News

Axiom Brings the Classics to Life with New Website for Harvard

June 15,2005

Reston, Va., June 15, 2005 – Researchers and scholars need to go no farther than their computers to see ancient scrolls with writings by Homer on Papyrus, one of the most popular digital viewings on the new website of the Harvard University Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS).  The website was launched following an overhaul by Axiom that included significant improvements to the user interface, integration, a new content management system, and UTF-8, the encoding system that lets CHS manage the many languages and alphabets that proliferate in the content.

With a mission of providing research on classical literature, and offering a variety of outreach vehicles including print and electronic publications, online courses, distance education seminars, and travel-study programs, CHS has a purpose built around content.  Having so much material made the research monotonous and publications hard to find under the old website.

“The website is a crucial part of research efforts, so we want to lower access barriers to good scholarly information about Greece and present it in the best possible way,” explains Leonard Muellner, CHS’s director for IT and publications.

The Web company created an extensive graphic library with Axiom, an open-source content management system and publishing tool.  Integration with other websites and existing databases, in combination with a new design with subtle textures and patterns that bring to mind ancient Greek sculpture and art, have resulted in a new CHS tool with unprecedented usability.

Jeff Ellsworth, vice president of sales and marketing for Axiom says,  “For organizations like CHS where content is their lifeblood, we have proven that our consulting skills and the Axiom content management platform are really a great combination.”

Visitors can find CHS at http://chs.harvard.edu/.