Online Inauguration

Herbert Hoover’s inauguration was the first broadcast live on radio, and Harry Truman’s was the first shown on television. Today, if all goes as planned, President Clinton’s second inaugural will be the first to be carried over the Internet.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee, in a partnership with the Public Broadcasting Service, has set up an official inaugural website at https://www.pbs.org/inaugural97.

If you’re interested in watching the festivities, television is still better than the Internet, because the site won’t actually have live video, but will post pictures and updates during the event.

However, the site does have a few extras television can’t provide. For instance, there are lesson plans for teachers, offering ways to help children learn more about the event’s history, the way it is followed by the media, and more.

There is also an e-mail link to Miller Williams, the Arkansas poet selected by Clinton to read a poem at the inauguration. Viewers are invited to submit questions to Williams, who will be posting answers to the Web site throughout the week.

An online quiz even tests your knowledge of inaugural trivia. “Ask not what this quiz can do for you,” it begins. “Ask what answers you can come up with for this quiz.”

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Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at [email protected]