The Gemological Institute of America redesigned its Web site. New features include a redesigned corporate home page, a one-stop information destination center for the news media covering the gem and jewelry industry, free images of some of the world’s most beautiful gemstones, and an interactive history timeline of GIA.

“GIA has grown, so we needed to change the way we deliver information to everyone from students to news media, worldwide, via the Internet,” said GIA’s vice president of marketing and Public Relations, Kathryn Kimmel. “These substantial Web site improvements are about making gemological information more readily available to the public and to the trade.”

The new corporate home page encapsulates the Web site’s most important news in an executive summary format, giving visitors an opportunity to read about the latest educational programs, articles for consumers, lab research, important events, and much more.

Armando de Peralta, GIA director of marketing, says this release, version 3.0, is the most substantial revision to GIA’s Web site since 2000 and contains more than 6,000 pages of content.

Visitors to the corporate home page have many other options, such as learning about a featured gemstone or accessing GIA’s interactive tutorial, “How to Buy a Diamond.” In addition, students can now quickly enter GIA’s Virtual Campus from the home page.

The GIA Newsroom link is designed to make gemological information more accessible to the consumer and trade media. It includes quick access to media contacts, ready-to-use articles for consumers, news releases, and a press kit. Journalists will also have access to free, downloadable print quality photos of diamonds, colored gemstones, and other images relating to the gem and jewelry industry in the image gallery. In addition, the Newsroom serves as a portal to other important GIA information, such as the Richard T. Liddicoat Library and Information Center, events and trade shows, and links to GIA’s publications: GIA Insider, Gems & Gemology, and The Loupe: GIA World News.

The interactive GIA history timeline, which uses Flash technology, highlights the history of the Institute’s ground-breaking scientific research, education, and gemological laboratory services, and reads as a virtual chronicle of the industry’s growth and sophistication.

JCK