Robert MacKimmie ([log in to unmask]) wonders:

>Given the wild success success of the Internet and Web access, is
>anyone upset by the fact that Netscape is a bit of "the tail waging
>the dog"?

My own feeling is of great excitement about the development of Netscape's
extensions to HTML,and a feeling that their efforts will result in
wonderful improvements to the language. Netscape-enhanced HTML documents
can still be written with any text editor, graphics, video and sound files
are in standard formats, the enhancements are documented in
publicly-accessible sites, and the Netscape viewer is free, at least for
users in non-profit and educational institutions.

Our museum does not yet have a public Web site, but we are developing such
a site and running it in-house on a Macintosh localTalk network. With
Netscape's recent agreement with Macromedia, a Web-based network promises
to provide in-house staff resources, in-house public kiosk access to
multimedia collection and exhibition information, and global outreach. New
tools being developed for the Mac system using AppleScript allow the
control of other programs through Web browsers, enabling the relatively
simple construction of Web "front ends" to standard databases, notably
Filemaker.

It seems to me that we are witnessing the rapid evolution of a
communication form that is filling a niche in the information landscape. If
museums want visitors to their web sites, they will have to follow the
migration.

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"And when things start to happen, don't worry.  Don't stew.  Just go right
along.  YOU'LL start happening too."
                                                                -Dr. Seuss
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Jim Swanson   /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies   Banff,Alberta /\/\/\
[log in to unmask]  /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\