Information Architecture for the Web: Course Materials: Email Archives

photograph of Larry Johnson Welcome to e-class! The Course Website contains all the resources for the course. Go to the Course Materials section to read the Syllabus, then explore the Calendar, Requirements and Checklist.

When you're ready to begin, work your way through the Course Guide. The guide is divided into three CourseQuests containing the required readings, assignments, and projects.

The course contains five main sections: Website Evaluation, Information Architecture, Coding, Web Development, and Enhancements.

If you have questions, I'm happy to help. Just email me (address below).

NOTE: If you are enrolled in this class, you should be receiving these messages emailed directly to you. If that is not the case, contact your instructor larrjoh@gmail.com

S532 Kwicknote - April 16, 2010
Hello everyone,
Hang in there; the end of this course is in sight. Again thanks for all of your hard work. I have seen tremendous growth and improvement. But we have become a little 'strung out' in the course. That usually happens as some deal with Project2s - - in some instances the product just grew larger in its scope. Remember that quality is more important than quantity at this point - - as long as you attended to the required / assigned criteria, you should be fine.

I have been working with several on individual concerns and a few have just finished up or wrapping things up. I will soon turn to scoring the Proj2s but if any of you still have seen some element that is missing or can be improved - - you are OKAY to still make changes in the next few days (i.e., report on formative evaluation, proofing / correction, making sure that you include discussion of all required elements etc.).

In order to facilitate my scoring and for those who are choosing to extend their project2 work for project3 (Ofen the case) - - please do not upload / replace project2 online until next Wednesday. That will give me a few days to examine your work before any changes are online. Thanks in advance for that; it will make my work easier - by keeping things separate.

SBA3
The last Skills Building Activity SBA3 is due next Monday http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide3.htm#sba3

PROJECT3
After that, you can turn attention to the final project http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide3.htm#3 I know that a few of you are already working on this.

During the flurry to the finish, don't forget that Quiz3 will be opened for several days around April 26th.

Project 3 is due on Wednesday, Aprll 28th.

WEB ARCHIVE
Someone mentioned a website where you can see what websites looked like in the past and if you did not see that connection in another posting for Hutmate3 - - it is the Internet Archive: Wayback Machine
http://www.archive.org/web/web.php
The Wayback Machine houses webpages from 1996 to a few months from the present (The eduScapes site is there from Nov. 1998 through Aug. 2008). This archive does not contain the entire website, but does show what the front page looked like and includes other selected pages from the site. To start using the Wayback, paste or keyboard in the URL that you want to see. The resulting index will connect you to archive webpages.

Have a great weekend; I will be around and online as much as possible.
Dr. J

S532 Update - March 25, 2010
Hello,
Hope that you enjoyed a nice spring break, even if that meant you were working as usual and catching up a bit as the course schedule was on vacation.

Annette and I had a great trip to Death Valley - a days drive from our location. Left here during a snowstorm and had to stop twenty minutes for snow plows to clear the road in front of us over a nearby mountain. But once past that, it was smooth sailing. In Death Valley, we camped way out in the boonies (last ten miles was rough 4WD rocky road) with snow-covered Telescope Peak looming behind our campsite. Daytime temps in the 80s, nights in the 50s, very comfortable. Explored some areas that we had not seen before. Did see a few desert wildflowers, but were just a bit too early for the peak time of that phenomenon. Already planning another visit for next winter. Pretty cool to learn that one of you was there at about the same time.

Back refreshed and grading. And we have 1 to 3 inches of snow forecast for tomorrow. However daytime temps are heading back up, so this one will not last long. Spring comes a little later here in the intermountain west, but it is on its way. Our nearby tourist towns are starting to wake up; restaurants, motels, and campgrounds are opening back up for the summer season. Now we have to play close attention as we drive the local highways, because we are entering the season to round a curve and find a vehicle stopped in the road or even backing up in the lane in order to get that seatbelt view photograph out the window. Happens to me once or twice every year (8-).

Hope that you are well into the web-development process for your project. Reminder that even though the website itself is a main feature of this assignment, make sure that you devote time and attention to the design, development, formative evaluation, and reporting and reflecting on the process and your experience(s). Allow the needed time to get those assigned tasks completed too.

VALIDATION OF YOUTUBE VIDEO
More information about use of online video such as YouTube in your project: It is possible to validate YouTube coding for your video. However it's EASIEST to begin by validating your page without the YouTube video. Then, if you have trouble with the YouTube validation it will be easier to correct.

Here is an example of the coding that will work. Just replace the YouTube URL. Notice that you just need to replace the YouTube identification portion such as Fdu6AD5Y3D0. If you incorporate & and other characters there will be problems with validation.

QUIZ 2
Hope you have monitored the calendar and are on track to complete the second quiz this week. It has been open since the beginning of the week and will stay open until Saturday midnight. Sorry, I meant to put that in today's earlier message - same place at Oncourse and about the same procedure (as Quiz1).

Have a great weekend, I will be around working and online.
Larry

S532 Update - March 10, 2010
Hey gang,
You may not realize it, but you have achieved a lot during the past weeks. Don't worry about comparing your work to someone else's. Learn from each other and celebrate what you've accomplished so far. I know that some feel that you just do not have enough time to do that - - what with trying to complete the required assignments. However you will find that investing a little time in looking at how someone else laid out and designed their webpages and examining the associated HTML and CSS coding, often pays back in a better understanding of the techniques and process involved.

Now that you have learned the process of validation - - you should be aware that dependent upon your content, validation is not always possible. For example, using Flash video will not sometimes validate. That does not mean that you should not incorporate such components in your future work. It just means that you need to recognize that incompatibility and note that when you submit your future projects. Make your programs as valid and accessible as possible, but also include those content elements that you need for your work. And NEVER use a validation icon (HTML, CSS and Accessibility) unless your work fully passes each test. And another reminder, you need to identify, explain why the webpage will not validate (Include in your posting to Oncourse) and MAKE SURE that all other coding is valid - that is, when you remove the coding for embedding a video, the remaining code passes.

LITEHOUSE AWARDS
Received the results from your groups. Great job and you made some excellent selections. Your participation throughout that group process is important course component; everything from selecting and nominating your site, your examination and critique of all the nominated sites, comments and communications between the group, and finally the group coming up with their top choice. Take a little time and visit the winning sites in the other groups; lots of great ideas and models to study.

Envelope Please - The Winners are . . .
School, Classroom or School Libraries:
1) Clow Elementary School http://clow.ipsd.org/ - Gold
2) Plymouth Regional High School Library http://prhslibrary.com/ - Silver
3) Paideia School http://www.paideiaschool.org/ - Bronze

Public Libraries:
Rocky River Public Library http://www.rrpl.org/ - Gold
Arlington Heights Memorial Library http://www.ahml.info/ - Silver
Kent District Library http://www.kdl.org/ - Bronze

Academic, Special Library, Museum or Other Sites:
Art Institute of Chicago http://www.artic.edu/aic/ - Gold
NYU Libraries http://library.nyu.edu/ - Silver
Mayo Clinic http://mayoclinic.com/ - Bronze

Well done, excellent choices.

DREAMWEAVER
Now that you have completed Project1, we begin using the html software program, Adobe Dreamweaver. This software will help speed up the web development process and with your HTML coding and validation skills, you should be able to tweak the coding to maximize your work.

