Introduction ScreenSite's Purpose ScreenSite emerged from a desire to provide access to film and television resources through the World Wide Web. Its primary purpose is to facilitate the study of film/TV. As opposed to some Web sites that take more of a fan's approach to the media, ScreenSite stresses the teaching and research of film and television and is designed for educators and students. It's not that Team ScreenSite feels that all enjoyment of film and television must be crushed from the study of those media. It's just that ScreenSite hopes to nurture thoughtful, critical approaches to media--rather than noodling on about the fullness of some actor's lips or ruminating about the latest Hollywood gossip (unless, of course, you're planning an oral history of the medium). Navigating ScreenSite ScreenSite is divided into four principal areas: Education, Research, Film/TV Production, and Miscellanea. We hope you find it easy to move around these four areas. As you'll see, ScreenSite is structured much like a conventional book. The best place to begin is the "ScreenSite Home", which provides a general overview of ScreenSite and serves as its Table of Contents. One can navigate ScreenSite faster than most books, however. Like all Web sites, ScreenSite materials are connected to one another through hypertext links. Hypertext links--such as the words "ScreenSite Home"--let you zip immediately from one location to another. Indeed, if you choose one of the following, you'll hop over to an index for each specific area within ScreenSite: Education Research Film/TV/Video Production Miscellanea To return to the ScreenSite Home later, or if you happen to get lost, you'll find a "Navigation Bar" at the top of most of our pages (see above). To return to the Table of Contents, just click on the "ScreenSite Home" button. Here's one to practice on: If your browser does not use buttons or icons, look for the highlighted phrase ScreenSite Home. Interactive (!) Screen Services ScreenSite offers a variety of services to encourage your interaction with us and with the film/TV educational community at large: ScreenBoard - Usenet-style discussion conferences ScreenChat - real-time chatting Screen-L - e-mail discussion group Each of these services depends upon your input. ScreenBoard lets you "post" (place) messages on a virtual bulletin board for the world to see. It might be used, for example, to post conference papers before a conference--allowing participants to read an essay before hearing it presented. ScreenChat hosts live discussions (in text form) on film/TV topics. It permits instantaneous interaction among teachers and students world-wide--using IRC (Internet Relay Chat) technology. And Screen-L is the grandparent of all these Internet enterprises. Begun in 1991 (the Paleolithic Era in 'Net terms), Screen-L uses the e-mail medium to exchange messages among film educators and students. All of these Screen services are free and open to everyone. Searching ScreenSite If you find tables of contents and indexes too slow and if you know just what you're looking for within ScreenSite, then you may search ScreenSite with this handy form. At the top of most pages, you'll see a box like the following: Just type a word or phrase into this box and hit the "Search ScreenSite" button and off you'll go! Our search "engine" (a device that combs through the ScreenSite material) will do all the work for you and report back in a few seconds. If you have trouble with your search, there are some Search Tips available. Getting Help Help is available whenever you see this button in the Navigation Bar: If your browser doesn't display images, just look for the highlighted word Help. In addition, most locations in ScreenSite are "signed" by their authors--including their e-mail address. You can usually get further help by e-mailing the author for more information. For general information on, comments regarding, or problems with ScreenSite, use our handy comments form. Please try to be as specific as possible when describing any problems with ScreenSite. You can call up ScreenSite's comments form by selecting this button in the Navigation Bar: Or, you may select the highlighted word Comments. Contributing to ScreenSite ScreenSite was originally conceptualized as a team effort. We'd welcome your help in contributing teaching/research materials such as course syllabi or building Web pages or transforming materials into Web format or constructing a little corner in ScreenSite for something we haven't even conceived yet. The Web provides all manner of potential for sharing/communicating information. All you need, basically, is a word processor and access to e-mail. And doing stuff Web-style is remarkably simple. Honest! If you'd like to help out, contact ScreenSite's Webmaster (administrator): Jeremy Butler jeremy@tcf.ua.edu Telecommunication and Film Department P.O. Box 870152 University of Alabama Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 USA Phones: 205.348.6350 (human answered) 205.348.2754 (fax machine) "Webmaster," incidentally, is common jargon for the person in charge of a WWW site--functioning much like the postmaster of a post office. You'll often see references to "webmaster" on ScreenSite. The term also serves as a generic title to refer to the ScreenSite staff. If you have comments, problems or questions about ScreenSite, feel free to send e-mail to ScreenSite Webmaster (webmaster@tcf.ua.edu). Thanking Our Sponsors What with all the hypertextin' around, it's often tough to figure out where a Web resource really lives--which is part of the charm and potential of the Web. Just in case you're curious, though, we'll reveal that ScreenSite resides on a computer in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. That ScreenSite exists at all is because the University of Alabama's Division of Student Affairs initially granted us the disk space to start it up. In September 1997, we moved across campus to theTelecommunication and Film Department's Web server. Additional resources are provided by UA's College of Communication. We say, "Thanks!" to both these organizations and to our colleagues developing Web sites at the University of Alabama.

Comments/queries: Webmaster@tcf.ua.edu. Sponsors: The University of Alabama, the College of Communication, and the Department of Telecommunication and Film. Last revised: September 1, 1997. Founded: October 24, 1994. Copyright © 1994-1997. All rights reserved.