European Parliament website makeover, September 2005

The European Parliament launched its redesigned website in early September 2005 and users are now coming to terms with the changes. As it is a complete restructuring of the previous version, you will find that most � though not all � bookmarks will need to be updated and you will have to re-learn how to navigate the site to reach your favourite pages. The aim of the new version is to make the site more colourful and appealing while directing the content at three main user groups: the general public, EU experts and researchers. To that end the material is organised under five main headings � News, Parliament, Your MEPs, Activities and EP Live � and under each main heading are three sub-sections providing introductory information, more detailed content and archives. Each of the five sections has its own colour code and on the left is a menu with links relevant to the particular section to aid navigation. The site is designed for 20 languages, which can be selected from the drop down menu on the right of the banner. The search engine for the site is located on the top left of the page.Looking in detail at the five sections, the News page at http://www.europarl.eu.int/news/public/default_en.htm is the default page showing the latest headlines, with links to other key sites on the right of the page. The sub-section Press Service is where you will find The Briefing and The Week Ahead as well as other more substantial dossiers, while Press Archive holds earlier issues of publications. The Parliament section explains the workings and powers of the institution as well as how individuals can interact with it, either for example through visits or the submission of petitions. The In Detail sub-section is where you find information on the rules and procedures, and the useful Fact Sheets if you are trying to navigate to them. If you have them bookmarked they are still at the same URL http://www.europarl.eu.int/facts/default_en.htm which opens in a new window. The Archive sub-section contains information about the 2004 and 1999 elections and key topics such as the Convention and Treaty reform as well as the last set of Fact Sheets.Your MEPS is divided into the sub-sections Introduction, which offers map access to the information; Directory giving access to details of MEPs elected for the 6th parliamentary term, organised in a table by country and political allegiance; and Archives, which provides an alphabetical list by term for the previous five terms, going back to 1979 when the first direct elections were held.For information professionals, the key area is the Activities section. This is where you will find the OEIL database, available as an icon on the right of the page from the top level of the section. Other icons on the right of the screen offer direct access to EUR-Lex, the Register of documents, hearings, Conclusions of the European Council summits. The Activities page is also where you will find the full texts of the documents themselves and the records of what has taken place in the chamber. Where other sections have introductory level information as the default access point, in this case we have the latest information under the sub-heading Today in Parliament. From here you can track the texts adopted in the last part-session and future agendas, as well as link to live sessions when Parliament is sitting. For most purposes however we will want the Parliamentary Business sub-heading which gives access to the bulk of the material that we frequently look for. Here two tabs in the centre of the page offer the latest reports and the latest texts. From the menu on the left there are links to the documents relating to the plenary sittings, including reports, agendas, debates, texts adopted, motions and resolutions, common positions, and joint texts. There are links too to the Committees, the Conciliation process, parliamentary and written questions and calendars. The Committee information includes details of the Chair and Vice-Chairs and terms of reference, as well as meeting documents. The Conciliation heading offers only a link to �Objective� and it is not clear from this screen or from the next page, which gives a link to �further information�, that this is where � opening up in a separate window � the meat of the content is located, as previously available. The parliamentary questions link leads to the most recent information about questions asked orally, in writing or at question time � with or without answers. The menu heading says �questions for the year� and that appears literally to be true. To find earlier questions you need to go the Archives sub-section of Activities where you will find the questions asked in the previous parliamentary term and also in part of the 4th term. Where however are questions asked in 2004 but in the 6th parliamentary term? The Archives sub-heading of the Activities page also contains all the other documents relating to the 5th parliamentary term 1999-2004 and part of the 4th term 1994-1999, so what we now have is a not a subdivision by type of material then parliamentary term but into current or earlier terms, then document type. As the parliamentary term progresses this may work better as more and more information becomes available. However at the cusp of the parliamentary terms it is not necessarily helpful and may result in having to check in two different places on the site when trying to track down one bit of information.The final main area of the site is EP Live which makes viewing or listening to the workings of Parliament increasingly accessible. The schedule is posted here, you can follow live plenary sittings via webstreaming or download for example the report of a session as a .mp3 file.Overall the sensation is rather like the frustration of finding that the supermarket has re-organised its shelves and you have to learn all over again � usually while you are in a hurry � where your key ingredients have been hidden. However with the exception of minor black holes like the parliamentary questions, there is a wealth of content and no doubt we will all come to grips with navigating it again.