The Ukrainian Weekly in cyberspace

by Bohdan Peter Rekshynskyj

You call it Internet, I call it Inet. They call it infoBahn, we call it cyberspace. No matter what, it all boils down to the same thing. The Ukrainian Weekly is out there.

It started as part of an idea this writer had for the "Current Events" section of the Ukraine FAQ Plus Project (see accompanying article) when I came across a notice in The Weekly. This notice stated that sometimes The Weekly arrives late due to poor delivery by the U.S. Postal Service. Living in Manhattan (with The Ukrainian Weekly just across the Hudson River, in Jersey City) one would think that my issue, which is sent out on Friday, would arrive promptly. However, the issue would arrive on Monday, more often Tuesday. Several times, to my complete amazement, it would arrive the next Friday. Such is the fate of second-class mail. Although there are some other sources of information on Ukraine on the Internet, the coverage provided by The Ukrainian Weekly is superior in my opinion.

How to resolve this dilemma? I broached this idea with the editor-in chief, Roma Hadzewycz, after helping The Weekly connect to the Internet. "Why not have a small preview of The Weekly on the Internet," I inquired, "to let subscribers know what the next issue will cover, to let potential subscribers see the comprehensive coverage The Weekly provides on Ukrainian and Ukrainian diasporan issues, and to provide another reason for people interested in Ukrainian matters to visit the Ukraine FAQ Plus Project web-site?" The rest is history.

July 14, 1995, marks the first time the preview of The Ukrainian Weekly appeared on the Internet. Since then, every Friday or Saturday, The Ukrainian Weekly Preview has been available. Ms. Hadzewycz, e-mails me the preview on Friday. From there, I take the preview, format it appropriately so your web-browser can read this. (A web-browser is a computer program that lets you access Internet "web" sites. A "web site" is, roughly, a location of a computer which contains this information and therefore is accessible.)

Although it contains a brief excerpt of major articles and in no way can substitute for the actual issue you hold in your hands, The Ukrainian Weekly section has become one of the most popular parts of the Ukraine FAQ Plus Project. Perhaps it is the color pictures on your computer screen, which you see in black and white in the paper. Perchance it is the "hot off the press" quality. The content, evidently, speaks for itself.

Nevertheless, as I write this sidebar, the last issue, February 11, was accessed over 105 times in just a little over the three days that it has been available. The issue prior to that, February 4, was accessed over 189 times in just 10 days.

A resounding success was The Weekly's 1995 year-ender, placed on the net in its entirety at the end of December. The total number of people accessing the main page was over 219 (most of which occurred in the first few weeks after its release), and that number continues to grow.

* * *

The Ukrainian Weekly can be accessed at the following Internet address (URL): http://world.std.com/~sabre/UKRAINE.html

After you access this page, click on the "Current Events" section for The Weekly.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, February 18, 1996, No. 7, Vol. LXIV

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