There are a number of good manuals for helping learn DreamweaverCS4.You can find many of them them at local libraries and bookstores. My favorite for ease of use and its tutorials:
McFarland, David (2008). Dreamweaver CS4: The Missing Manual. Pogue Press. ISBN 978-0596522926

Spend any available time you have getting acquainted with the Dreamweaver software, developing your project plan (Hutmate 4), and getting started with your project.

Don't forget the online help that is available:
1) Help within the Dreamweaver Software
2) IT Training workshop materials – workshop manuals are written for self-study mode. Materials can be found and downloaded from http://iuware.iu.edu Look in the Training section.
3) Lynda online tutorials available through IUPUI
4) Lots of other online tutorials can be found online; i.e., HTML Goodies at http://www.htmlgoodies.com/

PROJECT - WORKING WITH A CLIENT
Working for relative, parent, boss does not always give the best client - developer relationship - - I want you to be aware of that going into the process and you will have to make it as 'real world' as you can. Don't misunderstand, I think you can make this work for the course - - it just may not be the optimum situation.

The goal is your client(s) and you as developer to work together and produce the best website possible. In working with any client, you should first try to ascertain what they think are their needs for the web presence. At the same time, you should gather ideas, impressions and clearly if you see needs that are important, needs that the client does not recognize - - you want to bring those to attention, discuss, and come to agreement.

In this first experience with a client, you don't have all that much time to go into this pre-planning process, but should be aware that sometimes people don't always recognize important needs of their own situation and that's why another viewpoint from a little further outside the situation can be valuable.

In general I believe the goal should be - - working together combining ideas and collaborating to come up with a final product that best meets the needs of the situation. In other words, creating a web product that is better than either could come up with alone. Unlikely that you would have conflict in process but if that does occur (situation where you disagree with client's ideas); then as developer you are to reach compromise, reach some sort of consensus and complete the project. (Don't see that as an issue in your situation, but has occurred in past)

Again, be sure to avoid situation where you simply create the website for the client(s) - and the client is not involved in the planning, decision-making process. They are just going along because they support your study program, and just want you to pass this course . . . and any website that you create will fit them.

You report on that relationship either as an attached document or webpage (can be part of your planning / development document) that is not part of the website project. You have some other criteria in the assignment that needs to be submitted too but is not the final product.

ONLINE TOOL FOR CHOOSING COLORS
Color selection can be tricky whether one is building or furnishing a home - - or developing webpages. Adobe® Kuler™ is a web-hosted application for generating color themes for any project. No matter what you're creating, you can experiment quickly with color variations and browse thousands of themes found at the Kuler community. Learn more at:
http://www.adobe.com/products/kuler/
Be sure to explore the FAQ and Technical Information sections

IMAGES & VIDEO
As many of you found out, there are many ways to incorporate audio and video into a web page. Much of it gets down to audience. Who will be using your website? If they are new to audio and video, you may want to provide support such as links to the QuickTime drivers. Or, if they need information on the web page to understand the video, it makes sense to embed the video on the page rather than putting it in a separate location. It really depends on the needs of your content and audience.

You can take entire courses in imaging and using image editing / manipulation software, and I know some people have more experience than others. However, everyone did a nice job with images for there work so far. As you select images for future projects, think about their purpose. Whether it's a piece of clipart or a photograph, consider whether it's needed and how it contributes to the page. Also carefully consider the size of the graphic and whether to use a small/thumbnail, medium, or large visual depending on the intended purpose of the visual. Many of you incorporated captions or discussed the specific photo in the text of your page. This is a great idea.

Using a video or image by someone else, falls under the same general guidelines as for any published work. In other words, you may link to a video on another site (connect to the page) or in the case of YouTube and other video sharing sites, you may embed a direct link (when provided) to the video. However when you are intending to take the product and incorporate it into your own work, then it needs to be your own or you need permission from the distributor / publisher. If you find images in the public domain or with a stated permission of use - - then it is fine.

Finally you should credit the source of any and all images or other information elements with citation on your website.

A few resources from our web materials:
Public Domain, Copyright Free, Open Source, and Student Use Images and Media
http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic98.htm

Clip Art in the Public Domain
http://openclipart.org/

Free Stock Footage Clips http://www.footagefirm.com/freeclips.asp
Open Media Directory from Ourmedia http://www.ourmedia.org/node/156258

It's a good idea to tell people what type of video they are accessing within within the text of the website. This is also important when you link to a document such as a Word file or PDF file. When possible, also link to a website containing plugins such as the Apple QuickTime website.

Example:
Need QuickTime? <a href="http://www.apple.com/quicktime/download/">Click to Download.</a>

Be sure to include some description of media itself such as whether it contains audio elements.

There are many options. Let's watch the QuickTime bear movie.
<a href="http://tipt3.utoledo.edu/starters/bears/meadowbear.mov" title="This link provides soundless QuickTime movie of a black bear crossing a meadow.">Click here.</a>

I am really pleased with the efforts that all of you have put into your work so far in the course. Now that you have the Skills Building and Project 1 work out of the way - - we can now turn our attention to a html coding software: Dreamweaver CS4. With your new coding skills you will be able to fix many problems and tweak your Dreamweaver work.

Next week is Spring Break and Annette and I will be taking some time off. We are packing up the tent and camping gear; heading out this coming Sunday to Death Valley for some hiking and exploring there. Have been there a few times but not seen at this time of year and still have places to visit . . . don't know if the wildflowers will be in full bloom yet, but the desert should be beautiful this year.

Have a great remainder of the week. Be sure and contact me with any individual problems; I'm here to help . . . and I will get back to you as soon as possible, returning from the deserts of Death Valley on Thursday.
Larry

S532 Update - February 19, 2010
Hey everybody,
Now I'm on to scoring your SBA2s, and I see that what I have here below parallels some of your conversations at Oncourse. BTW with just a few exceptions, everyone is doing fantastic with the coding, validations, and now adding in more media and accessibility tests.

One student recently was surprised to find that some websites (Some relatively high level websites) have lots of coding errors and don't pass the accessibility tests. And that does not surprise me all that much. But before one goes to far in condemning the organization / the entity and their webmaster, we first need to examine the situation:

Do they have embedded Flash video, audio or other multimedia on the webpage?
Have they incorporated social networking content such as a blog, FB, and similar "Web 2.0' capabilities?

In other words do they have content that prevents their code from being valid. This is what some of your SBA2 work was about. There are times when as a web developer, we may want to include capabilities that we know will not meet the standards for coding. We sometimes still want that content and accept that our webpage will not pass the tests. In that instance we CANNOT display a validator or test icon that our work does not merit. But we do MAKE SURE that all other coding is valid; we run that portion through the tests to make sure that it meets the standards.

The key is to know what it is in on our webpage that causes our coding to fail the tests.

I believe the student felt since XYZ did not pass validation and accessibility tests, then why are we messing with it in this class. My response is along these lines:

1. Government websites and those who are receiving federal funding are required by law to make sites accessible.
2. As a professional, we should strive to maintain a level of standard performance in our work.
3. We want our work to be as accessible to as many people as possible.

Sure there are no Internet police, no government entity out there who are checking websites and enforcing penalties. Rather there is reliance on people involved in web-development to improve their work and meet at least some minimal standard levels. Some places take the validations and testings to a higher level; a few of you have had coding awarded a higher level than the minimum.

