The primary goal of the EECS Homepage is to provide general information about this department to students as well as to the public at large. More specifically this homepage may serve to provide course materials, contact information and links to other MIT departments. This homepage, therefore, serves many purposes. These may be categorized into Public Relations, Administration and Education. Furthermore, it may act as a means of persuasion to prospective students and as a means of comparison for professors from other universities.
The EECS inter-departemantal links fully carry out the purposes delineated above. These links are not only helpful, but numerous. It is for this reason that we feel that the links need to be structured in a more efficient way. We propose that the opening page offer more substantial descriptions of the content of each link. This would lead to a better understanding of how to navigate through the pages. In addition the structure would be aided by a more aesthetically pleasing layout. This includes spacing, as well as the proper use of colors, typeset and graphics. For example, the initial image has clashing colors and a boring typeset. Also the header "Massachusetts Institute of Technology" could be more prominently displayed to give the homepage more authority.
Although the homepage is poorly structured most of the information provided in the homepage is useful. Various aspects of MIT's EECS department are represented including current events, announcements and admissions. However, we find that some information is lacking. Instead of an initial barage of links, a brief description of the department would be more informative. Also a search feature would be very helpful.
In conclusion, we cannot rank this homepage very highly because we would expect more coming from the MIT-EECS department. At times one would almost prefer to see a few "Under Contruction" signs. As stated above we would change the colors, typset and graphics of the homepage as well as the general layout. As an improvement we offer the beginning of the IEEE Homepage, which with it's compelling opening graphic, is aesthetically pleasing.