Homework #2

Bruce Bayley

Overview

This was the home site for the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

The site provides a wealth of information on all aspects of food (growing, cultivating, and distributing" and agriculture (i.e., economics and Desertification). Each category is colored coded by topic criteria (e.g., food, agriculture, United Nations information, etc.) making the homepage very readable and easy to follow. Some of the more interesting topics covered by the home page were:

1. News Briefs - these updates were general in nature, providing the reading with recent events that might effect the nature of food and agriculture worldwide. Each topic contained a link or links to sites that provided additional information.
2. Employment opportunities - the majority of the jobs listed were still open. When a reader clicked on the appropriate link, they were given a detailed description of the job, its requirements, its location, and the relevant pay scale.
3. The Photo File - this link provided the reading with a multitude of downloadable photos for ever topic listed on the home page. This photos could then be pasted into almost any presentation format (e.g., word processor, on-line presentation, or slide presentation) the viewer might choose.
4. Other United Nations Links - the site also provides the viewer with a link to a variety of organizations within the United Nations.
5. The FAO Search engine - this function allows the viewer to search the site's database using a standard keyword and boolean logic format.

Advantages

• As mentioned above, this site provides a wealth of information in a very pleasing and readable format. All information is given in one of four languages (English, Spanish, and two unknown at least to me.
• The information on this site is current and up-to-date.
• The site uses a lot of soft colors and photos to make the information easy to read and the pages more interesting to view.
• This site has a short questionnaire section that allows the viewer to become interactive with the site itself. This function also allows the site to both provide and obtain information.

Disadvantages

The only major disadvantage we encounter was the link to the site's databases. We tried on numerous occasions, but were unable to gain access to this area. The browser returned a message that the link was not responding.

For those unfamiliar with food and agriculture, the site almost over-whelms the viewer with information.