"HTML Made Easy"

Qu'est-ce que le HTML?

If he were still with us today, André Bazin might tell you that although HTML sounds complicated (it stands for HyperText Markup Language), it is basically just a way to format plain (ASCII) text so that your World Wide Web browser may read and display it in a graphically interesting fashion. In a sense, it works like a regular word processor in that it introduces special codes in the text (called markup tags) that are interpreted as "paragraph," "underlined" or "italic," for instance.

But this begs the question:

Qu'est-ce que le plain (ASCII) text?

It is text based on the ASCII code (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), which is limited to 128 different combinations, so it cannot include the special formatting and fonts used by spreadsheets, databases and word processors. In terms of software programs, WordPerfect and Microsoft Word are word processors (they format plain text), whereas MS DOS Edit and Windows Notepad are text editors (they do not format plain text).

So how do I create a ScreenSite version of my resume?

There are several possibilities. The first one is that you don't have to convert your resume to HTML, if it is in plain text format. Indeed, Web browsers read plain ASCII text, but don't make it look very interesting. You may not want to have fancy graphics in your resume, however. As an example, here is the first part of Jeremy Butler's resume if it were only plain text:

JEREMY G. BUTLER

Department of Telecommunication and Film
The University of Alabama
P. O. Box 870152
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0152
(205) 348-6350
Fax:  (205) 348-2754
Internet: jeremy@tcf.ua.edu

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Northwestern University, Film Studies, 1982.
Dissertation: "Toward a Theory of Cinematic Style:
The Remake."
M.A., Northwestern University, Film Studies, 1977.
B.A., Brown University, Film Studies, 1976.

Click here to see Jeremy's resume in HTML format, and compare.

The Quick and Dirty Way to Create Your Resume

If your resume is a word processor file, all you would have to do is:

1. Save it in standard text format (all word processors have this feature).
   
2. Give your file a .TXT extension.
   
3. With your Web browser, use the "Open Local File" option to see how your new file looks.
4. If it's O.K., then send it to the Resume Service Supervisor (matherp@leroy.cc.uregina.ca) so that your resume may be posted on ScreenSite!

HTML Made Easy

Naturally, you may want to do better. One option would be to save Jeremy's sample resume by using your browser's "load to disk" mode (or Netscape's "Save as..." choice from the File Menu), and then using your word processor offline to view the source code and use it as a guide (which is what I did).

Another option would be to visit one of the many sites on the Net which offer you more information on how to write HTML. Click here for a web page that not only introduces you to the basics of HTML, but also includes links to several other sites.