It was important to create indices to information of use and interest to the campus community. Being able to find information easily would lead to more use of the Web, which I presumed would lead to more interest in publishing information.
At first, almost everything was linked to from the top page in the hierarchy, the university's home page. As the local Web grew, however, it was necessary to expand the indices (with the help of the Publications Department) to more levels. The UIUC home page can be seen in Figure 1; pages of the second level can be seen in Figures 2 through 9.
There are two interesting things to mention. The first is that not everything was hyperlinked initially. In particular, the Colleges and Instructional Units page had links to only about a quarter of the units (with two more added quickly only because I myself developed skeletal home pages for those colleges in order to be able to "plug in" departments in those colleges).
The other is that is that many pages that are now at the third level have been moved down. These pages are primarily ones that deal with either entertainment or references, and consist mostly of links to resources outside the UIUC Web. Initially, because the UIUC Web was so sparse, outside links and/or links to things outside the main function of the university were more prominent. In particular, the References page used to be very prominent, and a fair amount of effort was taken to develop the sub-categories of references. More local, relevant content displaced those pages.
The transition to more layers of hierarchy was not without pain. One of the more challenging aspects of my job after the restructuring was tactfully explaining to people why their Web site didn't rate a mention at the top level of hierarchy. There was also a conflict between keeping the page length short and providing enough information that people could figure out what was at lower levels.
In addition to the pages in Figures 1 through 9 and the sub-pages on the References page (language, government, scientific, research, periodicals, geographic, financial, and fun), I developed indices to Big Ten schools, classes with Web resources, arts and entertainment, news, people, career information, sports and recreation, research laboratories, and research papers.
Furthermore, I developed a number of skeletal pages. These were usually done for personal reasons - because I myself had an affiliation or need. For example, I had a BS in Metallurgical Engineering and a need for a job, which lead me to develop the Materials Science and Engineering home page and an on-line resume book. Sometimes, however, I would create a page out of a need for a "bridge" between information that became available and the existing indices.
For these reasons, I developed the original pages for: the departments of General Engineering, Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering, the Colleges of Engineering, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Fine and Applied Arts, the Illinois Genetic Algorithms Laboratory, the Dean's Student Advisory Committee, the Society of Women Engineers, International Programs in Engineering, the Engineering Placement Office, awards, the Engineering Handbook, the Guide to Services, campus computer laboratories, and syllabi for several of the courses I took.
These were not intended to be more than placeholders, there until the appropriate information provider could take them over. By the time I left campus, all but six (not counting the syllabi) had been expanded and updated by the responsible group.
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