I finished my conversation in this fashion . . . I think of it being kind of like the health, safety, and accessibility standards in a restaurant. There are occasional inspections but some places are seldom or never checked. But where is it I want to eat, and take my good friend who is in a wheelchair? And do I want to eat where the manager and staff have decided that since nobody checks, then they will not mess with those health and sanitation standards. What the heck, nobody has gotten sick . . . that they know of . . .

DIAGNOSING PROBLEMS
Recently I've had a few students telling me of problems uploading materials to GoogleSites or Oncourse. Sometimes in explaining a problem, we make big jumps in analysis and come to wrong conclusions. I don't know of any way that Google or Oncourse can lockup one's computer, but remember when we are connected online, there are a number of elements in place - - starting with our computing device, through a particular browser software, via an Internet service provider / connection, and then routed to another server computer on the other end at Google or the University. Now I have skipped a few parts / components but this is the rough schematic of the process.

If you do have problems and ask me (or someone else) for help, provide as much specific detail as possible including citing the details of what happened, changed, didn't happen, specific messages, providing as many examples as possible, etc. I will do my best to help.

Keep in mind that in recent years, traffic has shifted on the Internet. After-work and early evening hours have seen a tremendous jump in usage with the advent of social technologies and the popularity of streaming video, audio and multimedia programming via the Net. People are tweeting, Skyping, gaming, working on FarmVille at FB, IMing to friends and family, and watching live feeds from NetFlicks or via Hulu (I have just began to scratch the surface, I didn't mention streaming Pandora, YouTube clips, or the CBC station that I like). In other words in some locations, problems may be caused by the sheer volume of traffic encountered. Frankly the U.S., once the leader in net infrastructure and technology, has fallen behind many other developed nations while use of the newer technologies demand more 'throughput' via the Net. There is finally a national push to improve / update our Internet infrastructure, but it will take some years of effort to bring us back to the forefront.

If a computer locks up, one can reboot / restart and get going again. You can try doing the file transfers / uploads at more odd times; try late, late at night or early, early morning. But if you want and need to get uninterrupted sleep and keep to more normal hours, you might try another technique that I employ and recommend. Sometimes a slow-down or lockup is actually contributed to by the browser we use. And one that I seldom use anymore is Internet Explorer. IE has a tendency to lockup and is no longer supported by Google technology (Google does not block it, they just don't try to fit their tech to IE). I like the Firefox browser but have found at times that it can begin 'whirling' or lockup so I have a couple of other browsers that I use when this starts happening.

If you are having these type problems, I suggest trying a different browser. Download copies, have them setup and ready, and switch when things are not working. A couple to try are Chrome and Safari.
Safari http://www.apple.com/safari/
Chrome http://www.google.com/chrome (PC version link at bottom of the page, almost hidden)

See if that does not help.

Another hint about working with servers, whether at Google, the University, or elsewhere. After uploading or deleting a file at the server, you sometimes need to refresh your browser (after the process). This does two things, breaks the connection and resends the webpage to your browser and helps to insure that the file is actually uploaded or deleted. And those actions of uploading and deleting are not instantaneous; that is, give them time to work / quit working. Finally become familiar with the structure of your directory and files at the server. Learn how to examine what is there, compare filenames and file sizes. The computing at servers work automatically, messages are generated automatically so watch for all the details and look for small clues.

One other example; a student recently reported that the Oncourse server changed their file names and caused them to not work as expected. After some digging into the details, I could respond that the renaming of a file happened because the server (Oncourse) thought there was another file with the same name already there. In the case of a duplicate upload or even when the server just thinks the file is a duplicate, the server computer is programmed to not overwrite the older file but instead, it automatically changed to another closely related file / folder name; in this example, changing from hopalong.jpg to hopalong_1.JPG or something similar. The computer thought that this was one of two files with the same name and in order to protect both files, it saved the new one under a different file name. The capitol JPG extension was the default for this particular server when it renamed a jpg file. Understanding what the computer is doing sometimes takes insight and experience.

BROWSERS
Once you have a webpage validated, get in the habit of checking your work on a few different browsers. But today the 'gap' between some browsers is widening; especially in the way they handle the online tools / resources that are generally known as 'Web 2.0' stuff. For example, Internet Explorer has fallen way behind - - therefore I recommend downloading and using browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, and Safara. If your work looks okay on these, then you are fine.

MORE ON CODING
Now that scoring your SBAs exercises is fresh in my mind, I will share few more thoughts.

You should now recognize that some elements of a webpage are used over and over each time you create a new page; i.e., declarations, html head tags, title tags, body tags, and meta-tags. Those should be on every page and be positioned in the same fashion. Almost all tags have a start tag and and end tag. Validators look for consistency in coding; looking for the standards that communicate between computers.

This is the first time (My wife and I have taught this course a number of times over recent years, separately and have team taught the course) that I've had a few people identify their pages as passing validity tests, and they clearly did not. It's one thing if someone added in the coding for validation icons and got them in the wrong place and made their code invalid, or added in an alt tag for an image and forgot to test one more time - - that happened to some of you. But others clearly thought that maybe he doesn't check. The answer is 'He checks.' And from here on out, the penalty for misrepresenting validity of work increases substantially. There are times when one incorporates elements into a webpage that will cause it not to validate. In those instances it is important to know why that is the situation, but we do not display or represent the coding as being valid. We test all other coding on the webpage and insure that it meets the standards and do not display a validator icon. In those instances that occur in this course, you should explain the situation in your posting at Oncourse.

Keep up your great work, most of you have gotten the difficult parts of coding and validation behind you. You now have a valuable skill that will be marketable as you apply and move on in your careers.

Those of you who take the time to explore your classmate's work can often pick up useful ideas and speed up your learning process. In this type of work, everyone's web products are different - even with the SBAs where most of the content was fixed. No one's code looked exactly like someone else's, and you can learn a lot by scanning through some of those

Have a great weekend; enjoy the work on your LITEhouse project. Notice that the course emphasis is now starting to shift. We still will be making sure that our coding is valid but now we are focussing on content design. It's creative and it's fun.
Dr. J

S532 Update - February 15, 2010
Hello Everyone,
First a bit more about coding - - your SBA1 exercises, and the validation processes (See below). Coding, this is probably the most difficult and tedious part of the course. Coding is unforgiving, one extra character or a character out of place and things do not work.

Be sure to keep up with the reading assignments as posted on the course calendar. In most instances, the assigned reading leads or is directly related to the assigned tasks in the course. For example, last week you read about audio and video and the SBA called for you to apply those techniques in the web coding.

QUIZ ONE
I generally don't like to give traditional tests over course content. On the other hand, I need an efficient way to determine whether you've located and read the course materials. It's easy to miss pages in an online course and every page is important. While the quizzes will determine whether you've gained a basic understanding of the factual information, the projects will demonstrate that you can apply these ideas. The questions come directly from the online course readings. The answers to the questions should be easy if you've read the materials. There are NO TRICKS, although there are funny (yet incorrect) options for each question to lessen the stress of test-taking. I just want to be sure you're reading. Feel free to use your course materials to answer the questions. There's no time limit, but you can only complete the quiz once.

