The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has the stated aim of being “the world’s most creative and trusted broadcaster and programme maker.” The BBC News site is just one of a number that the BBC has created in establishing an online presence; BBC Online.
The site is laid out in a tabloid format. Across the top of the home page are links leading to the site map, broadcast schedules, information about the BBC (mandate, history etc.), as well as corresponding pages presenting information in Welsh, Spanish, Russian, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Arabic. There are also links to access news broadcasts in both audio and video formats.
Down the left‐hand side of the page are navigational links to the major sections of the site, with headings such as: “Front Page”, “World”, “UK”, “Business”, “Health”, “Education,” and “Entertainment.” The largest, central part of the home page is reserved for links to numerous major news stories drawn from the “Front Page”, “World,” and “UK” sections. Down the right‐hand side of the page are brief descriptions and links to “features” found in the remaining sections of the site. Examples of such stories would be a round‐up of recent results from English sports matches or an investigation of genetically modified food. At the bottom of the home page, there is a search engine that offers a variety of ways to search the site.
All of the pages in the site have the basic structure described above for the home page; but interesting enhancements are evident. For example, on a typical page in the “World” section that presents an individual news story, the top right‐hand side of the page presents an image map of the world, allowing users to select news geared to inhabitants of a particular region of the world. Further down on the right‐hand side there would be:
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a selection of links to stories related to the one being described on the page,
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links to other Internet sites providing additional information, and
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links to other stories in the “World” section.
The site was accessed over a 28.8kps modem line through an Internet service provider and also through a local area network (LAN) with a direct connection to the Internet. Periods of predictable peak network use were avoided. The response of the site generally was quite good when considering plain text or audio files. Over the phone line, the video was of reasonable resolution; but the images were essentially static. Viewed over a LAN, the portrayal of motion in video clips was much better; but resolution was still not sharp.
The site search engine allows one to search either headlines and associated story summaries or the full text of stories. One can use standard Boolean logic or proximity searches. Searches can also be limited to certain sections of the site and to a time period. The BBC News online archive goes back to 1997.
Overall, the design of the site is simple, attractive, and effective. The content is of very high quality, broad in scope, and continuously updated. Site navigation is simply excellent. The site search capabilities are versatile. This site will be of interest to a wide range of people seeking an intelligent and thoughtful presentation of world news in an attractive, multimedia format.
