... by Shaz - About Me ...
Currently
I live near the Lake District in England which is a very beautiful and unique part of the world.
Since October 2006 I have been employed as a web developer by the educational books publisher CGP. Their main web site is still very much a work in progress as far as I am concerned, but I have managed to implement some neater design features and standards based code: www.cgpbooks.co.uk
The work is slow because the company has recently moved into the U.S. Market and I have been busy with 2 brand new sites, both much more modern in design and coding: www.cgpstudy.com and www.cgpeducation.com
Before That
This photo was taken when I was Collections
Technician at The Dock Museum.
My main job then was cleaning, scanning and storing the Vickers Photographic Archive.
After the The Dock Museum I went to work on the web site for Barrow Borough Council.
Graphic design and digital imaging were still a core part of my job, but I also developed my web site and server management skills.
Along the Way
In December 2005 I completed the Undergraduate Certificate in Web Applications Development with the Open University, to qualify in web site design, development and management at degree level - Cert Web Apps (Open).
I have also attended web design and computer graphics courses at Furness College and the University of Central Lancashire - just in case you thought I was making it up as I went along.
In the past 2 years I have worked with:
- HTML, XHTML and CSS
- Dreamweaver, Fireworks and Photoshop.
- ASP, VBScript, JavaScript, PHP, ColdFusion and Java
- MSSQL and MySQL
- Domain Names and Secure Certificates
- Cisco Pix Firewalls
- Windows Server 2000 and 2003
- IIS 5 and 6, Apache on Microsoft OS
- a content management system
And that's just the stuff worth a mention.
I enjoy the challenge of learning new software and
applications, and have also been surprised to find how
much I like server management and security.
Maybe this is because I like to understand the whole
process of serving a web page, from user interaction and
interface design, through to the backend scripting and
data processing.
Important to Me
Hopefully this site is usable and accessible as these are
areas of web design that I feel very strongly
about.
As always though, there is probably room for improvement,
so I don't claim that the site is perfect - just that I
have at least considered and put some effort into making
my web site viewable by as
many people as possible.
In 2005 I joined the International Webmasters
Association as an incentive to keep my web skills up
to date and relevant.
The IWA is a professional trade association, and the
industry's recognized leader in providing educational and
certification standards for Web professionals.
IWA Philosophy:
Members shall be dedicated to self-development, sharing
ideas, and developing professional contacts. IWA members,
in their professional conduct, shall be guided by IWA's
Standards of Professional Practices and a Code of Ethics
to provide superior service to their employers and
clients. Professional Development shall be the
cornerstone of the IWA.
If you have any comments on my site or my work please contact me ...
And You May Also Want To Know This...
The Vickers Photographic Archive is a collection of around 9,000 glass and film negatives donated by the Barrow Shipyard to The Dock Museum, and when I worked at the museum I scanned these images so they could be used in an interactive multimedia display that opened in May 2001.
The images are stored in a searchable computer archive and this forms part of the permanent exhibition "Shipbuilders to the World" , which uses artefacts and images from the shipyard to tell the story of Barrows influence on the shipbuilding and engineering history of Britain, and many other countries.
Damaged images have been digitally restored using Adobe Photoshop, and all are now available in digital and print format to the public, researchers and historical media producers.
I also scanned and manipulated the images used for the graphic panels and thirty feet high banners in this exhibition.
It was a very intensive and challenging project, but the archive is an invaluable local and national resource, and I am very proud to have been one of the team working to integrate it into this major exhibition.
I also had opportunities to practice my design skills on projects like in-house posters and logos , or create images like the one on the Barrow Borough Council web site.
I worked as webmaster at the museum, after being involved in the design and build of the web site that was created as part of the project to make the Archive accessible online.
This got me the experience I needed to transfer to the Town Hall and work on the Barrow Borough Council web site which went live in January 2003.
I was part of a team of three who designed, built and maintained the sites on internally hosted servers.
If you want more details about the Vickers Photographic Archive you can contact The Dock Museum , or see the Archive online .