Quiz 1 is administered online within Oncourse. It will cover all material in the class assigned through the week of February 9th. This online quiz will be available beginning Monday, Feb 15 and remain available for 5 full days, CLOSING FRIDAY NITE (Feb. 19th) AT MIDNIGHT. Don't forget it; in past semesters, students have and lost all available points!

At Oncourse, look for "Original Test and Survey" on the left menu index. Enter and select "Quiz 1" and complete by selecting the ONE BEST ANSWER to each question. The quiz is worth a total of 5 points on the grading scale (Oncourse cannot reconcile a score of less than one point per item; therefore I will adjust your number score to fit that total).

CORRECTION TO WEB MATERIALS
Thanks to Nan who pointed out an error in the instructions / 'basic requirements' for upcoming LITEhouse Award assignment. Have changed the wording to the following (Course guide1 http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm ):
Conduct a web accessibility test using HiSoftware® Cynthia Says™ or WAVE from WebAim. Your page should be at least Section 508 accessible. If you have trouble meeting the requirements, discuss the specific errors you were not able to correct. For help in interpreting the results, go to the help pages provided by the tool and the Formative Evaluation: Accessibility page. If the accessibility tool provides an icon and your webpage passes the test (Cynthia Says does), use that icon on your webpage.

And my recommendation for accessibility check is to use either Cynthia Says or WAVE; there are other similar free tools but I believe these are the best ones currently available. A few years ago we had access to Bobby and WebXACT, but they have been changed to pay-for-use services.

SBA EXERCISES
I've enjoyed working with many of you on your SBA exercises individually. I am finishing up scoring of SBA1s and so far almost everyone is making good progress. However some of you are coming up on the due date deadline for SBA2 but still have a bit more work to complete. At this stage of the course, I am interested in your mastering the work for coding, validation, uploading your files all all the related tasks.

If any of you need a few more days to wrap up the second SBA this week (due Monday), be sure to email me before the end of the day. Just make sure that you have made contact with me and that you are asking for my help if needed. Again at this stage, I am interested in your gaining the needed skills rather than meeting the strict due-date of completion. See if you can wrap up SBA2 in the next few days, at least by Thursday and be sure that I know if your submission is going to be a few days late.

For many in this and previous sections of this class, the first SBA exercises are the most challenging. However to be successful in the course, it is imperative that you gain these fundamental skills. Again I assure you that things will become easier. And these skills will be useful throughout the remainder of your work. Even when we are using Dreamweaver software to develop the pages, you still are required to validate the coding and complete an accessibility check.

I know that some of you put in lots of hours on these exercises. But keep in mind that you are learning a skill; new techniques and procedures. You need to master these basic tasks in order to make good use of the html development software. You may not code all of your pages, but you have to be able to examine your code and troubleshoot problems. These skills will pay you back quickly in your continued web development work. And you should be pleased when you have mastered the basic skills and have SBA2 behind you.

CODING AND VALIDATION
For most students, this is the toughest section of the course. But it is essential that you grasp the fundamentals of coding and get your pages to validate. You are developing an 'eye' for detail in your html / CSS work and corresponding troubleshooting skills for validation. The more you do this, the more experience you have at looking at code and matching error messages to their cause - - the easier it becomes.

Often when you have one problem, you have multiple error messages. They are usually related to the same basic error. So when you see that error feedback that you have umpty-zillion errors - don't faint, you probably less than a dozen and many are related / similar. The key is looking closely and identifying the problem elements.

A common problem - when you're working on html validation errors, the first thing to try is checking to be sure that your start and end tags match.

Second - remember that some tags don't have start and end tags; rather they require a slash within the tag; i.e., line break <br/> and horizontal line <hr/>

Remember to that html coding and CSS coding do not always use the same terminology and syntax.

Also make sure that each start tag has a matching end tag. This is probably the most common error.

ERRORS VS CHOICES
Once you get beyond the XHTML basics, you'll find that there are times when you need to make decisions about coding. The line between "correct" and "incorrect" begins to fade. A professional web developer is often faced with having to weigh the importance of validation with the need to present information in a particular way. For example, you may wish to embed a video within a page, even though you know that your page will not validate using strict XHTML. You may need to use a deprecated tag to create a "look" recognizing that it may cause a problem at some point in the future.

A novice programmer makes mistakes. The validator will catch these "errors" and the programmer will fix them.
An experienced programmer makes choices in coding. The validator will identify what it considers to be poor "choices" and the experienced programmer will decide whether the potential hazards are worth the gains.

For example, some of you may be concerned about a Table height requirement. This is a deprecated tag, but it's not the end of the world. Sometimes you use them to do specific activities that would be difficult otherwise, or you figure out another way to do the same thing.

VALIDATION AND ACCESSIBILITY
The second SBA activity was about learning to validate 'around' problems. Many of the Web 2.0 commands will not validate (embedding a YouTube video for example), but can still be used with the understanding that the rest of your page should validate. I haven't found a way to avoid validation problems with many embedded videos. The problem is that there's not consistency among browsers in terms of a standard for embedded videos... as a result, they often come up as being 'not valid.' This is one of those situations where some people use a 'best viewed on' browser statement to cover themselves. However you should validate the remainder of your coding, by identifying the the small section that pertains to the embedded video and then temporarily removing it from the file.

You need to learn to validate the remaining code for your page. It's okay if these specific elements don't validate, but the coding for the rest of the page needs to be valid. The recommended procedure is to copy and paste your coding (rather than inputting the URL) into the validation tool (keeping your finished work intact and saved). Then within the validator remove the coding that pertains to the embedded video. Check the coding for validation, make any needed corrections and adjustments, and then when the code passes validation - - paste the embedded coding for the video back into place. Check that everything works as needed.

Identify the situation in your Oncourse posting for the product. In my scoring of work, I copy and paste entire code in validator - then remove the embedded element to check that you have successfully coded your work. And do NOT include the validation icon on any webpage that does not completely pass the validity tests. Same for CSS validation and accessibility; only use an icon if the page as displayed to the public totally passes the checks and testing.

Accessibility testing will tell you that the page complies with all accessibility requirements and that you have gotten the job done. You need to fix errors, but you don't need to formally address a warning. You need to be aware of the issues related to the warnings.

MYTH - It looks fine, why validate?
It looks fine to you right now, but what about different browsers, screen displays, and operating systems? When a new version of the browser comes out, an un-validated page may look awful. Validation ensures that your pages contain no coding errors and are most likely to run quickly and smoothly on all web browsers. It's worth the time in the long run.

For example, a student in the class had a CSS problem. The page looked perfect in Safari, but it couldn't read the CSS in Internet Explorer for Mac or Windows. They had an error that Safari was able to catch, but the page couldn't be viewed using Internet Explorer.

MYTH - The layout and fonts look good on my computer, why be concerned about CSS validation?
Although everything may look good on your screen, CSS validation checks your coding against the standards. For example, many people use specific fonts that are only available on their computer. The CSS validation will suggest that you add a generic font that will be viewable by everyone.

