What's Happening to UWIN?

The World Wide Web has emerged as the Internet standard for online information. As a result, UWIN is giving way to the UW home page (www.washington.edu/) as the primary electronic medium for sharing information with and about the UW community.

The transition has already begun. Over the past few months, several information resources in UWIN have been replaced with an equivalent service on the Web. You can still view these services through UWIN, with the Lynx Web browser.

Why the Web?

The Web has grown explosively in recent years and is the de facto standard for the distribution of online information. The Web and its associated technologies offer many benefits. Foremost among these is worldwide availability. The Web has established a truly global standard for finding and viewing information including pictures, video, and audio.

Plans for handling the UW Libraries' bibliographic databases now in UWIN are included in a redesigned Libraries' Web site.

What If I Don't Have a Graphical Browser?

Most Web pages are designed to be viewed with a graphical browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. However, you can view them with Lynx, the text-based Web browser that UWIN uses. You can either go though UWIN or start Lynx on its own.

What's Next?

UWIN has provided six years of dependable service to the UW community. Nonetheless, it is clearly becoming outmoded.

As the conversion to the Web continues, the usefulness of UWIN declines. UWIN will likely be decommissioned, therefore, after the 1998-99 academic year.

The Libraries and C&C have enjoyed designing, building, and supporting UWIN since its beginning in 1992. We have also appreciated hearing in recent months from those of you who have let us know how much you have valued UWIN and the services it has provided.

University of Washington Computing & Communications
Windows on Computing, No. 22, Winter 1999
newsltr@cac.washington.edu