Teams without access to the Internet are not going to be left out. All the usual mailings will be going through the post as usual. But we will be making developments through the Morris Federation Web Site which will be to the benefit of teams who have access to the Internet. Local Authorities are developing their own Web Sites, and will include local societies information (which we could then link to). In the meantime we recognise that not all teams will be able to access the Internet, but in two or three years time it is quite likely that most teams will. And it is to be ready for that day that we are doing this work now.
At the moment there are over a hundred Morris teams with a Web Site. They are linked to various listing pages which individuals have drawn up, so that information is accessible from one starting point. However, it helps to know what you are looking for to start with. With this in mind we have devised the following strategy, and put it out to the members of the Morris Federation to see if it will meet our needs.
| 1. | Link up with the other Morris organisations to agree a process in principle |
| 2. | Establish a domain name |
| 3. | From the domain pages have listings for the three UK Morris Organisations, and any other Morris organisation that would like to participate |
| 4. |
Establish a database with the information of each Morris team in the UK
(including the side name, contact tel no, e-mail, Web Site address, gender of
dancers, main style of dance etc). This will be accessible in three ways
|
| 5. | Establish a calendar with bigger events like days of dance |
| 6. | Encourage individual Morris teams to develop Web Sites for their team which will carry information on where they will be dancing over the next few months, (including details of pub tours, days of dance, local tours etc) information about the team, (practice nights, style of dance etc ) and contacts. NB this could be done through individuals or Local Authourity Web Sites. |
| 7. | Develop the links with the British Tourist Authority on their "Visit Britain Web Site", so that local tourist offices can then tap into Sidefinder to find local Morris activity. |
| 8. | Individual teams to then link the information to local libraries, newspapers etc |
| 9. | Have information and pictures on different regional styles of Morris dancing ( with links to teams who specialise in that style). |
| 10. | Maintain a central list of suppliers of materials for Morris dancers (bell, clogs, sticks, braid, ribbon etc) with links to suppliers websites if appropriate. Inclusion would not necessarily mean endorsement |
| 11. | Other links to Morris pages eg Morris Dancers Discussion List, and Morris FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) |
| 12. | From the Morris Federation pages there would also be information on material in the Archive, how to get hold of notation, a short version of the newsletter etc. The website pages already carry information on the background to the Federation, how to join, forthcoming workshops etc. There will also be the provision for mass mailings to Morris Federation members through the e- mail system - much cheaper, faster and effective.It would mean we could become much more interactive, with more up to date consultation on relevant issues. The other Morris organisations would also be developing information specific to their organisation. |
| 13. | Any further suggestions? |
Of course this will all take time to organise- some of it has already been developed, some of it is in hand, some of it needs developing. Volunteers will be welcomed.
| 1. | It's much easier for people to remember "www.Morrisdancing.org" than "http://home.clara.net/krt/homepage.htm"(the current Internet address of the Morris Federation page) |
| 2. | It makes it easier for search engines to find us (the system used on the Internet to find information), as the word "Morris" appears in the domain name, and some search engines actually search domain names as well as content. |
| 3. | If our current Web Site host goes out of business (which we earnestly hope will not happen), we still own the domain name and can have it hosted by another company - and the address will not change. This will mean we don't have to go through the business of mailing everyone with the change of address and waiting for the search engines to find us again. |
| 4. | We now have access to CGI scripting, which means that we can devise our own complicated things like Sidefinder as programs to run on the host machine, meaning faster operation and browser independence, so you don't have to have the latest version of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator to use them. |
| 5. | All three UK Morris organisations would now have a central link page. Not withstanding the excellent efforts of John Maher, with his "Mainly Morris Dancing" site and people like Rich Holmes and Tom Keays in the US, many people have commented that the " Morris stuff on the Internet is terribly disorganised." |
Well, now we have a chance to contribute some organisation to "the Morris Stuff", so people can find what they want without getting lost in a tangle of links and cross-links. And the potential recruit, public, media, tourist office and other Morris dancers can find the information they are looking for.
Please let me have your views on the above, so that we can develop this to meet the needs of the Morris teams.
Janet Dowling
For the Morris Federation
Comments please by email to JADowling@aol.com