The proposal for the "Control Of The Rabbit in Australia" web site was to provide scientific, historic and cultural information about the rabbit, its environmental impact and its control. An emphasis was to be placed on the biological control methods eg. Myxomatosis and on current research into Immunosterilisation and the Rabbit Calicivirus Disease. Associated eithics such as Animal rights, genetic manipulation and releasing new viruses into the wild were also to be discussed.
The site was aimed to reach a variety of interests groups including scientist such as ecologists, biologists, virologists and students studying in the above fields as well as those involved in the practical side of land managment eg. land managers and farmers.
Whilst offering a general information of the rabbit in Australia, the site focuses on the rabbits establishment, the impact caused to the Australian environment and the past control and future biological control of the rabbit and the associated ethics. . The focus on scientific ethics was highlighted on Monday 18/10/95 when the quarantined rabbit calcivirus disease was discovered on mainland of South Australia. Although there are some variations from the proposal, which were changed to give focus to the more relevant subjects, the final content is consistant with the preliminary proposal.
The site also changed its focus from being directed towards scientists to an audience interested in the implications of the scientific research and in the role that the rabbit has played in altering the environment. Such as the target audience of land mangers, farmers and students as specified in the proposal. This was done firstly as a result of the limitations of the potential imported text and suitable images required for a "scientific" audience and secondly as the content outlined in the initial proposal is more suitable to the previous stated audience. .
It is encouraging that people, bodies and institutions have shown great enthusiasm to publish on the Web as it becomes the latest 'in' thing to do. It is an effective research tool as many sites are created as 'resourse sites' which give the browser the opportunity to view a selection of sites of a related topic or be directed to books, publications and organisations.
The WWW potential to resarch the topic of rabbits in Australia was unfortunantly limited. It is ironic that the most relevant sites was the Environmental and Resource Information Network (ERIN), whose office is 500 meters from where I write. How useful was the Web? There were other sites linked to genetic engeneering, Bioethics and land degradation, yet none specific to my topic and hence I filled a niche in the Web.
Due to the nature of the web, it is time consuming and irritating to import documents that link to fifteen seperate documents and their associated anchors. Accessing electronically published material can be tedious with a fast server and infuriating with a slow one. I see this as a limitation to the Web. The search for the required imported 10,000 word were initially determined by to relevance to the topic, yet the "positive feedback" effect occured where the focus of the topic was defined by the available information on the Web.
When a site is planned it is important to ask the question " What is the purpose of this site?", is it to be connected to as many relevant as possible, simply to be available or to show ones fluency in html by creating very up to date images?. To critically review a site it is necessary to view it in the context in which it was written. The structure of the "Control of the Rabbit in Australia" site was aimed to be "user friendly" by keeping documents short and using GIF images to facilitate speed. I attemped to create logically links for fluid "cruising" to minimise to possibility of losing the browse to another site or "lost in cyberspace".
The site is the result of a set parameters and has potential to be expanded if time and memory allowed. I hope that it is academically and visually pleasing.
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