Send "Daley Mail" to the mayor (read his welcoming message and bio first). Research services in any neighborhood by checking the directory of city departments or the community policing pages. Before you visit, learn about Chicago architecture, neighborhoods, museums, shopping, sports, and food ("deep-dish pizza may be one of Chicago's most important contributions to twentieth century culture").
Chicago residents without a computer can travel to one of seven libraries across the city to view the information.
A joint project of NCSA, the University of Illinois, and units of Chicago city government, Chicago Mosaic is designed to "create an accessible, interactive, and intelligent information infrastructure to improve both the quality and quantity of communication among individual citizens, community groups, and units of government throughout the City of Chicago."
Corporate partners of Chicago Mosaic are Ameritech Corp., Compaq Computer Corp, Motorola Inc., SPRY Inc., Sun Microsystems Inc., and Tele-Communications Inc. NCSA User Services' Information Technology Projects team worked with city employees on setting up the server and developing the files.
Lt. Governor Bob Kustra opened the day-long presentation with a press conference, crediting NCSA for its role in the emerging National Information Infrastructure (NII). Staff from several NCSA groups planned the day-long events in Springfield.
Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra (seated left) tries his hand at NCSA Mosaic as the State of Illinois joins the Web. (courtesy of State of Illinois)
The project, which is developed and maintained by NCSA's Education and Outreach Group in cooperation with Illinois Lt. Governor Bob Kustra's office, recently received two years of funding from the University of Illinois President's Office. The display has been exhibited around the state and in Washington, DC. Staff are in discussions with possible collaborators to extend the resource to other states. Stay tuned!
Commented author Don Willmott: "Stop off at the site where the Mosaic browser was born. This is a good page for late-breaking Web news."
Computerworld Smithsonian Award-- NCSA Mosaic is a finalist for a 1995 Computerworld Smithsonian Award. The awards honor the use of technology for positive change in society. Chair of leading information technology companies made the nominations in nine categories based on innovation. Mosaic, nominated in the media, arts, and entertainment category, is among 268 nominees worldwide. Winners join the Smithsonian's permanent collection. Last year's winners were collected on a CD-ROM.
Larry Jackson, NCSA Mosaic technical manager, noted in the Computerworld questionnaire used to evaluate the nominees that "user acceptance of [Mosaic's] inherently natural interface was immediate and to a degree without precedent in the computer industry."
An independent panel of three judges selected five finalists and a winner in each category. Finalists were announced in April and an awards dinner was held in June at Washington, DC.
