"Kiddult Fiction: An Interactive Website on Child/Adult Literature"

Supervised by R.Gaizauskas

Abstract

The aim of this project is to develop an interactive Web site through a selection of two different, but popular, current technologies, with the goal of reaching a conclusion concerning their individual advantages and disadvantages, as well as how best to use them.

The end product is to be used by both children over 10, as well as adult readers, as a means for sharing ideas about books with other readers, of different age and culture. Therefore, it is important that the system is easy to use and administer.

The most common and widely used languages available for designing and implementing a Web site are reviewed, along with a description of the final technologies chosen, and the reason for their choice.

The design of the two systems, one based on WebCT and the other on CGI/PERL with the use of MySQL, is explained in detail. The description of the most important implementation methods is also presented.

A critical evaluation of the capabilities and limitations of the two systems is offered, based on designer and user testing. Finally, suggestions are made for future development and improvement of the two systems.