First, be aware that this writer is no "computer geek," but a scholar who has long lamented the "problems" of the Internet--its "total freedom," its inconsistencies, its unsubstantiated, unvetted, controversial, and even stale facts, data, and articles, its abuse of copyright, its use by students as a source for "canned" term papers, and its many other annoying, serendipitous qualities. Unfortunately or, rather, fortunately, the Web is here, and here to stay. (Just read any current issue of The Chronicle of Higher Education if you doubt this.) And most things, like a good wine, do improve with age. And so does the "Web," as more professors around the world share their syllabi, lectures, and research.

Last summer I set aside two weeks to research and assemble a Web site for Music 700, Bibliography and Research Techniques, an introductory graduate seminar that I have taught several times before. Among other things, the course acquaints students with the titillating diversity and power of available "finding tools" for music research. Over the past fifteen years, technological advances have moved us from the card catalog to CUNY+, other online catalogs, and now the WWW, so that I have felt compelled to change the syllabus every time I teach it. What fun!

In Spring 1997 I attended the Web-Core Seminars organized by the Advisory Committee on Academic Computing (ACAC) and the Academic Computing Center. There I learned what other universities were doing with the WWW and, more importantly, the basic principles of hypertext markup language (HTML), the thing which makes Web sites look so beautiful and respond so incredibly. In this seminar I became familiar with the use of the WWW and began to develop the Web page for the music Core Studies course, but, most significantly, the experience gave me the "courage" and strong desire to establish a Web site for Music 700.

For the past two years I had been collecting the addresses of dozens of interesting sounding music-related Web sites--those annoyingly long "http://" addresses. One frequently encounters such addresses on e-mail discussion lists as well as in one's professional literature.

During the summer I examined about one hundred WWW sites, made general notes about their content, and created a word-processing document listing the principal categories and sites that I wanted my Music 700 students to inspect. My Web site opens with seven "keystone" sites--chiefly music libraries (Harvard, Indiana, British Library et al.)--that offer categorized lists linked to hundreds of interesting sites, from a Beethoven bibliography to barber-shop quartet singing (SPEBSQSA). Once there, you just "click" the mouse on the highlighted names of desired topical sites to reach them instantaneously.

It was then an easy step to complete and put up my course's Web site on the Academic Home Page of the Brooklyn College Web site. I had to: (1) type up the desired material in a word-processing document and scan any desired pictures onto a diskette; (2) convert the document into HTML-format with help from Academic Computing in the lower level of the Library; (3) insert desired WWW links into the document (using appropriate HTML commands learned in the seminar); (4) proof the document and test all the links; and (5) give the completed diskette to Nick Irons of Academic Computing, who put the Web site onto the College's academic server where my students (and others) can access it at:

How do I use the Web site in the course? I am testing its use as I write. (Perhaps I shall write a sequel--post-mortem?--to this article?) There are now three computer classrooms with WWW access in the library. Another two computer classrooms are available in the Atrium in Plaza. I have met my students in a computer classroom a few times already to acquaint them with a Web-browser software and the use of the WWW. There have been some annoying technical glitches (it is, after all, a new, ever evolving technology!), but students are enthusiastic about the Web. I look forward to the students' upcoming reports on assigned Web sites, their potential for research, as well as their drawbacks and limitations.

It will probably be another five to ten years before most of our students have a computer modem at home so that they can access WWW off campus. But that is no excuse for faculty not to explore the WWW resources and develop, as appropriate, their own course Web sites. Use of the WWW can only improve and enliven our teaching as well as stimulate student "participation" in courses. Brooklyn College seems to recognize this and has been increasing the availability of the WWW in the library. This writer's fervent hope (and that of ACAC's, too) is that the College and CUNY will keep up with student and faculty demand for computers and provide both the hardware and, most importantly, adequate technical support for such computer enhancements on campus.

As we enter the new century, we owe it to our students at Brooklyn College to acquaint them with both the potentials and pitfalls of the WWW. Their futures and ability to compete in the job market may depend upon it. I hope more faculty will take the initiative and plan their own sites for courses.

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