Cybersurf

Hello good morning and welcome to Cybersurf – your weekly window where web matters. I am your Cyberhost Steven Lang.

Last Wednesday, President Thabo Mbeki, Premier Mbhazima Shilowa and Minister Pallo Jordan officially opened the brand new Maropeng Visitors centre near Johannesburg. It was a very impressive affair in a huge marquee just outside the centre itself.

The Maropeng visitors centre is a visually stunning museum, shaped like some type of ancient burial mound. It houses a large number of exhibits that seek to explain the pre-history of humanity as revealed by hominid bones discovered in the area.

The centre displays casts of most significant hominid finds from Southern Africa and other parts of the world. The bones and dioramas are fantastic and well worth the visit.

However, I was not as impressed with the Maropeng web site – which you can find at Maropeng.co.za. Perhaps what annoyed me more than anything - my eternal bug-bear – the area where the actual content is displayed is a small window taking up less than a quarter of the screen space. Why do web designers do this? Do they think users like scrolling up and down to see the content tucked away in squashed up block?

(T) Perhaps I am being unreasonable – it is after all a new site and there isn’t really much content available yet. I do hope they are going to add to it.

In one of the incomplete sections – instead of the usual “under construction sign” there was a “still excavating” graphic – different and cute.

The Maropeng site was clearly done by the same people that did the linked Sterkfontein caves site - and in both cases it appears that there is more emphasis on the commercial and tourism aspects of the Cradle of Humankind ahead of educational content explaining to visitors why this area is so important.

To illustrate what I mean – the restaurants, hotel, conferencing, and tour operators sections are operational – with price lists. But the Education section is “still excavating”.

The contacts section has details for several administrators, three financial officers, two people for food and beverages, a brand manager, a sales person and only one person who does tour bookings, schools and information for Sterkfontein caves.

The Cradle of Human kind web site at www.cradleofhumankind.co.za has much more content, even if it is not all fully up to date. I particularly liked the section with the video clips that I am sure will be incorporated in the not too distant future in the Maropeng site.

To sum it up – the old adage “content is king” still holds true – so I appeal to the people who run the Maropeng Visitors Centre: please put on your web sites more educational information about the australopethecines, homo erectus and cave formations – there is already enough about prices and conference facilities.

And that wraps up the prehistory edition of Cybersurf – thanks for listening and please tune in again next Monday for more – on the best of the web.