Viewing Guidelines
How to use these documents
Last updated Monday, March 10, 1997, at 9:57 AM Copyright © 1996, 1997 Kirk Martini
Introduction
Although the web is powerful medium for presenting research results, it also has major drawbacks, particularly with maintaining narrative continuity through an extended development of ideas. The ability to link anything to anything else can easily create a distracting situation where a reader loses the logical thread of the discussion. To address this difficulty, this study is organized using editorial guidelines for images, links, and text which aim to maintain narrative continuity while taking advantage of diverse information sources. These guidelines are explained below.Image Size
This study includes many figures, photographs, and images and is organized so that a small version of each image is included in the body of the narrative, linked to a larger version for closer review. For photographs, the small versions fit within the limits of a frame 300 pixels tall and 400 pixels wide. The large versions are double that size. For maps and line diagrams with fine detail, the small and large versions are double those for photographs. The large version of an image is always linked to the small version, and may also be linked from other locations in the narrative.The large version of an image always appears in an HTML document which includes an image credit, and a link to the bibliographic reference when appropriate.
Three Windows: Narrative, Image, and Bibliography
For Netscape versions 2.0 and later (and for other browsers that support the target attribute in hypertext links), the large version of an image appears in a separate window; this allows the reader to keep the window containing the narrative at a narrow width suitable for reading, while using a wide window to view images. It also avoids the time-consuming process of reloading the narrative document when returning to the narrative after viewing an image.The following screen images show an example of the recommended viewing arrangement. To begin, set the browser at a width suitable for reading text, as shown below:
| The narrative window, showing the small version of an image in the body of the text |
To view the large version of an image, click on it; it will appear in another window. Move that window to the side and adjust its width as appropriate for the image, as shown below. Depending on the browser and the platform, the targeted window may come to the front.
| The image window for viewing large images with the narrative window in the background. This window appears when a link to a large image is clicked. It is recommended to move the window to the side and set its width as appropriate for the image |
To return to the narrative, bring the narrative window to the front as shown below, using the conventions of your windowing system.
| The narrative window with the image window in the background. |
As you continue through the narrative, clicking a link to a large image will load that image into the image window. Bibliographic references are handled in a similar manner; clicking on a bibliographic reference will create a new window containing the bibliography, with the particular reference located at the top of the window. The bibliography document has a light grey background to make it easier to distinguish, as shown below.
| The bibliographic window with the narrative and image windows in the background. The documents are best viewed using three separate windows: a narrative window, an image window, and a bibliographic window |
As shown above, the site is best viewed using three separate windows: a narrative window, an image window, and a bibliographic window, where the narrative window is like a book, the image window is like a projection screen for viewing full-sized images in the book, and the bibliographic window is a part of the book that's been ripped from the back for easier viewing. This arrangement allows the reader to move continuously through the narrative, while occasionally referring to the full-sized images and bibliographic references without repeatedly exiting and reloading the narrative.
External Links
Note also that with the exception of the introductory page, the narrative does not contain links to documents beyond the study itself. Any links to web documents outside the study are included in the bibliography only, with a listing of the referenced URL. This arrangement also seeks to maintain narrative continuity and the integrity of cross referencing when the document is printed out.
Last updated Monday, March 10, 1997, at 9:57 AM
Copyright © 1996, 1997 Kirk Martini
Please send comments or questions to Martini@virginia.edu