Easy : a Hypermedia Learning Tool

The Web not only distributes classically organized teaching material such as overheads, lecture notes and books, but also encourages new ways of publication and provides the means for content which could not have been printed on paper. In the article we present a tool for teaching earthquake engineering an Earthquake Engineering Slide Information System (EASY). It uses information technology to present expert knowledge that has been accumulated over the decades by observing structures, damaged by earthquakes. Based on slides taken after major earthquakes such as Northridge, Mexico City and Kobe, a pictorial database of some 500 most descriptive images has been created and carefully annotated with keywords and textual description. By browsing the database and by following hypertext links, the user learns basic pitfalls of earthquake engineering and gains the feeling for the behavior of structures. The system is available both on the Web and on CD-ROM. We describe the system, as well as the design and development process and tools.