ASUCLA to provide user-friendly network
New World Wide Web site brings students services and
information
By Patrick Kerkstra
Are you lost in the maze of the Internet? Do you keep forgetting
the difference between Ben, IZZY, and function key three? The
associated students of UCLA may have the ball of string to help
guide you through the labyrinth that is the information
superhighway.
This summer, the students association is establishing a World
Wide Web site, where navigation of cyberspace is as easy as it
gets. These sites are part of the mushrooming Internet and one of
its fastest growing components.
Web sites developed because of a need for a user-friendly ways
to obtain data on the Internet. Unlike other services, such as
newsgroups and file transfer protocols (FTP), web sites do not
require complex commands and much computer experience to
operate.
"There were a number of other internet information resources
available, like gopher, FTP, etc. The web is a natural evolution
from that," said James McCurdy, information resource development
manager for the associated students.
"World Wide Web makes it possible to display documents in an
attractive graphic interface. It lets you use images, sound and
video, whereas the other Internet resources were all pretty much
text-based," he continued.
Officials envision a web site where students have easy, instant
access to a vast amount of information.
Initially, the association plans to put minutes of student
government meetings, catalogs of association merchandise,
inventories of books, student media articles and other text-based
information in its site.
In the future, the web site could come to include large graphic
images, sound and even video, depending on the success of the
initial services and the association’s financial stability.
"We want a system where, for instance, if there was going to be
a student-sponsored concert, in addition to having a write-up on
the concert, we want people to be able to listen to a sound clip of
the music. But that’s a lot of information, and we’d need much more
powerful hardware to do that (than the association currently has),"
said Terrence Hsiao, the association’s director for information
systems.
And if the information a user needs is not on the association’s
web site, the system can transfer people to additional sites.
"Let’s say a student looks up the computer store’s inventory to
see if the store is carrying Adobe Photoshop. If the student wants
to know more about the program, we will eventually be able to
directly link the student from our web site to Adobe’s support
system," Hsiao said.
The association also has plans to develop a system where users
of the web could purchase association merchandise with a credit
card or their Bruin Gold cards. This same system could allow
students to purchase and download lecture notes over the
Internet.
There are virtually limitless amounts of potential services,
such as charging merchandise to student S-Bar accounts that could
be established on the association’s web. But such features will
require extensive interdepartmental cooperation, officials
explained.
"We’d like to make it possible for students to access some of
their academic records, but there are a lot of technical issues and
administrative issues that need to be resolved first," Hsiao
said.
Despite the students association’s multiplying financial
problems, members of its board of directors were enthusiastic about
the project, and unanimously voted to provide the necessary
funding.
"(The web site) is a virtual store. It’s the culmination of
student access," said Anita Cotter, an administration
representative on the board.
Others members were excited by the commercial prospects of the
venture.
"Hopefully, this will enable us, in a relatively cheap way, to
market ourselves on the Internet," said Karol Dean, co-chair of the
board’s finance committee.
The Office of Academic Computing is revamping its own electronic
mail and Internet access systems. The new system, to be called
Bruin Online, will be widely available in the fall and allow easy
access to the association’s web site.
Officials recommended that when Bruin Online is established,
patrons of the web site use a high-speed modem for best results.
Until then, to access the association’s web site, users need high
quality direct access to the Internet.