Southern pine online

treated southern pine is prominently positioned.

"We had members who had been surfing the 'Net' and had found a lot of negative information on treated wood. We thought we should look into finding a way to get the correct information out about treated wood."

Reached on the World Wide Web at http://www.southernpine. com, the Southern Pine Council site is already getting an average of three "hits" a day. Visitors are iiiiil welcomed to the home page ii: by an array of colorful graphics, the Southern Pine Council logo and the notation "Bringing Wood to the Web."

They can then scroll down to a table of contents, listing I I subjects. By selecting one of the headings, they are taken to such sections as free literature, various design and construction guides, or a brief statement describing southern pine lumber as an environmental asset. Since concern over misinformation on the Internet was the initial impetus for creating the page, a Q&A about pressure

The web site currently features about 60 screens of information and colorful photographs. Viewers can scroll down a list of available publications, for instance, look over a picture of the document, read what it offers, and place a check in an adjacent box if they would like to receive a free copy. At the end of their search, they simply type in their name, address and other pertinent information and hit the "Send" button. That instantly transmits the request to the Southern Pine Council, which can print out the inquiry and promptly set up a mailing or answer.

Although the majority of inquiries have been requests for specific literature, viewers are also encouraged to submit questions or comments. Much of the E-mail is waiting for the staff to read in the morning, especially on

Monday, since a great deal of Internet activity is done during evenings and weekends.

The Southern Pine Council is compiling a database of the responses to track what types of individuals are inquiring. "In reviewing the response, we have found that quite a bit is from professionals, including the technical community," Easterling notes. As a result, future plans include expanding the site to offer additional technical information, such as maximum span tables. And since the site is equally accessible to someone in New Orleans or Norway, it will soon offer export buying guides in different languages.

After its first weeks online, most surprising to Easterling is the high number of responses from dealers. He says, "I had no idea that many retailers surfed the 'Net' for information."

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Plastic, any shape, any size, Light, bright kitchens. Some American lirms, like JeldWen, were big players at the show. Therma Tru talking doors in French. Citroen introduced a new pickup: the Jumpy. Stefan Johansson's Alumax Indy Car in subsidiary Kawneer Eurooe's booth. Different boards for different folks. Panel saw, large size.