Building a Web Site for the History of the Atlantic Slave Trade

By Peter J. Kastor

Some General Thoughts

Things to Consider Before You Build Your Site

Contact the System Administrator. If you have not worked on your institution's network before, it is essential to contact the people who maintain that network. You should ask them about the following issues: Consider the Source of Your Material.

Administrative Considerations

Equipment. Creating materials for the World Wide Web actually does notrequire a lot of computer equipment. You can create documents on any word processor, and most new computers can handle the software necessary to work with images. How much equipment you need will depend on how much you want to do and whether your institution already has a computing lab with the equipment and support necessary to create Web sites. If you want to be able to do everything from your office, or your institution does not have the equipment anywhere else, here is what you will need to create a good Web site: Institutional Resources Funding. Information technology remains expensive, and creating materials for the Web still has a high price tag. Fortunately, computing remains the only growth field in the humanities. In addition, there are numerous ways to reduce your own workload, which is no small concern given the amount of time required to prepare information to go on line.