MYTH - I can see and hear the page, why should I worry about anyone else?
Until Annette temporarily lost her hearing a few years ago (she got most of it back), it would have been easy for us to have this attitude. However we can tell you that accessibility is VERY important. You may see and hear well now, but wait a couple decades . . . (8-)

MYTH - Accessibility is only a concern to people who are deaf or blind.
Some people with older monitors have a hard time viewing pages that contain too little visual contrast. Those without computer speakers may not be able to play sounds. There are other reasons to be concerned about accessibility beside the obvious ones. All these issues are related to the usability of your website by others. As you design your pages, don't think about yourself as the user. Think about others!

Many people create and post webpages online and have never heard of code validation or know little about checking accessibility. But serious web development calls for meeting at least the basic levels of html and CSS code validation plus Section 508 accessibility testing.

SBA2 IMAGE LABEL LINK
SBA2 criteria calls for incorporating an image label link - asking you to use a technique to click on an image or icon to connect to something else - other than from a thumbnail to larger image (another requirement). Process is described in Chapter 6 (p. 114) of the Castro text.

Here you are not using a special command; you are just putting a link on an image. The thumbnail image is one example of that, but also try using it for another different element / process.

PROJECT 1
As soon as you can finish SBA2, you need to quickly turn your attention to Project1 http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm#3
This product involves creating a series of web pages that are used to nominate a website for the LITEhouse award. This project MUST be completed on schedule because your "committee" will need time (Feb. 22 to Mar. 1) to e-discuss the nominations and come up with the winner. Please select / have someone in your group email me your final winners (3 top choices).

You are to nominate a site for the LITEhouse award - - the best website you can find. Be sure to spend as much time with the content aspect of Project1 as the technical aspect. Students tend to lose more points on the content than the technical aspect of this assignment. Your Project 1 should be posted by Monday, February 22. During the following week, your group will discuss the nominations and choose the best of the best.

First post the web address of your Project 1 in a section of 'Hutmate 2 - Awards Discussion' in the Oncourse Forums section. After posting your Project1, you're ready to participate in the HUMATE 2 discussion. Rather than just sharing your favorites, be sure to share the reasoning for your choice. Make your best case for the group selecting your choice as the top-runner.

Here are some of the things that distinguish A projects from A- or B projects:
1) You MUST include LOTS of good examples from the nominated website. I don't just want a simple comment such as 'the navigation was good'... instead, I want you to describe WHY it was good and provide a link to a page that illustrates this idea. Explain the basis of that judgement; why in your analysis of the website, you feel that the navigation is good or outstanding. You might include a screen capture showing a part of a menu, an example of why you think navigation was well-designed.

2) Although we haven't talked about information architecture yet, you should already have a feel for good organization and navigation. Your web pages should be easy to use and navigate. It should be very clear how to move between your pages.

3) Your pages should be professional in appearance.... this means consistent fonts (a shared CSS is the easiest way to accomplish this), good use of graphics, colors, and headings, and quality, accurate, thoughtful information. It doesn't need to be fancy, simply professional.

HUTMATE 3
Plan early for this hutmate. It involves communicating with a web master. This should not simply be a friend who runs a website. Instead, choose a website that you respect and email the web master. You may want to send out 3-5 emails to different people because you may not get a response from your first communication. Carefully word your first email communication, knowing that these are busy professionals who do not have to respond to you at all. Therefore you want to first identify yourself, briefly explain you need for their assistance, and ask for their assistance. Then develop a good list of questions; you don't want this to be a difficult or time-consuming task for your volunteer experts.

It's a good idea to start working on this assignment IMMEDIATELY so you can post your results by March 3rd. And don't be surprised that you have to expand your contact list, send out a handful of emails to your first list and prepare another list of backup contacts. If you do not get a positive response after 4 or 5 days, send out the second batch. There are literally hundreds of thousands of webmasters out there.

Have a great week. Except for a few breaks now and then, I'm primarily working on scoring those SBAs and at work with my other class. Back with you soon - - I know this class is time consuming, but also be sure to take a break, get needed rest, and come back refreshed. Sometimes that is what is needed for 'break-through' understanding.

If you are having problems, ready to 'pull out hair' - - don't give up, the end is in site. If you are overwhelmed with validation - be sure to email me with your files. I can give some tips for making corrections and successfully validating your codes.
Larry

S532 Kwicknote - February 6, 2010
Hello gang,

Just a few reminders about validation. First I am happy to help anyone with this, but if you wait until the last day or two - - I will be overwhelmed and it may take us a few days to get through the process. I will be away from my computer parts of Sunday and Monday, but I will get back to everyone as soon as possible.

When you validate your code (I usually copy and paste the entire source code into the validator, that way I can make changes and retry / undo as needed), don't react to the numbers - - they sometimes "freak you out." One small error can trigger a whole stream of error messages. As you fix one, many others that are associated with the same error will disappear. Instead work down the page changing one thing at a time and revalidating with each change.

Look for missing characters, characters out of place. Here are the most common errors. Start with these:
Missing characters. For instance, you may be missing a / < > ; or "
Missing start or end tag. For instance, you have a <p> but not a matching </p>
Order problems. Sometimes your tags might be out of order. For instance be sure you nest properly.

The most common problem for a CSS document is improper coding. It's NOT an html document, so it should contain NO html code... no declaration, no head, no style tags... just the CSS information.

The error messages are somewhat cryptic (mysterious, hard to understand) They are automatically created by the validation software, but the software has been in use for several years and is reliable. I'm saying the the results are consistent; if you put in the same code again - - you will get the same result each time.

Finally, look at the code immediately BEFORE the information provided in the error statement. Sometimes an apparent error is actually something in the line before what's appearing in the error statement. For instance if you're missing an end tag, it may say that your tag "isn't allowed" here.

Last couple of things; once you get one document to validate and get a sense of the way the procedures work - - you are 'home free.' I will not validate your documents for you, but will provide specific ideas that will help you successfully validate your own documents. And once you complete these SBAs, you should find the worst part of the course is behind you.
Dr. J

S532 Update - January 28, 2010
Hello everyone; good morning.

HUTMATE SCORING
Your first Hutmate was due earlier this week. I have scored your website evaluations and analysis reports; the grades have been posted at Oncourse in the Gradebook. Replies / responses to one or more classmate's postings are due this coming Monday - - one week later than the original Hutmate posting. Many of you had already completed one or more reply postings and a score has been given. Thanks to those who did not limit themselves to just doing one but added comments, ideas and examples to several. Your participation is appreciated. By exploring several of the reports, you have hopefully gained added insights and ideas that are of benefit. I know that added discussion, examples, and information helps make the course more rich and successful - - especially in a web-based (distance) course.

For the record, Hutmate is a created title / word that loosely connects to the idea of architecture - construction - building (metaphor there somewhere). (8-)

Noted that a few people confused usability with accessibility. The latter has to do with special needs users while the former is concerned with everyone's use of a website. The website aspects that were required elements in your Hutmate evaluations were directly related to assigned reading on the same topics. We will be dealing with accessibility later with a Skills Building Activity (SBA).

MORE ABOUT PERSONAL WEBSPACE
First let me correct communication about using GoogleSites. At one time we could use the predecessor, GooglePages, to host website projects. GoogleSites replaced that system, and unfortunately they no longer allow uploading of HTML and CSS files.

Rather than using an outside service, I suggest that you use the University services for file storage for this course. The easiest approach is to use the tools within Oncourse CL (below).

