By Wendy Bernshausen
UHCLIDIAN STAFF

UH-Clear Lake will soon be making great strides in technological advancement by introducing Oracle Technology's Web portal system to the university's Web site.

Web portal software is able to pull together information from many sources and display it on a single screen. With the help of additional hardware, the Web portal will bring about a much more automated process.

"Over the coming year, UH-Clear Lake will experience a technological earthquake," said Peter von Stackelberg, Web master for the university.

What does all of this mean for UH-Clear Lake students? Portal technology will allow users of the university's Web site to personalize the information that is available online.

For example, there are some students who view the important deadlines section of the Web site on a regular basis. This student, with portal technology, will be able to save the important deadlines page as their home page. The portal system automatically informs the user if there has been an update on the page.

Portal technology will make accessing information that is pertinent to the user quick and easy, von Stackelberg said.

This new and expected user-friendly technology will also make it much easier for those who have been granted access to change information or the appearance of the university's Web site. Knowing HTML code will no longer be necessary. Altering pages in the site can begin just by clicking EDIT from a menu.

Bulletin boards and messaging systems such as chat rooms, threaded message boards and instant messaging are also feasible options for the university's Web site with the use of portal technology, von Stackelberg said.

The training of the different departments within the university on how to use the Web portal is pending while the technology is still being implemented.

Training is expected to be completed within the next six months, von Stackelberg said.

"As an institution, UH-Clear Lake has the tools and the people to take this technology and move the university to new heights," von Stackelberg said.

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