In this reading, Johndan Johnson-Eilola brought up some interesting points. He starts off the article by posing a question about who websites are written for. That is an interesting question that we never really take the time to think about. Because the internet is so accesible as far as information and who can obtain it, I believe that a website is written for whoever is willing to look it up. He illustrates this point by giving an example of a student who logs into her university's website in order to locate information. She has trouble locating the information and he points out that when the website was created, she was not the user that the creator specifically had in mind.
I also liked the point Johnson-Eilola makes about a website not being a document that is read, but used. Therefore, we are not readers of a website rather users, because we engage with what is in front of us (use links, navigate through the website).
There are three crucial issues of websites:
Usability- who views this site? and what are they going to do with the information?
Structure- linking the sections where users can go on the site.
Navigation- crucial to structure, this is the "how and what" to use to move from one part pf a website to another.
Knowing these three things makes sure your site is effective and fulfills its purpose.
Johndan JOhnson-Eilola ends the article by bringing up the topic of print vs. online texts. He compares the navigation through a print text (reading the pages line to line and turning pages) to navigating through text on the website. There were interesting comparisons like how we read words on a page when they are in a book, but when a website is too text heavy we tend to lose interest. The issue of print vs. online is an interesting topic that is relevant to this course. It often comes up in our class discussions and I'm interested to see what will happen to print media as technology becomes more advanced.
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The paper with the information about real-world/cyber hybrids for "literature is "Electronic Literature: What Is It?" by N. Katherine Hayles. And some of the pieces you might look up are mentioned in the following p0assage:
In Janet Cardiff's The Missing Voice (Case Study B) (1996), for example, the user heard a CD played on a Walkman keyed to locations in London's inner city, tracing a route that takes about forty-five minutes to complete; Her Long Black Hair was specific to New York City's Central Park and included photographs as well as audio narratives. (Note 29) Blast Theory's Uncle Roy All Around You combined a game-like search for Uncle Roy, delivered over PDAs, with participants searching for a postcard hidden at a specific location. (Note 30) Meanwhile, online observers could track participants and try to help or confuse them, thus mixing virtual reality with actual movements through urban spaces.
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