For help with your accounts go to https://itaccounts.iu.edu/ams_user/ams_main.php

ITS Knowledge base has an extensive Help index such as this one for File transfer http://kb.iu.edu/data/apfj.html You can access more by using the search feature and browsing the menu at top of each webpage.

You have two options for IUPUI space:

1. Option one is to use your university web space.

Follow directions at http://kb.iu.edu/data/alcr.html for using MyPage (You may have been working from there, but need to make sure and explore all the connected / related pages. If you use your existing IU webspace, you will have to get the passphrase problem worked out.

What is SFTP, and how do I use it to transfer files? http://kb.iu.edu/data/akqg.html

2. Option two is to use Oncourse CL. Oncourse provides space to store assignments.

You will upload the files (html, images, css, etc) to your Oncourse Workspace and make it PUBLIC so it can be accessed by others on the web.

Use the following readings to learn more about this space:

* Oncourse CL My Workspace: Overview http://www.kb.indiana.edu/data/aqzy.html
* File storage in Oncourse CL http://www.kb.indiana.edu/data/aroh.html
* In Oncourse CL, how do I make my resource items publicly accessible? http://www.kb.indiana.edu/data/atkh.html

Here are directions to help you upload to this space and ensure that projects can be viewed by others on the web.

Enter OnCourse. Go to the MY WORKSPACE option in the red banner across the top of the Oncourse and you'll see RESOURCES.

Remember NOT to use spaces in folder or file names.

To Add a Folder:
Click ADD next to My Workspace.
Choose CREATE FOLDERS.
Enter the name of the new folder such as frogs

To make the folder PUBLIC, so others can see it:
Find your folder.
Click ACTIONS and choose EDIT DETAILS.
Click THIS FOLDER AND ITS CONTENTS ARE PUBLICLY VIEWABLE.

To Upload Single Files:
Locate the folder you wish to add items to such as frogs
Click ADD, UPLOAD FILES and locate the file on your hard drive.
Click ADD ANOTHER FILE to add multiple files.
Click UPLOAD FILES NOW to add the files.
If you upload to the main directly, be sure to select ACTION and choose EDIT DETAILS, and click THIS FILE IS PUBLICLY VIEWABLE.

To Upload multiple files:
Click Upload-Download Multiple Resources and follow the directions for Mac or Windows.
You can upload any kind of document including web pages, Word documents, PowerPoint documents, graphics, video, audio, etc.

Once you've uploaded files return to MY WORKSPACE, you should see the new items on the list.
Click the REVISE link next to the file you uploaded.
You'll see choices.
Under ACCESS, choose DISPLAY TO NON-MEMBERS (PUBLICLY VIEWABLE).
Near the bottom of the page you'll see the web address such as
https://oncourse.iu.edu/dav/~ljohnso followed by directories and subdirectories
Example - https://oncourse.iu.edu/acces

Here in UT we have had a few more days/nights of snowfall - close to 2 feet of snow hit the ground over the last week. We have also had a few warm days above freezing and some has melted but there's still over a foot still on the ground and our roadway - - we are the only house on the end of that road, and we will see if we can get out the drive tomorrow - - did not try today. Fun times and the snow is beautiful on our mountain slopes; plus snowfall is our main precipitation source here in high desert country (avg. less than 8 inches per year) so this will help hold the sand and dust down next Spring and Summer.

Hopes the information above is helpful and back with you soon,
Larry

S532 Update - January 25, 2010
Hey Everyone!
A few of you know that my preceding week was rather hectic with a necessary trip back to the Midwest to attend a funeral. Returned yesterday to find 14-16 inches of new snowfall at our home. I am now getting back on-track.

I've enjoyed reading your introductions; interesting to learn about some of your life. Hopefully your reading of everyone's introductions gave you a feel for the wide variety of people we have in the course. Its important that you become part of the course 'community.' You can learn so much from sharing and communicating with each other; each of you bring unique skills and experiences to the course content.

COURSEQUESTS
A CourseQuest is an inquiry-based, web-based course learning environment. I think CourseQuests are a great way to guide you through the course. The three CourseQuests can lead you through the course materials and assignments. Read these carefully.

Each CourseQuest has an introduction, task, process, product, evaluation, and conclusion. The PROCESS section of the CourseQuest contains readings, practice exercises, and required assignments (i.e., 7 Hutmate Discussion Assignments, 3 Skills Building Activities, and 3 Quizzes) for the course. The PRODUCT & EVALUATION section details the required project for the CourseQuest. When you've worked your way through all three CourseQuest, you're done! We'll spend the first couple weeks of the course concentrating on CourseQuest 1. http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm

At first, some students are overwhelmed by all of the links. Keep in mind that the CourseQuests link to the course readings and provide the guidelines for all the requirements. Use the Course Checklist http://eduscapes.com/arch/checklist.html and the Calendar http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/calendar.htm to be sure you've completed the required assignments. The calendar provides the due dates and dovetails with the coursequest content.

THIS WEEK
Last week, the course focused on getting to know each other and web readings on website exploration and evaluation. This week, we move to XHTML basics (or review depending on your skills). If XHTML is new to you, you'll need to work VERY HARD to keep up. For those who use XHTML regularly, the first couple weeks will be easy.

READINGS - LAST WEEK
Last week's Web reading assignments are:
Coding http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/index.htm
Coding Introduction http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/introduction.htm
HTML, (X)HTML, and XHTML http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/introduction1.htm
Editors http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/introduction2.htm
Terminology and Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/introduction3.htm
Deprecated Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/introduction4.htm

Coding: XHTML http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml.htm
XHTML: Declaration http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml1.htm
XHTML: HTML Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml2.htm
XHTML: Head Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml3.htm
XHTML: Title Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml4.htm
XHTML: Meta Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml5.htm
XHTML: Body Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml6.htm
XHTML: Text Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml7.htm

Textbook assignment
Read Castro Introduction & Chapters 1, 2, and 3.

READINGS - THIS WEEK
Coding: XHTML: List Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml8.htm
Link Tags http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml9.htm
Images http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml10.htm
Resources http://eduscapes.com/arch/code/xhtml17.htm

Also read Castro Chapters 5 and 6.

HUTMATE DISCUSSIONS
As you move through the process section of the CourseQuest, you'll notice a series of Hutmate Discussion assignments. You are to post these activities in the Oncourse Message Center section. You'll also need to respond to another student's posting for each activity. Hutmate 1 is due today.

Hutmate discussion postings and replies are to be placed within the Forum sections at Oncourse. Your original posting for Hutmate 1 is due by midnight. Followup with at least one reply to another student's posting. For the full credit, your reply / response must provide additional information, ideas, examples related to the original posting. Responses in the arena of "I like", "I agree", "I will use" etc. related to whatever was posted will not gain any credit - even though positive feedback is encouraged. Rather for the full score, you need to extend the original Hutmate discussion with substantive additions. Your reply / response is due within one more week from the original Hutmate posting; in other wods replies for Hutmate 1 need to be posted on or before Monday, February 1st. You can post as many responses to other postings as you want.

SKILLS BUILDING ACTIVITIES
There are three Skills Building Activities for the course. Two of the three are in the first CourseQuest. These activities will help you practice your coding skills.

If you have not already started, don't delay in getting going on the first Skills Building Activity SBA1.

