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Colleagues and Beauty on the Web Fans:

Have just talked to Lee Sorenson, our Webmaster, who took the initiative--and
the time--to install a Beauty on the Web page on the ARLIS/NA Web site
<http:www.lib.duke.edu/lilly/arlis/beauty.htm>.  He has made the corrections
needed to make sure all the hyperlinks actually work for you.  He will be
adding a few later this week that were sent to me personally instead of to the
List.  I asked him if I should recommend to people that they send their
favorite beauties directly to him and he said he wished I would continue as an
intermediary as he is very busy with other ARLIS/NA Web Site business--as well
as with his day job!

So--yes, please do continue to send your recommendations and comments either
to me or to the Listserv rather than directly to Lee.  All recommendations are
going on the Web Page except that we have decided not to list any that are
commercial in nature.  I recognize that even this may be seen as censorship by
some.

At this point, the whole topic of ARLIS' future involvement (if any) in
recognizing web page beauty is purely in the discussion stage.  The idea of
creating a "Wittenborn-type" award may be premature--or not.  Some people have
suggested Beauty and the Web as a panel topic for Pittsburgh.  Undoubtedly
some of us will get together to talk about it in Vancouver.  I really had only
a personal interest in it originally and had no idea it would generate so much
interest.  For now, I will continue to act as an intermediary, but may need to
turn it over to someone else in the future.

There were a few general comments that were sent to me instead of the List
that I thought I would abstract here:

From Floyd Zula (<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9903%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7bit7BIT%26P%3D271161%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>):
Before we head into aesthetics, I think it might be nice to have some
standards.  What makes dealing with books more attractive than web sites is
that outside of artists' books and other speciality creations, you know how
[books are organized] and can assess how long it might take to plow into. . .
. Yes, standards could inhibit artistic and other impulses, but too many of us
have too many things to accomplish other than endlessly clicking on a web site
that takes you down a tortuous garden path to find something of little or no
benefit.  I would prefer to see an initial "organization chart" of the web
site with some . . . concise narrative that would allow an initial assessment
similar to printed materials.

From Jean Hines (<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9903%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7bit7BIT%26P%3D271161%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>):
ID [formerly Industrial Design] Magazine has a feature called WebWatch that
lists new, visually interesting websites.  I have asked a grad ass't to create
an annotated list of the more interesting ones.

A related announcement rec'd from another list:
CYBERART99: seeking solutions; May 9: New York City
<http://www.asci.org/cyberart99/>

Also, I was reminded that there was a terrific workshop (that I took!) at the
ARLIS/NA conference in Miami on good web page design.  Barbara Prior
(<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9903%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7bit7BIT%26P%3D271161%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>) was one of the instructors.  Part of it dealt with
the sort of mechanical design issues with which Floyd Zula (comments above) is
concerned.

Several people commented on issues of TIME--and that has become an issue for
me as well.  Of course, the main issue is just finding the time to look at the
sites--even though, yes, it is often very rewarding.  The other issue
sometimes is one of technology--not having a modem fast enough to download the
more elaborate sites efficiently.  So far the technology problem has been an
issue for me only occasionally.  My friend the director also has issues of
time, so I am very glad to be able to point him to the web page.   For those
who are wondering, I haven't heard back from him yet.

A few personal comments for those who may think this is a shallow endeavor:
Aesthetics are certainly a function of personal taste, which is a function of
cultural context, education, experience, personality, etc.  I don't think
there is a universal aesthetic, and it is even hard to talk about aesthetics
within a particular culture.  But this doesn't mean that we don't each have a
sense of what is beautiful for ourselves individually--and if we share
examples with others as we have been doing--we will probably find others who
respond with similar examples.  Just for the record, though, although beauty
is very important in my life--as I'm sure it is for most art librarians--I do
believe that there is alot more to art--and design--than aesthetics.  My
concept of art is much more integrated with life than that.  So, talking about
"beauty on the web" is talking about just one aspect, albeit an important--and
obviously fascinating--one.

Joan Benedetti
<a href="/scripts/wa.exe?LOGON=A3%3Dind9903%26L%3DARLIS-L%26E%3D7bit7BIT%26P%3D271161%26B%3D--%26T%3Dtext%252FplainTEXT%252FPLAIN%3B%2520charset%3DUS-ASCII%26pending%3D" target="_parent" >[log in to unmask]</a>