Wednesday, September 17, 1997

Looking at the Web closer to home

By Doug Williamson / Abilene Reporter-News

We usually look all around the World Wide Web for interesting sites. Today, we will stick a little closer to home.

Many folks and businesses in the Big Country have exciting sites on the Internet. Let's look at a few:

-- Abilene Aero may have one of the more intriguing features on its site. You can listen to the air traffic control activities live from the control tower at Abilene Regional Airport.

Admittedly, it is not quite as active as Dallas-Fort Worth International's tower, but I found it very interesting. You will need a Real Audio player, which you can download free at http://www.realaudio.com/products/player/index.html/. Then all you need to do is go to Abilene Aero's site at http://www.abilene.com/abileneaero.com/.

-- Lewis A. Armstrong, who teaches geography at Abilene Christian University and is the technical services librarian there, put student projects from last spring's Historical and Cultural Geography (Geography 354) online.

The projects are categorized by grade levels and span the geographical spectrum from Antarctica to China and from climate to the role of sports in geography.

The site (http://www.acu.edu/~armstrongl/geography/geog.htm/) is wonderful for teachers and parents alike. Each project has numerous activities for the children.

-- Abilene's National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, still looking for a new home in town, has a new home on the Internet. It is at http://www.nccil.org/home.html/.

-- Abilene's universities have done a wonderful job of marketing themselves and providing vital information via the Internet.

Hardin-Simmons University has a well-done set of pages. They are easy to follow and visually appealing. Start with the index page at http://www.hsutx.edu/index.htm/.

McMurry University's homecoming page is a sight and site to be seen. Find it at http://www.mcm.acu.edu/news/sep_97/homecoming/homecoming97.html/.

Abilene Christian University's marketing people have a good idea. You can fill out a simple online survey (adding to ACU's database) and win free ACU merchandise, like a ball cap. The site is at http://www.acu.edu/survey/survey.html/.

-- Several area chambers of commerce have pages on the WWW. Sweetwater is found at http://camalott.com/~sweetwater/. Abilene's chamber has a updated site that now includes a full membership directory which is searchable by name or type of business. Donna Fowler of the Snyder chamber gives you a verbal backgrounder on the city, thanks to Real Audio again. That site is at http://www.snydertex.com/chamber/index.htm/.

-- The Texas Midwest Community Network has a site at http://camalott.com/~tmcn/. It has a good deal of information about the area.

-- Our own Reporter Online has a new feature for high school football fans. You may find week-by-week team scores and links to game stories at http://www.texnews.com/sports97/football/hs_index.html/.