With a host of new technology at our fingertips and the advent of the computer age upon us, the era of the sports information director sitting in front of his or her typewriter cranking out press releases has gone the way of the flannel baseball uniform and the two-handed set shot.

The scope of an SID's duties has expanded almost exponentially over the last decade to account for magical innovations such as the Internet, e-mail, laptop computers and digital technology. There are so many new ways to reach people with sports information in the contemporary shop that the possibilities are mind-boggling.

Aside from the traditional duties of the position, the athletics Web site has become a mainstay of almost every sports information office in the nation, while as recently as 10 years ago the notion of the Internet was a mere science fiction fantasy to the average person.

Consequently, SIDs all over the country, especially the veterans who didn't have the advantage of specialized computer classes in college, have had to scramble to catch up with the emerging technology.

The SID very often becomes his athletics department's Webmaster by default, especially at small to mid-size institutions that don't have the luxury of Web magnates such as Fansonly or Total Sports offering to maintain their sites. And nearly every job opening in the field calls for Web expertise of some sort.

Luckily, the intimidating task of setting up and maintaining a serviceable Web site for your athletics department is easier than ever. All you have to do is organize a plan of attack and dive right in -- the water's just fine.

Idea shopping

The first step is realizing the importance of your site. Anyone in the world with access to a computer and the Internet can access your Web presence at the click of a mouse. A relatively fixed number of people limited to a specific geographic area may read an article submitted to a local newspaper, but a Web entry is subject to an unlimited audience of geographically mobile net surfers. Alumni, family, expanded media, prospective students or other interested parties are there as an audience for the taking.

Your site is a great place for you and the public to track what's happening. Newspapers end up in the recycling bin after a day or two, but your Web site is a permanent fixture with archived information ready for public consumption.

The college sports Web is a window to the university through the eyes of its athletics department. A good site says positive things about your institution's commitment to forward thinking and technological advancement, not just your football team's won-lost record.

But the questions remain: "How and where do I begin?" World-renowned graphic artist Paul Rand once said, "Good designers borrow, great ones steal." The same holds true for Web-site designers. Visit as many college athletics sites as you can and not just the Division I granddaddies. Take the time to check out the Web sites for Divisions II and III as well. Formulate a working list of things you like and remember from each one. Then take those ideas and make them your own.

Next, decide on a medium for building your Web. There are a host of affordable Web design packages on the market today that are as simple to use as your standard word processing application. And don't worry, you don't need to know the difference between hypertext markup language and hypertext transfer protocol to use them. Programs like FrontPage by Microsoft make it easy for you to build professional looking Web sites right away, without having to dwell on a wealth of depressing technical jargon. Books like "The Complete Idiot's Guide to FrontPage 2000" also are a big help.

When planning your Web site, think in terms of links. Web surfers want to be able to easily access the information they desire and skip over the stuff that doesn't interest them. Begin with an athletics home page that contains a link for each of the sports your institution offers. Then create a separate page for each one of your sports to link to. Each sport should then have its own page with its own choice of links. From there, the sky's the limit.

For each sport in your department, link to some general information; a current roster, coaches' bios, an updated schedule, season preview, an overview of your home stadium or arena, player bios,and current statistics. It's a good idea to keep your layout consistent from page to page. Use the school's colors in your design and make your pages easy to read. Well-placed navigation bars and links help your visitors get around and navigate your site.

Once you've got the basic layout in place, think about adding pictures and inserting articles. Place headlines with two-sentence "teasers" on the home page with a link to the complete story. Visitors will love the up-to-date information on the latest happenings in your department. Also, publicize your own office with a sports information link. It doesn't hurt to tell people who you are and what you do at the university.

You'll eventually grow confident in your Web design skills and look forward to new challenges. Try adding a form in which visitors can submit their e-mail addresses for a free online subscription to a sports information e-mail newsletter. You also may want to experiment with streaming your radio play-by-play broadcasts live on the Web (a very popular feature).

Include a guestbook so you know who's been visiting your site and a counter to trace the volume of traffic. Do your coaches a favor and include an online recruiting form. Get people excited about what's going on at your institution, and publicize your Web site as often and as widely as possible.

When all is said and done, you'll be glad you didn't run in fear of the "Web Monster." Taking the technology bull by the horns and embracing it with professional zeal could be the jump-start you were looking for in your career.

Kevin Graber is the sports information director at the University of West Alabama and a member of the College Sports Information Directors of America computer committee.