The Virtual Qumran Project

Status Update on the Virtual Qumran Project: 30 April, 2002

The design for the Virtual Qumran Web site is complete and the research and text are also near completion. We have outlined the necessary video and audio clips, and collected the graphics needed for the site. We have selected an outsourcing company to construct the Web site at a very reasonable fee, including templates that will allow us to maintain the site after completion, updating text and graphics in the future without intervention from the outsourcing company. The site's easy maintenance is particular useful due its dynamic nature; new discoveries and developments are constantly being made in the area of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Our next step is to begin building the site using the outsourcing company we have selected. We have a meeting set with them for the coming week to review the site design and begin work. One of the first pieces of information they will need to provide us with is feedback regarding the length of text that can fit on each page of the site, as well as the length and size of the video and audio clips which we can use without adversely affecting the response time of the site. With this information, we'll then be able to modify our text accordingly, and move forward with recording the video and audio clips for the site. We'll also obtain permission for usage of any other media we select for the site. After the text is in a good draft format, we'll ask experts in the field to review the text, and we'll modify it accordingly. Once the text is in its final form, we'll begin translation work, and submit the final text in both languages to be added to the site.

The final steps will be to review the completed Web site, put it live on our host server, and link it to the Orion Center Web site for all to view. A reasonable time estimate to complete the project is approximately 3 months to build the Web site, plus whatever time is needed to review the textual material.

Laurie Marr
(Project Manager)