About
The information below is provided for users who may be interested in issues related to the technical development and maintenance of the Lacewing Digital Library (LDL) web project.
Concepts and Components
A major goal of the Lacewing Digital Library project is the development a web entity that can serve as a gateway to the growing body of high-quality digital information about neuropterid insects (see vision). To function as a general portal to this class of information, the web entity of the Lacewing Digital Library project is designed to incorporate both access to webpages and data that are under the direct control and management of the LDL project team, and webpages and data that are distributed across the internet world wide. Generally, pages and data that are under the control of the LDL project team appear under the banner of the Lacewing Digital Library; pages and data not controlled by the LDL project team (e.g., linked pages) may be accessed from the LDL site, but are displayed without the LDL banner. Responsibility for the content and design of the latter class of pages vests with the authors/webmasters of those pages. The base page of the LDL web portal is the home page of the LDL module (a group of pages that contains general information about the overall LDL project).
An important design consideration for the LDL web entity is its attempt to develop and implement a web-based structure that is capable of delivering/hosting multiple content-focused, but logically-independent, "products," many of which are intended to constitute separate, potentially peer-reviewable web publications. This design criterion is complicated by the desire to also incorporate integrative cross-linking among such "products"—a somewhat contradictory goal that results in diminished logical independance among the "products," but which has significant potential to enhance overall site utility for users when moving among interrelated, but logically-distinct, content domains. Within the LDL these "products" are generally referred to as "modules". Each module typically consists of a suite of highly integrated and interrelated web pages that function together as a single conceptual unit and is centered around a particular content domain (for example, the species catalogue module treats content related to species-group names and taxa). LDL modules are closely integrated into the overall LDL web project and are displayed under the LDL banner. Other features commonly associated with LDL modules include: a distinct title page, clearly attributed authorship or editorship, scientific-publication-element pages (e.g., Introduction, Acknowledgements, References), a distinctive bottom navigation bar (to enhance intergration of module pages), and separate help functionality.
In addition to the tightly integrated page suites called modules, the LDL web project also contains (or will contain) single- or multiple-page elements that stand alone or in loose federation to each other. Although such pages or groups of pages will generally have an identifiable focus, they will lack most or all of the module features identified above and are not intended as potentially peer-reviewable web publications. These LDL web project elements may be referred to as non-modular LDL elements.
Website Development
The webpages of the Lacewing Digital Library project are designed and maintained primarily using Dreamweaver 8©.
Database Integration
Some features of the Lacewing Digital Library web project (e.g., interactive features of some content modules) incorporate interactive calls to Microsoft Access© database tables using Adobe ColdFusion MX7© software located on the LDL host server.
Browser Optimization
The webpages of the Lacewing Digital Library project are optimized for viewing with the browsers Internet Explorer 6.0+ and Firefox 2.0+ at a screen resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels. Viewing the site with other browsers, or at other resolutions, may result in unpredictable behavior and/or lower-quality page display. Some pages use Javascript to make them interactive. Disabling JavaScript may cause these pages not to work properly. Websites linked through the general web portal functionality of the LDL project may be optimized for other browsers.
Digital Images
The photographic images used in the banners of the Lacewing Digital Library project were captured using a Microptics© Digital Imaging system installed by Photografix. The system consists of a Canon EOS-1 digital camera, Infinity brand microscopic-quality lenses, and a dedicated desktop computer with an Intel Pentium© 4 processor running Capture One PRO 3.7.4 software (by Phase One). Scanned non-photographic images were obtained via a Kodak i65 digital scanner and Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional software. All images were subsequently edited in Adobe Photoshop CS2.
Server Information
The Lacewing Digital Library web project is hosted on a server located in the Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, USA.
Copyrights
The elements of the Lacewing Digital Library web project that are directly under the control of the LDL project team, including all text, banners and general site graphics, are copyrighted by John D. Oswald. The copyrights of all LDL modules and non-module LDL elements that are separately authored vest with their respective authors unless otherwise indicated.