OVER VIEW:

The project called LORICAE ROMANAE has evolved and expanded considerably over the last thirteen weeks. However, there are not many differences between the initial project schedule and the finished product LORICAE ROMANAE. Although, as expected some of the images and text changed, the layout, aim and nature of the distinct sections remain the same (please compare the schedule and final product). However, despite my satisfaction at the continuity of the project, I encountered a number of problems which are set out below.

SIZE OF PROJECT:

From the beginning of this project I realised that it was going to be 'large'. The text size was compounded by the nature of the topic. That is, there is little on the Internet which is even remotely relevant. Because of this I had to add c.3000 words to my text so that I could fulfil the requirements of the course. I must also admit that because I was so interested in the topic at the beginning of the course, I could not help but add a number of extra words. Despite this indulgence, I consider that the most, if not all, of the text remains relevant.

LIMITATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:

The technology imposed a number of limits on the project. Firstly, because we were encouraged to add innovations such as animated.GIFs I had to re-think a number of pages/concepts. I did not initially design my project to run these GIFs so I had to find GIFs which were adaptable for the use of this project. I would have liked to have created the project around such innovations. Further, the clickable map was similiar in that it had to be adapted to perform a purpose which it was probably not designed. Because of these added innovations, which were not in the initial design, I believe that the URL could have been better.

IMAGES:

I am pleased to note that the image gallery turned out better than I expected, athough somewhat larger. However, the difficulty was in what to exclude rather than include. The second camera was much better than the first, consequently I could not 'resist' re-digitizing all of my images. This also posed a problem when setting up the pages, as I could not bring myself to make these images thumbnails. The result of this is that the project does take time to down load.

NAVIGATION:

I think I got this one right. I find my pages easy to navigate because they are logical and for the most part book-based. I do not like many multi-media projects in which the navigation is not consistant or just 'takes you for a ride'. Perhaps I am also lucky that the nature of the topic restricted the number of hotlinks which I have added. The links which I do have are clearly denoted and do not confuse the navigation issue.

TIME:

Arrrrragh!. Where has my life gone. I have fallen into the trap of neglecting my other university studies. However, even with retrospect I have enjoyed presenting this topic and I would 'probably' spend the same amount of time perfecting the project. Yet will this time be reflected in the final mark?

COMPUTERIZATION:

The initial reasons for the computerization of this topic still stand. That is there just is not anything else electronically out there on Roman Armour. However, computerization adds unexpected problems. I have also noted that different machines can do strange things to your pages. So in setting up web page you have to be aware that it may look different depending on weather you have a PC or MAC.

AUDIENCE:

The audience remains the same for this topic, University (Art History, Classics and Archaeology) students. Some of my collegues in classics who read the text for the Latin content 'enjoyed' and found the topic interesting. Even fellow archaeology students, by their nature 'left wing' found the topic interesting because of the types of evidence and conclusion reached. I hope this will be a reflected when read on the Internet.

CONCLUSION:

In this project I have had to jump some major hurdles. These hurdles have mades this project better than many already on the net. This project and the others in this course with consist of acedemic content have made some advances in claiming back the Internet for a 'higher purpose'.