Dubbed the 'RDesk Mediator', RDesk's Web Browser rivals Internet Explorer by supporting every new standard and technology (Java, DHTML, CSS, XML, ...). RDesk was developed with three guidelines in mind: 1) RDesk should be fast and stable, 2) easily extendable, and 3) should become a rich platform for academic research and study. Because RDesk was designed to reside in a University setting, stability was essential. Also, because academic research is not static, it was important that RDesk be highly extendable. The RDesk vision: 1) Teach the user how to perform meaningful academic research 2) Provide the tools for which to do so and 3) provide a platform for librarians and instructors to collaborate and present course content addressing research requirements.