Cary has invited comments about the availability of and access to material on the Internet and particularly the use of the e-mail archive and Web pages. While it is a good aim to make information available via a number of methods, I do not believe it is feasible or indeed desirable for all Web pages to be available in an e-mail version. In terms of access, I suspect that most users can make direct use of Web pages, either through a browser like Netscape/Mosaic or Lynx or an offline reader. There will clearly be a number of users without these facilities who might benefit from being able to download the text of the Web page as an e-mail document, but I do not think this should be a priority or a design constraint, other than in the specific case mentioned below. The present pages in the ICOM e-mail archive include examples of straight text and pages with HTML markup. I have originated the Web copy for one or two of the latter examples (like the Internet brochure) and they do not transfer very successfully as an e-mail document, due to the incorporation of HTML mark-up, inappropriate layout, etc. Furthermore, a well-designed Web page will include content and design elements which are inappropriate in an e-mail version. I would not personally put effort into generating and maintaining both a Web and an e-mail version of all documents and I do not think this is a realistic long-term proposition. I understand the duplication also results in additional maintenance work and think we should avoid any unnecessary overhead in this area. In terms of information content, the Web pages I have been involved in developing for CIDOC fall into three distinct categories: the full text of reports, such as fact sheets and documentation guidelines: these are comparable to printed publications (and indeed the current CIDOC set are all available in printed form) and are relatively static; I think it is very useful to have this type of material available as Web documents, with the ability to move around the report and switch to other linked reports; pages with specific sets of information about the Committee, standards, etc., any of which may be updated as new information comes to hand; these also seem ideal as Web documents; formal Committee papers, such as the Rules, similar in concept to ICOM material such as the Statutes; these are largely static in content and formal in nature. Given their significance as formal business documents, I would argue that the third group should be available and maintained in parallel Web and e-mail versions, with equal care taken in the design of both versions. I think this applies to a number of the current ICOM-originated documents, but very few of those that will be produced by the Committees. I am unconvinced it is a priority to have e-mail versions of the other two types of page. Andrew Roberts [log in to unmask] 21 March 1996