OVERVIEW \ PREFACE \ Beta version \^08c
1: G. Buccellati, February 2003

The beta version - February 2003

     April 23, 2003 is the date when we plan to open the site to the public. At the moment (as you should know if you are reading this...), the site is open for beta testing only. This means that you are invited to review the site and to offer us your suggestions.
     Our main effort up to this point has been to establish a comprehensive frame for the site, to define a format and to get the necessary hardware in place. Accordingly, most of the pages on the website are still blank, and several contain only notes or a preliminary draft. You might say that we are inbetween alpha and beta...
     Incomplete pages are indicated by a colon to the left of the pertinent entry in the left side bar, and missing pages are indicated by a period in the same position. Please note that some pages that do not have a mark on the left may also be incomplete, but there is sufficient material to give a good idea of what is meant. As an example see the Faces of Urkesh where only a few thumbnails are given, but it is clear what the others will be. Completing the writing of these pages will be the major effort of the next two and a half months, and I'll send you occasional updates indicating which are these pages.
     Similarly, the core section of the entire website, which is the Urkesh Global Record (UGR), is still very partial: work is also being done on that score so that we hope to have a manageable UGR for the excavation units A12 and A16 by April 23.
     Some of the inconsistencies are intended, the intent being that of displaying alternative possibilities – for instance the path is given some times on one line and other times on two, or a blue line is given or omitted to the right of the left side bar. If you have a preference for these or other alternative displays please let me know.

     The sections which are fairly advanced or nearly complete, and to which I especially wish to draw your attention at this point, are:
  1. each of the items on the top bar
  2. Preface
  3. Authorship
  4. Geography
  5. Political development
  6. Faces of Urkesh
  7. the Enablers
  8. Website design
  9. Ephemerides
  10. Feedback, especially for children
  11. Methodological principles, including philosophy and techniques and methods.
  12. Measuring figurines
  13. Human and animal figurines
  14. Texts with various subcategories
  15. Languages with the sections on paleography, context and sound
  16. Preservation: principles
  17. Bibliography
  18. Abstracts
  19. Links
  20. Lectures
  21. Media coverage
  22. the UMS publication series
  23. UMS 4: the complete text of the Opifici volume
  24. the Browser Edition
  25. Articles
  26. the Urkesh Global Record
  27. A12 volume of the Urkesh Global Record
  28. A16 volume of the Urkesh Global Record
  29. Glyptic concordance
Please keep in mind all the limitations mentioned. You don't need to share frustration, as we have our own share of it already. But we would like to hear from you about such matters as:
  1. appearance: does the display show well on your screen? Are the patterns of size and color to your liking?
  2. format: can you follow easily the set-up, such as top and side bars or links?
  3. technical: is access and downloading OK?
  4. structure: are the terms for the sections transparent? Do you feel you can find easily what you might interested in?
  5. content: our primary aim is to develop a fully scholarly site, with the maximum of documentation and a good deal of interpretation and theory: do you feel we are on the right track?
  6. accessibility: we try at the same time to have an important portion of the site accessible to the broader public: how would you rate us there?
  7. impact: as a first time user, what is your first reaction?
  8. comparative: we do not know of sites that are properly comparable to what we have in mind. If you do, would you let us know?
Please note that the site is best viewed with a minimum resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels, color 16 bit, on Internet Explorer 6, now superseded by Chrome or Edge, even if Mozilla Firefox is even more preferable.
     Please send your comments to buccella@ucla.edu.
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