Jim Regan - Site Reviews
HistoryLink
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After a momentary Welcome page, HistoryLink loads a three-frame layout which -- limitations of multiple-frame sites not withstanding -- creates an attractive and logical interface. On arrival, the content in the main frame is The Gazette -- a weekly, magazine-style section which, through feature articles, archival and 'what's new' links, and an "Image of the Week", gives the newcomer an entertaining introduction to the site.
To the left, the first of two Index frames ('Features') offers a link to the Gazette, as well as to a 'Site Intro' and:
The Visitor's Center - an introduction to the physical geography and landmarks relevant to the site's contents.
Galleries - photo collections, including historic events, past and current views of specific structures, and a self-running slide show about HistoryLink itself.
Folios - articles "...dedicated to material of special & topical interest." - such subjects as the history of Slick's Stadium, (the predecessor of the Seattle Kingdome) and the regional consequences of the attack on Pearl Harbour, including the treatment of citizens of Japanese descent.
Add a Story - a chance for visitors to contribute to the site.
Plus Resources, Contact and Sponsor info, the official site for the City of Seattle, and an impressively thorough Help Section.
Help pages usually don't merit any more recognition than noting their presence of absence, but click on this Help button, and the main window fills with a reference diagram of the buttons in the other two frames. Scroll down, and you'll find text about how to best use the site including such useful information to net novices as how to print or save the contents of a specific frame in a multi-frame window. (The text also states that you can't Bookmark a specific frame, but you can in fact simply open the desired frame into its own window, and Bookmark the new URL.)
So, that's the Features index. Along the top frame is the 'Database' index. Metropedia holds essays retrievable by alphabetical or topical index, through 'Hot Links' suggestions, or by a keyword search. Timeline organizes its brief files by date. Peoples' History reflects the submissions made through the Add A Story feature, and Maps and Docs offers current and historical maps as well as a speech...that may or may not have been made by Chief Seattle in 1854. (Details onsite.)
There are a few cases where text overlaps other text or images, and the frames layout means that users with smaller screens will be doing a great deal of left-right scrolling - or opening frames into their own windows. (As is necessary with the Features frame - which doesn't fit into a small-screen browser, and doesn't have a vertical scrollbar.) But the thought that kept coming to mind as I toured the site is that every community that wants to record and encourage an interest in local history should have one of these.
HistoryLink not only reveal's an area's past to itself, but through visitor submissions, it preserves and shares stories that may never have been unearthed by more scholarly investigations. Granted, this is the work of a large team (just have a look at the "Staff and Advisors" list in the Site Intro) but even imitators with limited means can start with a simple site, then --since this is the Web-- as content increases and design improves, these online museums can expand and 'remodel' infinitely and at almost no cost.
HistoryLink can be found at http://www.Historylink.org/.
Jim Regan provides 'Today's Links' to the e-Monitor. He lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.