The project was generated in part as a result of a survey conducted during the fall of 1993. Students were entering the program without a clear understanding of what Instructional Science was and specifically how assistance from the department can be utilized in achieving their career goals. Lack of focus resulted in delayed graduations and transfers to other universities. The survey revealed the need for a central repository of information containing details about the program, the people associated with it, and new graduate student orientation information. The students needed to become aware of the resources available to them.
In selecting a delivery system we considered the needs and technical competence of potential users, the technology available to the department, maintenance costs, esthetics, and ease of locating desired material. The WWW fulfills all of our requirements. Internet accessibility is becoming increasingly available to the general population, giving most people access to information on the Web. All students at BYU will soon be able to access it from computers on-campus or from home via a modem. One major advantage of Mosaic is that even users with little knowledge of computers can readily master the mouse-driven information retrieval strategies of Hypertext. Each user can glean information from a data bank which meets his or her own unique needs.