FARMS Unveils New Web Site

In December 2005 FARMS released a new version of its Web site. In response to feedback from people who have used the site over the last several years, the new FARMS site boasts additional content and enhanced features.

For several years, the FARMS site has featured an extensive online archive of articles from FARMS periodicals, including the Insights newsletter, The FARMS Review, and the Journal of Book of Mormon Studies. All of these articles, including those from the latest issues of the periodicals, are now freely available to visitors to the Web site. In addition, all four volumes of the FARMS Occasional Papers are now available online.

FARMS enthusiasts will be especially delighted by the new Books section, where chapters from eight popular FARMS books are now available (to FARMS subscribers only). These chapters, as well as all of the other articles on the site, are categorized by publication, author, and subject to make them easier to find. Additional book chapters will be posted throughout the year, and eventually the chapters from the entire FARMS library of books will be available online.

One of the most frequently heard complaints about the FARMS Web site has been the lack of a sophisticated search engine. The new site features an all-new search feature, powered by Google, the leading provider of search engine technology. Although the Google search is already very advanced and accurate, the more people use it to find articles, the more the search engine will be able to accurately rank and display results.

The new site has also been reprogrammed to work with almost any Internet browser, to comply with guidelines for users with disabilities, and to follow strict security rules. The reprogramming results in a better, faster, and more usable site.

Those who use the new site are invited to e-mail their comments and suggestions to the FARMS Web team at farmswebcomments@byu.edu.