www.foar.net

What is F.O.A.R.?

F.O.A.R. is a web site that contains a blog (i.e., web log or online journal), plus an eclectic group of web sites I've put together, links to web sites of friends, links to web sites I use, like or find interesting, information about me and information about contacting me.

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Who are you?

I'll have to think about that one. :-)

On a nuts and bolts level, my name is Jewel Ward. My bio and Curriculum Vitae are available online.

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Is "Jewel" your real name?

Yes.

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Are/were your parents hippies? Is that why they named you, "Jewel"?

This question still takes me by surprise. I never thought of my name as being "odd" until a variety of people started asking me this question about two years ago.

My parents are not and never were, "hippies". They just liked to name their children uniquely from others. :-) My father spent 23 years in the US military (i.e., he is somewhat conservative). Yes, I was born in September 1968 -- just after the "Summer of Love" -- so I can see where the question comes from, if someone places me, by age, within a certain era.

I was named after my paternal grandmother, Maddie Jewell Anderson Ward. The doctor didn't put the second 'l' in my birth certificate, so I just go by, "Jewel", not "Jewell".

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What is the blog about?

The blog is primarily for my friends and family to read while I am living far and away from "home" with my next job, so they can keep up with what I am *doing*, if they so wish.

Having said that, the blog is about anything and everything. Other than my day-to-day life post-master's, a large part of the topics will be related to technology, information policy, music -- particularly electronica -- and the politics and policies related to digital libraries, digital library research (particularly the Open Archives Initiative), metadata, and information and library science, which are my interests. Plus some silly stuff. :-)

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What does F.O.A.R. mean?

"F.O.A.R." is the name of the first digital archive that I ever built. I did not intend to build an archive; I thought I was building a web site. (As digital libraries are/were my "major" as a master's student, this accidental beginnings of my current career Has Much Importance.)

I started what became F.O.A.R. in 1996 with a single web site to chronicle online the activities of my group of friends for another friend; he was in graduate school far and away, but was with us in spirit. Those first web sites were a way for him to keep up with what we were all doing in the RTP area, NC, USA. That one initial web site gradually grew into an entire archive of web sites chronicling our activities. F.O.A.R. thus means something very special to a certain group of friends.

A secondary meaning is, "Far Off and Roaming", as I have a great deal of wanderlust.

F.O.A.R. is not just the blog; the blog is *part of* a larger web site.

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Is the original F.O.A.R. still available?

Yes. For a price. :-)

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What is a digital library?

:-) The definition of a digital library has not yet been settled. However, according to Michael Lesk, a digital library is a collection that is, "organized and digitized". Some examples of digital libraries:

American Memory
@The Library of Congress, Washington, DC, USA

The State Hermitage Museum
@The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia

Documenting the American South
@The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.

Bissonnette on Costume A Visual Dictionary of Fashion
@Kent State University Museum, Kent, Ohio, USA.

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Why does everything on your web site show up as nested links?

If you do not see a blue menu bar at the top of the web pages, but a series of nested links, then your browser may not support cascading style sheets or javascript. Compare your platform and browser with this compatibility chart. Mozilla is also a good browser to use that will display style sheets.

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Where did you get the drop down menu and tree menu? Is this your code?

No. I used Dave's DHTML code @www.gazingus.org, via www.scottandrew.com. More information on the code, fonts and software used on F.O.A.R. is available in the about section.

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Where did you get the image from on the index page?

I am using the image courtesy of the University of Southern California, on behalf of the USC Specialized Libraries and Archival Collections. The image is entitled "Six women in bathing costumes". The ID number is CHS-1035, and it can be found in the California Historical Society collection in the USC Digital Archive.

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What is your association with Ibiblio/metaLab/sunSITE?

Friend. Coffee buddy. Not a contributor. :-)

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This page created Oct. 2002. Last update: 18 Jan 05.