Clio Wired (History 696)

While some nonprofit museum and historical society sites are more interesting than others in content, and some employ flashier multimedia devices i.e. Mount Vernon, many seem to follow a similar web design format (see Monticello.) This includes information on visitors services and visitor information, on-line exhibits, collection information & related merchandise sale information.

Good Design or Beauty is in the Eye...
I had trouble choosing just one favorite but I think one of the nicest designs I have seen is The Oakland Museum of California site for their traveling exhibition: Gold Rush. The physical exhibit is closed but the web site remains available for visitors. This site is a pleasure to navigate through. Every link is clearly labeled and consistently placed. The pages are visually appealing with clear graphics , although to a certain extent I think that is subjective.
The audiovisual presentations work well on both Macs and PC's using both Shockwave and QTVR. There are clear directions for interactives such as how to for download necessary plug-ins as well as depictions of the icons that distinguish the audio from the videos. This site was easy to use as well as interesting. The overall presentation is logically organized, intuitive with consistency of design throughout, which helped facilitate the ease of navigation. There is an effective sidebar navigation for topics and clearly defined (highlighted) roll-over links.
At the bottom of each page is a navigation bar that includes both an internal search and a useful site map, a home link, a guestbook (which is now closed), credits which unobtrusively also include the sponsors, and a "get involved" section which includes educational materials that are also highlighted on the home page. Each section index also have a header bar with additional dropdown menus. The individual pages were attractive, using a color scheme that was appealing to the eye in both text and background. Throughout the site there was a consistency of format, page layout, use of fonts, and color. The pages were uncluttered and neat, balancing the use of image with text. The text was easy to read and the images were clear, relevant, and of decent quality. The content was interesting and well written for a broad audience

Additional Comments on Good Design:
Commercial sites appear to be a bit more varied in design than the non-profits, depending on their budgets, although they also contain predictable information about their finances, corporate identity, product information, and a history of the business. Sometimes though these sites can be surprisingly educational and fun! Two of my favorites, Coke and Energizer are examples of completely different approaches to web design through use and placement of multimedia, choice of backgrounds and color, navigation, and balance of text and image. Though both are corporate sites, they are visually quite different. The Coke site opens with an optional multimedia presentation, and the drop down menus and hyper links provide variety but sometimes the navigation isn’t obvious. The section labeled Heritage includes both multimedia in the form of a timeline on the development of Coke products, and advertising with a hyper link to an essay on the history of Coke, and pages integrating both text and image such as the Select a Story drop down menu in the Coke Lore section.
In contrast, Energizer Bunny site pages are more static and predictable, with navigation always on the top and left. Their pages appear clean and uncluttered due to their light background and use of empty space. The Bunny section includes a multimedia presentation of several past advertisements, but their is an intermediary screen which gives the user a choice of plug-ins and is more restful for the eye. The brief history of the Energizer Bunny and the Learning Center section also include informative timeline/history pages on batteries and flashlights, as well as science project pages and well drawn illustrations. While the product information is present, the commercial aspects appear less obvious.

One of my other favorite sites is the history section of the BBC web site . While the site is large with a portal type entry, it is beautifully designed with easy, intuitive navigation, good use of multimedia, audience engaging devices, and interesting content. Not just a site for Anglophiles, this site covers a wide range of historical topics and time periods. It has a useful site map, intelligent articles, reference links, short biographies, games and learning activities, timelines, a multimedia component, a children’s section, multi topic message/chat boards, a sign-up to be notified when new information appears, the usual contact information and the link to the television program scheduling. There is also a section under the World War II section that invites the user to submit family stories but unlike National Geographic’s Pearl Harbor Memory Book, this typically British site gives complete instructions and formats for submissions to the site. The unedited submissions may be temporarily viewed (a month or so) at a page called the “Editorial Desk” but only a select few will make it for a longer run on the web page for oral histories and stories.
Navigation is predictable and easy in this site; the fonts are usually a good size and with terrific use of rollover links the are clearly defined by both their underline and bright color. Generally larger theme navigation is located on the left sidebar which is hierarchical with the Home BBC page and site Search easily found at the top. If not bolded within a page, hyperlinks may be found on the right side of a page. The content is thoughtful and well presented; titles clearly indicate the indexed topics and the the grammar, spelling, and punctuation are impeccably correct. The site is also structured to make sense both topically and chronologically, and it is easy on the eye with informative pictures and text. The only complaints I have with this site are:
1. The multimedia sometimes requires different plug-ins than those that I already have, although downloading instructions are provided through hyperlinks.
2. Some of the detail screens contain very small print which is hard on the eyes (See Monarchs and Leaders timeline under the Church and State section.)
3. Not all links work because a URL may have moved and the address hasn’t been updated (i.e. the Bayeaux Tapestry link on the “Unpicking the past” page under the “History Trail- Go Further” section.)
Other than these occasional intermittent problems, this site is a gem, appealing and engaging, and I highly recommend it!