PERSONAL WEBSITE
Follow the instructions described in the Skills Building Acitivity 1 assignment http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm#sba1 and on the Requirements page http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/require.htm to set up your webspace for housing and sharing your projects. GoogleSites is a good choice; you can also use the space available at Oncourse (Realize that there are limits in file storage size but that you can request added space - just takes a few days to receive clearance. Also once you graduate or are no longer an active student, the space is eventually lost).

If you have trouble getting your web space started, email and we can e-talk about this. You should email me the URL that will serve as your class home page sometime this week. You will also share this URL in your hutmate area.

LOOKING AHEAD
We'll be focusing on both the technical and content aspects of website design and creation. You will be creating a website from scratch for a REAL client of your choosing such as a library, school, classroom, nonprofit, organization, or small company, so it's a good idea to begin to think about this. Your client can be a friend, boss, work-related project, family member, or someone you simply approach and ask. This is NOT intended ito be a "personal home page," instead it is intended to provide an experience working with real content in a professional situation. You should go ahead and identify a potential client and make a contact so that you are ready later this month.

You may or may not be creating an entire website for this course. You may be able to focus on some aspect of an existing website. For example, you might develop a new digital collection for a local historical society, a children's area for a church website, a website for a nonprofit organization, a training and development section for a business, or a thematic literature circles or book club website for a library or school. This information-rich website will contain REAL, original content (i.e., text, graphics, photographs, documents, audio, forums, etc.), not just links. In the past we've seen every project you can imagine from websites for pet grooming services to church choirs. Many student choose public library, school library, or special library websites to develop.

FONT SIZE ISSUES
Some people find reading off a screen tiring. Particularly if you're on a Mac, you might find the font small.

If you're using FireFox as your web browser, go to the View menu and choose Text Size and then chose Increase. You can do this over and over to make it increasingly larger.

If you're using Explorer as your web browser, go to the View and choose Text Zoom and make it 150 or 200%. This should help a lot.

If you plan to do web development for libraries now or in the future, I'd suggest that you join the Web4Lib electronic discussion group. It's optional, but might be help to some of you. Learn more at http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/

LITTLE ABOUT CODING
No one can edit / change webpages; that is make changes directly to a webpage. You must go to the coding.

You can view the the source code of any webpage. Again this coding is on the Internet, but no one can change that source code as it appears.

What you can do is copy and paste coding into a simple text editing program such as NotePad (Windows PC) or TextEdit (Mac PC). I would not use MS Word because of the proprietary / extraneous coding that it adds.

Once you have copied coding into a text editing software, make sure it is the "plain text' mode (Save as Plain Text) - - you can then make changes and save. You can check those changes by using your browser to open your new version of the html file / source coding. You can then see exactly what the page would look like on the Web. Now you are viewing your code file but only on your computer; it is not out there on the Internet. To make a change on an webpage, you have to have password access to be able to ftp or transfer the new code file that you have edited or created to a file server for the website (For example, webpages for the course materials at the eduScapes site - the original html files are on my / our website at educscapes.com and the only people who can make changes there are Annette, I and a technician at our webservice provider. We do keep backup copies of each webpage on our computers).

MESSY CODING IN ONCOURSE POSTINGS
Noticed that postings for a few at Oncourse had a lot of extraneous coding. This is sometimes caused by keyboarding into a program such as MSWord and then copy / pasting into Oncourse. Some of you have posited that this also occurs when you keyboard directly into Oncourse. I do know that Microsoft is noted for its hidden coding. Remove it by converting and leaving as a 'plain text' document before copying and pasting. Some people like to compose their comments in the simple text editors like Notepad for Windows users and Textedit for those using the Mac platform. Try out your postings in the practice area that has been setup for your use. Note also that you should be able to delete and replace your own postings at Oncourse.

Back with you soon. Meantime if you have any added questions or concerns, don't hesitate to email me. And if my first response is not helpful, come back with followup details - - make sure that we are 'on the same page.'
Larry

S532 Kwiknote - January 13, 2010
Hi Gang,
Hope you are 'off to races' with the course materials this week. Realize that you can travel 'round the track' in different ways; i.e., following the CourseQuest http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm as it guides you from one activity to the next and / or progressing down the course Calendar http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/calendar.htm

By now you have probably found the menu bar on the left side of the course pages - - subheadings cascade down as you open different section.

ASSIGNED READING
For this first week, the readings are all online (Generally bold red text in the Course material takes you to linked internal or external page(s)):
Evaluation (Starting point; index page) http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/index.htm
School and Library Websites http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1.htm
School Websites http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1a.htm
Classroom and Teacher Pages http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1a.htm
Online School Newspapers and Magazines http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1c.htm
Student Pages http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1e.htm
School Library, Media and Technology Pages http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1f.htm
Public Library Websites http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1g.htm
Academic Library Websites http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1h.htm
Special Library Websites http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch1i.htm

Also read
Website Evaluation Criteria http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7.htm
Background Information http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7a.htm
Overall Impressions http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7b.htm
Content Aspects http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7c.htm
Design Aspects http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7d.htm
Navigation Aspects http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7e.htm
Technical and Usability Aspects http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7f.htm
Maintenance Aspects http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7g.htm
Content Enhancements http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch7g.htm
Website Awards http://eduscapes.com/arch/evaluate/arch12eval.htm

There will be added reading assignments each week. Have fun exploring and critically evaluating varied sites.
Larry

S532 Update - January 11, 2010
Hello everyone,
Thanks for your patience - - I trust that you are ready to get started? Bear with me today, this message is rather long . . . but remember it is important to read and understand the directions contained in these communications.

S532 Web Architecture http://eduscapes.com/arch/index.html is one of two courses that I teach that focus entirely on materials development. We start with three short exercises requiring you to refresh and expand your html coding skills - - these include validating your coding, and completing accessibility checks on your work (the latter is a requirement for government sponsored sites). Once you have command of basic html coding, we switch to using the Adobe Dreamweaver software to complete your final project. Web architecture is demanding, requires a commitment to master the processes. However you are not alone; I'm there to help you and if you do not give up and will keep communicating - - you should be able to successfully complete the course.

There are many students who come in with little or no html skills other than the S401 course. But Web Architecture (and the Flash course that I teach in other semesters) both require that you create / make a real media products - - in this case a web site, complete with textual content, and graphics. The great thing is that at the end of this course, you have the basic skills to create and maintain a library website. Yes it can be demanding class but it's worth it. The course will require that you devote the needed time to master and complete the tasks. Furthermore you cannot succeed without mastering the skills. The most important thing is to email me when you have a problem; attach the file you are working on and tell me what the problem is . . . that and don't give up. Get needed rest but come back refreshed and stay with it until you have that breakthrough experience.

Now that I have you scared, I should mention that the majority of students do not have that many problems . . . some never and I am unable to predict who will or will not. But again this is a course in which you must follow through with the actual development of website products - - rather than a course where you only need to grasp the theory and concepts. Here you must apply them in a real situation.

TEXTBOOKS
Castro, Elizabeth (2007). HTML, XHTML & CSS. 6th Edition. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. ISBN 0-321-43084-0

Rosenfeld, Louis & Morville, Peter (2007). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. 3rd Edition. Sebastopol: Ca: O'Reilly & Associates. ISBN 0-596-52734-9

Since there have been a few changes and restructuring at the course website, if something doesn't work or look quite right - let me know.

