You'll find loads of resources on the 'net about html and Internet publishing. Go to one of search engine directories, and do a keyword search. You'll find more than you need. Below are some of the best resources I've found.
 

Learning About Publishing on the Web

       Probably the easiest way to learn about publishing on the Internet is through observation. Surf, surf, surf. Pay attention to what kinds of things are repeated, what's unusual, and especially to what catches your eye and intrigues your mind.

       Here's a good tip: think about what seems to be missing from sites that ought to be more useful to you. Sites that address your interests ought to be useful to you. If they have the right information, the right amount of it, and if you can find it easily, and interact with it easily, then they probably will be useful. If they're lacking in some way and don't give you what you want or need, note what's missing. That will help you realize the kind of information or function you need to include in your site.

       After you've done some surfing, check out Tony Karp's Art and the Zen of Web Sites for some basic commonsense ideas that will help you plan and design your own web site. Then, when you feel comfortable, check out Web Review, an online magazine "for people who make the Web work," for the latest review of technology and for tips on how to make it useful. The most up-to-date information on Internet publishing can be found right here on the Web.

       Below are a selection to other links on the Web that will help you learn about HTML and publishing on the Web. These are not the only resources available, of course, but I think they are among the best. I've tried to pare the list of links down to make learning more efficient and less confusing. There is some duplication of information, nonetheless, but I think you'll find them worth checking out.
     

Learning About the Internet and the Web

  • Using and Understanding the Internet: Beginners' Guide, a Public Broadcasting Service resource written in conjunction with its "Life on the Internet" project, will lead you to an overview of the Internet, the Web, email, and how to use them.
  • The World Wide Web History Project is a collaborative effort to write a detailed history of the Web. A deep and ambitious site with searchable archives that will introduce you to the events and people who contributed to the Internet's and Web's development.
  • Hobbes' Internet Timeline, maintained by Robert H'obbes' Zakon (a self-proclaimed Internet Evangelist) offers an authoritative chronology of events and technological developments in the Internet's and Web's history. Includes charts that show growth and use.
  • The World Wide Web Consortium's history of the Web, offers an insider's view of the Web's evolution straight from the people who actually made it happen. Lots of links here to other documents. (The World Wide Web Consortium is an international organization hosted by research universities created to serve as an informational resource for Web developers.)

     

Learning HTML

       It's true: you really don't need to know html to use it, just as you don't need to know how your car works in order to drive it. You can always use one of the many HTML editors available on the Web or at your neighborhood software store to help you code your page. Moreover, some word processors and desktop publishers will let you convert their files into HTML, which makes building a web site even easier. But each of these technologies has its limitations. If you don't know html, your abilities to create an effective web page will be restricted by the functions of your editor. I strongly suggest you learn a little html. You can do it. The links below will help.

     

  • Creating HTML -- A Simple Guide, by Jason Borneman at UM-St. Louis. There are lots of guides on html, and this is one of the good ones: a down-and-dirty, give-me-something-I-can-use kind of site that shows code, offers advice, and links you to other sites.
  • HTML Web Designer+s Web Page This link will lead you to The HTML Writer's Guild homepage, an interactive where you can find info on HTML, but also on design, resources, professional discussion groups, and such things. Targeted at professionals, but students and amateurs will also find it useful.
  • The World Wide Web Consortium's tutorial. The most up to date site for Internet and Web protocols.
  • Would you like to set up a WWW server of your own, right in your classroom? The Classroom Internet Server Cookbook "gives the recipes for setting up an Internet server on a classroom. Each recipe includes links so that you can download every ingredient you need."
  • Interested in corporate applications? The Intranet Design and Implementation Strategies site offers an array of tips, hints, and just plain good advice for would-be corporate webmasters. Those of you who are thinking about such a career might want to dive into this site a while.

Good Examples

This link will lead you to examples that showcase different values of web publishing.

 

 


Bill Klein's Homepage   UMSL English Dept.   UM-St. Louis


http://www.umsl.edu/~klein/Internet_Publishing.html - - Revised 12/23/99
Copyright & Copy; 1999 William D. Klein
bill_klein@umsl.edu