). A discussion group was
formed within NCR to discuss the potential and
future direction for the NCR Websites.
By January 1995, this truly servicewide revo-
lution had caught the attention of the Director and
What park is this?
his staff. The Director applauded the work done
on the Wed, formalized the program and gave it
4} his support. A small group, made up of WASO
+ : program staff, regional staff, a superintendent, and
Ae) | other park staff, was formed to plan out the devel-
the Internet, has put a whole new face on the opment of the NPS Web program. That same
The NPS Museum
way information is shared inside organizations month, the first conceptual framework for the NPS
Collections home
and around the world. The Web has empowered —_W ebsite was presented at a national teleconfer-
page includes pro-
files of over 300 millions who can now share
NPS museum col- their stories and information
¥
lections; a Treasures
complete with pictures, sound,
of the Nation
and even video.
exhibit containing
images and The marriage between the
descriptions of National Park Service and one of
nationally significant
the world’s most innovative
objects and speci-
information technologies is eas-
mens; and bibliogra-
ier to understand by looking at
phies and
publications created the purpose of the Internet. At its
by the NPS root, the Internet is designed as
Museum an information tool, and as such, S aaiabt ana:d ss ji whd ie, ei povciotnn einen,a nd in some repositories outside the National Park
Management pro- Service. For more information and images on these collections, click on “Park Museum Collection Profiles” and “Treasureos f
gram. it becomes a natural extension of the Nation.“ For technical references on preserving and protecting objects, specimens, and archives, click on “Publications.
CRM NY 9—1995 9
planning, and other communi-
ties with the NPS. The second
session, held in Washington,
DC, provided a similar oppor-
tunity for interested parties
and other NPS Web develop-
ers to shape the growth and
Written history has its
place, says James Deetz in his book /n Small Things Forgotten, “but there is a look of the NPS presence on
time when we should set aside our perusal of dianes, court records, and the Web. By National Park
inventones, and listen to another voice “ That voice speaks powerfully from the
thousands of federally sponsored excavations across the country, inside and Week the NPS Website had
outside the national parks You can participate in archeology or just learn more grown from a prototype to a
about it by browsing below
iull-blown vehicle for convey-
ing interesting information to
The National Park ence, and based on that framework, members of the public and to NPS employees throughout the
Service Archeology the team agreed to work toward completing the Service.
home page. first stage of the NPS Website by March 1995. Soon after National Park Week, Steve
For the next two months, an intensive effort Grosz, Steve Pittleman, Chip Jenkins, Betsy
was made by team members to flesh out a com- Chittenden, the author and many others began the
prehensive Website for the entire National Park task of producing the first servicewide vision doc-
Service. Each program office was primarily con- ument aimed at guiding the further development
cerned with developing its respective home page, of the NPS Website. By early August the NPS Web
but offices with more expertise assisted in the Primer and the NPS Web Manual were released
development of multiple home pages. Dave via cc:Mail. Using these two documents, employ-
Duran, of the NBS (formerly the NPS GIS ees throughout the Service have added to the
Washington Office) who posted the first draft of growth of NPS'’s Web development.
the National Park Service home page months ear- The interest and commitment to the NPS
lier, worked c'osely with the author in setting up Web development process by a wide range of NPS
and building the current NPS Web Server, even as employees is a reflection of the growing interest in
Dave was developing the NBS Website. The the larger Internet community as a whole. The
Denver Service
Center's Technical
Information Center
(DSC) scanned the The National Register Information System (NRIS)
entire Red Book Index
The National (The National Parks:
The National Register Information System (NRIS) is the official database of the National Register of
Register
Index 1993) and sent _ Histone Places. The database contains nearly 65 000 listed properties which are searchable by 2 million indexed terms
Information
System home it to the NCR where _ Access the NRIS
|
page. the file was converted
|P ublic access is available wa the internet or “dial-up”. If you are accessing the NRIS from this page, remember to associate a telnet —
into Web hypertext | product with your browser. Frequent users may wish to Telnet directly on 165.63.212 245 to the NRIS computer After making the
| Connection, type “Natreg” to begin. Feel free to reference the NRIS computer in your own home page
mark-up language Fajen cotta tae 5
(HTML) format. This
text was the basis for each of the 368 park home transformation from the one-or-two person effort
pages. The graphic headers for each page were into a servicewide effort occurred faster than
developed largely thanks to Russell Bellknap of many previously thought possible.
the DSC's Eastern Team. Each program area of the The NPS efforts have not been lost on the
Service contributed to the rapid growth of the vast audience of the Internet. Those who have
Website. It is this “distributed” nature of the Web contributed to this process should be proud of the
and its authors that is the real power and force fact that the NPS Website was rated in the top 5%
behind the exponential growth of the Web in gen- of all most popular sites on the Web by Point
eral, and the NPS site in specific. Survey. Through the dedication of this “grass-
By March 1995, much of the work that had roots” effort, much has already been accomplished
been outlined in the original meeting two months and with the growing interest by park staff, who
earlier had been completed. Two review and com- knows where this might lead?
ment sessions were held to help hammer out the
kinks in the new NPS Website. The first session, Paul Handly is the National Park Service
based in Denver, consisted of approximately 20 Webmaster.
interested parties from the natural resources,
CRM NY 9—1995