Bad or Ugly Design
I found it is relatively easy to come up with at least a few poor design elements in a good many web sites. One of the worst in “history” sites is The Museum of The Great American West.
The first couple of paragraphs on the introductory page are a good indication of the problematic content and design issues contained in this site:
“From archive collections we are proud to present the first of our museums for your enjoyment. Visit us often as we prepare 30 years of Serous historical collections into Fine Museums for your pleasure. Enjoy your stay with us
The Museum of The Great American West”
The Museum of The Great American West was created for your pleasure in a hope to shine a realism of light on a very interesting time in history. Directors of movies and authors of books have portrayed this frame of time in many ways...”
Note the misspelling, sentence structure, the lack of punctuation, and problems with word spacing. On the plus side the colors are aesthetically pleasing and the pages are not too overcrowded. Even the commercial box at the bottom is visually appealing. Because there is little to no variety in color, one would consider the consistency a good design but in this case the site is mostly excessive dull, boring text, which looses any points on visual appeal after the first page. With the exception of the inclusion of pages about women and American Indians, the content reads like an old history text book without much illustration, and appears to be written for a second grade audience. There is with nothing particularly thought provoking or engaging.
The site does include an list of hyperlinks to internal text pages with topics that include"Women Who Tamed the West" and events such as the Alamo. There are also some biographical pages on "noted frontiersmen and pioneers" such as Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Calamity Jane and as well as several entries on Native Americans and soldiers under the label of Indians and U.S. Cavalry. Very few images are included however. The biography pages do have some design consistency: an image at the top followed by birth & death information and then several paragraphs summarizing the person’s significance in Western History. Additional hyperlinks are also included for subjects & events i.e. for Sacajawea there is a link “woman” which links to the topic page of “Woman Who Tamed the West”. and several hyper links to the same page titled “Lewis and Clark Expedition.” Even though there are ample sites for use within the public domain and could have been referenced, all links are to pages within the site. Since the hyperlinks are always limited to the pages internal to the site the visitor is treated to the illusion of being caught in a loop and the “Back” button is used in abundance. Every page requires scrolling and all have a prominent commercial box at the bottom. Aside from the user scrolling, the text is static; the only movement on the screen is the Flag waving at the the Friends of United States Freedom Documents link (Uh oh- another militia site) and the pages of a book turning at the link for the Rocky Mountain Book Exchange. While the design undoubtedly draws attention to these sections, if can be very annoying after a short time, and given that this box is at the bottom of every page it doesn’t take that long.
The section labeled “American Western Trading Post” is the commercial area of the site. For sale are bronze stagecoaches, gold & silver coins, and spinning wheels. There is also page for general classifieds, a test site for selling Stagecoaches, Wagons and Carriages, a “Western” book exchange, and an Adobe download for a 1999 policy page that is actually a disclaimer for purchases of their advertised products. There is also a section called Freedom Hall which links the audience to copies of The Declaration of Independence, The Articles of Confederation, The Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights. Some of the documents are preceded by brief introductions which attempts to provide some historical context. There are also essays on other pages that are suppose to provide background or “give insight to the evolution of these documents.” All are "patriotic" in tone and stylistically simplistic. Mystery links that appear to have nothing to do with the topic often appear at the very bottom of pages. These appear to reference military topics such as army attack helicopters. These are provided by “sponsor sites” and while they may be interesting or scary to some, they do not relate to the web site’s topics ecept maybe with the fond reference to various weapons! Another problem is if you get to the site through the preview page of Netscape Explorer, the image on the Introductory page doesn’t always go away and often can’t be closed out unless you close the browser. So in addition to the dead ends, beware- your screen can freeze.

Additional Bad Web sites I’d like to share:
Both Jim Jacobson's Home Page and The History Guy are examples of really ugly personal sites. History Guy claims to be "a resource on Military History, World Conflicts, American Politics, and Biography." The scrolling text and colorful font are a visual nightmare. Jim Jacobson's site has a section called which has a section "Famous People Born On this Day in History" and "Events On this Day in History" which is how it can be considered a bad history site! The Jacobson site is entertaining at first but quickly gets annoying; with its overabundant use of audio, animation and GIFS it is truly headache inspiring, which is his intention as he prides himself on his "gaudy multimedia." Both sites contain idiosyncratic, outrageous, and often inaccurate in content.