by Nada Serajnik Sraka, Public Relations & Media Office of the Government
The ancient Romans expressed
their belief in the superiority of documentation over physical
existence with the proverb "Quid non est in actis, non est
in mundo" ("What does not exist in documents, does not
exist in the world"). While the claim is undoubtedly exaggerated,
it is true that we learn more about distant countries and events
from documentary sources than by direct experience.
The documentary resource of today is the World Wide Web, a network
of over 20 million computers linked into a veritable web of information
throughout the world, "surfed" by a growing population
of over 100 million "netizens" from all points of our
globe. While events may still happen without being reflected on
the WWW, the new medium is the most exhaustive and accessible
information resource on Earth, and countries, enterprises or individuals
who seek global recognition cannot afford to ignore it.
The Public Relations and Media Office of the Slovene Government
recognized the importance of the World Wide Web in 1994. It decided
to co-opt the networking team at the "J. Stefan" Institute
in Ljubljana to develop its own informative presence on the Internet.
The "J. Stefan" team developed the first WWW presentation
in Slovenia and has been maintaining its highly popular server
at http://www.ijs.si/ since November 20, 1993.
In cooperation with Slovenia's foremost cartoonist Tomo Lavrie,
the design team Media & Karlson and the Web technology group
Mat'Kurja, the Government PR and Media Office developed and co-sponsored
a series of WWW presentations designed to provide a wide range
of information about Slovenia to the world-wide public.
The Internet projects of the
Government PR and Media Office can be divided into three broad
categories:
• general information about Slovenia and its Internet resources,
a permanent source of periodically updated pages;
• permanent source of static and dynamic information, pertaining
to governmental functions and offices;
• temporary WWW presentations on specific events.
This widely popular server,
developed continuously from its first WWW appearance in 1993,
currently attracts a million virtual visits each month. Its iconography,
developed by Tomo Lavrie, the hen being a humorous comment
on the geographic shape of Slovenia, has gained wide acceptance,
and Lavrie's cartoons have become an alternative trademark of
Slovenia on the Web.
The most frequently visited entry point into "virtual"
Slovenia is divided into three chapters.
The Resources section is a continuously updated list of all information
sources in Slovenia that are accessible through the Internet.
Entries are categorized by function, type of organization, date
of entry and other keys. This Internet directory of Slovenia is
supported by a DBMS which facilitates keyword search. The data
base is updated both with directly submitted entries and the "harvest"
of a WWW robot which periodically sifts through the Slovene Internet.
The search mechanism also accesses a separate data base of e-mail
addresses voluntarily submitted by Slovene users.
A touch-sensitive map of Slovenia is designed to give a prospective
visitor (real or "virtual") a broad outline of Slovene
geography. Designated symbols are linked to general information
about skiing resorts, Karst caves, wine-growing regions and other
areas of interest.
The Country Info section supplies the "surfer" with
basic data about Slovenia, including such essential tourist information
as exchange rates, entry points, general weather patterns and
speed limits. A more inquisitive visitor will find a short Slovene
phrasebook (including soundtracks of pronunciation), an outline
of Slovene history, links to legislative, executive and judiciary
information sources, etc.
The Country Info section was originally developed as a general
information resource for the foreign visitor. However, as detailed
information is being continuously developed on new WWW servers,
general information is being replaced by links to more exhaustive
sources, while future development is concentrated on complete
coverage of a few specific subjects. Gastronomic examples of in-depth
documents are Wines of Slovenia (http://www.ijs.si/slo/country/food/wine/),
Recipes for Traditional Food in Slovenia (http://www.ijs.si/slo/country/food/recipes/)
and Wild mushrooms (http://www.ijs.si/slo/country/food/gobe/).
The WWW server of the Government
PR and Media Office at http://www.ijs.si/uvi/ is designed primarily
as a permanent information source for the media and other audiences.
The server provides the presentation of the Office's main activities
and tasks and offers a permanent source of general information
on Slovenia. For the media, some specialist information about
executive, legislative and judiciary offices, CVs of representative
public officials and a list of Slovene media accessible through
the Internet, and other useful information for journalists when
visiting Slovenia.
For those who seek more detailed information about Slovenia, the
server lists a number of printed publications (some of them on-line).
Furthermore, the WWW server of the Government PR and Media Office
also has regularly updated pages with government press releases
and other government issued information. These documents are dynamic
and news flyers are inputted when released.
The Government PR and Media
Office organizes special WWW coverage of events and state visits
of outstanding importance. Custom designed Web pages presented
so far include the coverage of the visit by Pope John Paul II
to Slovenia in May 1995 (http://www.uvi.si/pope/) and the Piran'97
meeting of presidents of Central European countries (http://www.uvi.si/piran97/)
in June 1997.
The coverage of CEFTA (http://www.uvi.si/cefta/) and related events
is the most complex WWW project so far. When Slovenia in 1997
assumed the presidency of the Central European Free Trade Agreement
(CEFTA) the event was covered by special WWW pages as a part of
communication support provided by the Government PR and Media
Office. In 1998 the main Internet project will be establishing
a website of Slovenia’s appearance at EXPO in Lisbon.
While WWW presentations covering special events are technologically similar to the permanent presentation of the Government PR and Media Office, they also incorporate a custom Intranet feature not accessible to the general Internet public. An additional set of dynamic WWW pages is available only to accredited reporters on the network of the official news room; these restricted Intranet presentations are constantly updated with the latest information about press conferences, photo opportunities, contacts for interviews and other data for the participating reporter.
In cooperation with the Government PR and Media Office, RTV Slovenia decided to make use of the facilities offered by the Internet for broadcasting radio and some TV programs through the Internet. Since 12 September 1997, all Internet users throughout the world are able to receive the 1st radio program and the main TV news program, as well as some other TV broadcasts, through the Internet on a daily basis. This first radio and TV broadcasting through the Internet is of particular significance because it will enable all communities of Slovenes living abroad and Slovene guest workers, as well as students of the Slovene language and all friends of Slovenia abroad, to follow Slovene programs. The Radio or TV programs of Slovenia can be reached at the Internet address http://www.rtvslo.si/.
As the only world-wide interactive
medium, the Internet offers features that are difficult or impossible
to emulate in other modes of communication: multimedia capabilities,
access on-demand, virtually limitless archiving accessible through
fast and capable search engines, user-friendly navigation and
instant fingertip access to more information than available in
any single library or archive on our globe.
The Government PR and Media Office could not afford to ignore
this medium. We believe that we have harnessed the potential of
the Internet to increase the recognition of Slovenia on a global
scale; and access statistics and user feedback prove that we have
successfully established Slovenia on the WWW map of the world.