INTRODUCTION
I see a few familiar 'faces' (guess that would be names) on the roster and also several people new to me. Maybe I should introduce myself, at least provide a little more information directly related to this course. In the past, I've been a middle school and high school teacher, a school library media specialist, an instructional media administrator at a community college and a university, and I now teach online courses for IUPUI SLIS. I've been doing web-development since sometime in the 90s, but really geared up in 1998 with the development of our (wife, Annette Lamb - also teaches IUPUI Web courses) popular educational website http://eduscapes.com (eduScapes has now grown to a 'family' of websites with a few distinct URLs, but all under the eduScapes umbrella: 42eXplore, Escrapbooking). Today eduScapes gets ten to twelve million hits each month, more than 1.5 million visitors, and usually over 80 million KBytes downloaded.

I know that we usually have a wide variety of students in this course. Some of you have teaching experience and/or library experience, while others may be working in areas such as business or information science. I look forward to learning more about you! I enjoy teaching online courses and exploring the world around us. I usually teach one or two classes each semester at IUPUI, but I no longer live in Indiana. For the last decade, Annette and I were nomads of a sort, living in our motorhome (full-time RVers) and traveling all over North America. We have been teaching in the IUPUI SLIS program for over half of that time; the motorhome has a satellite Internet system mounted on the roof, and we usually had three or more laptops connected. But last Spring (March), we moved into a home we had built here in southern Utah.

Just a little more information about our location. We are a few miles from Teasdale, UT. If you look for that on a map, it is west of Capitol Reef National Park (15-20 minutes away). This high desert area is one of the most rural segments of the continental U.S. Our entire Wayne County region has about 2,500 permanent residents - - several more part-timers with seasonal, vacation homes. Main reason for the low population density is that here only 3 percent of the land is privately owned; the remaining land is either national park, national forest or BLM lands. We are in a sub-alpine area on a shoulder of Boulder Mountain, and our property (7,300' elevation) is adjacent to the Dixie National Forest. We have lots of wildlife, and beautiful views on all sides including down our small valley to the nearby red-rock canyonlands. Nearby Torrey, UT is the eastern starting point of scenic highway 12 that travels over part of Boulder Mtn., thru Grand Escalante National Monument and on to Bryce and Zion National Parks to the southwest. In the other eastern direction, one can travel thru Capitol Reef and then on to Canyonlands, Arches National Parks, and the tourist town of Moab. Those are just the attractions that are within a two to four hours. You may have a small sense of why we 'flatlanders' from the Midwest have fallen in love with the area. We are not the only ones attracted here; from April to October the area is loaded with tourists from all over the world. If interested we have lots more information and photos at:
http://www.eduscapes.com/lamb/
http://eduscapes.com/teasdale/threecreeks/index.htm

I will be sending out these periodic emails about every week to keep you up-to-date on things you should be doing for class and due dates. I'll also throw in more personal stuff occasionally, but will try not to bore you with too much more of that. I prefer to use my personal email for class interactions rather than Oncourse, larrjoh@gmail.com As a backup, you can use ljohnso@iupui.edu - - that mail is forwarded to my gmail server.

There are no required face-to-face or scheduled chat sessions for this course. Many students enjoy taking an online course because they don't have to be in a particular place at a particular time. HOWEVER, this means that you're responsible for making your own personal schedule in order to meet the course requirements on time. Some people find that this the most difficult part of the course. You need self-discipline to be successful in distance learning.

My job is to help you successfully complete this course and expand your skills in developing effective web-based materials. I spend much of my time at or close to a computer hooked directly to the Internet, so I'm happy to hold personal email discussions whenever you feel the need to talk. So anytime that you have questions or a problem, email me - - I'll get back with you as soon as possible.

For those who have taken one of the other Lamb - Johnson Web classes, this one is a little-bit different. All the other classes have some degree of project-based assignments; however most of this course requires completing actual webpage products. Assigned reading provides the needed background and instruction for completion of the assignments.

I hope that you have been able to purchase the required books. They are practical books that will take you step-by-step learning XHTML / CSS and Dreamweaver.

ASSIGNMENTS
Start with these links:
Entry page for L571 website http://eduscapes.com/arch/index.html
Open Course Materials http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/index.htm
Explore the Syllabus, Calendar, Requirements, and Resources
Syllabus http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/syllabus.htm
Calendar http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/calendar.htm
Requirements http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/require.htm
Resources http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/resources.htm

Follow the instructions on the Requirements page, go into Oncourse and Introduce Yourself (I see a few of you have already been there / done that).

Then follow the instructions setup in the Course Guide
Begin with CourseQuest 1 http://eduscapes.com/arch/course/guide1.htm

Look over the course calendar and I will followup with another update message in a couple of days . . .

RECOMMENDATION
As you are getting started, I strongly recommend that the only page that you print out be the Checklist. I would not print-out course materials for reading; it's takes a lot of time and paper (money spent) plus you cannot grab the connected resources in this hypertext Web environment. Those are resources through which you should browse, looking for key information and ideas related to the course content. If you need to print out directions for specific assignments, wait to do that at the exact time you are beginning to work on that assignment.

SOFTWARE - ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 4
As mentioned above, very shortly you will need access to the Adobe Dreamweaver software. It is one part of the Adobe Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Package (Available in Mac or PC versions) https://iuware.iu.edu/ As a student, you can download the software free at the IUWare site. Don't delay; get that done in the next few weeks. Have found that waiting till the last weekend leads to finding out that something does not work and then you have no time to find and resolve the problem. If you have a slow internet connection, it may take a while. You can arrange to purchase the disks if needed but you MUST have the software for this course.

Better go now, and remember - - if you are having trouble or something does not make sense: email me . . . and try not to do that printing thing. (The website will be there - long after this course is over). And make sure that you contact me when you encounter problems; sometimes it may take a series of emails back in forth to work through, but if you don't give up and keep communicating the problems - we will make it.

Last thing, if you have a different email that you would prefer me to use . . . just let me know.

Back with you soon,
Larry

Requirements listed by Adobe for the software suite (Free to IUPUI students through IUWare):
Windows
* 2GHz or faster processor
* Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 2 (Service Pack 3 recommended) or Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise with Service Pack 1 (certified for 32-bit Windows XP and Windows Vista)
* 1GB of RAM or more recommended
* 9.3GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on flash-based storage devices)
* 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
* Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
* Some features in Adobe® Bridge rely on a DirectX 9–capable graphics card with at least 64MB of VRAM
* DVD-ROM drive
* QuickTime 7.4.5 software required for multimedia features
* Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

Mac OS
* PowerPC® G5 or multicore Intel® processor
* Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4
* Java™ Runtime Environment 1.5 required for Adobe Version Cue® Server
* 1GB of RAM or more recommended
* 10.3GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional hard-disk space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on flash-based storage devices)
* 1,024x768 display (1,280x800 recommended) with 16-bit video card
* Some GPU-accelerated features require graphics support for Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
* DVD-ROM drive
* QuickTime 7.4.5 software required for multimedia features
* Broadband Internet connection required for online services*

Larry johnson

Larry Johnson, PhD
Indiana University at Indianapolis (IUPUI)
larrjoh@gmail.com
ljohnso@iupui.edu
http://eduscapes.com

Archives of Email Messages - S532 Spring 2010