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JHUniverse will steer you onto the
information highway By Mike Field January 31, 1994 Beginning today, anyone with a personal computer tied into a computer network or a modem can tap into a world of Hopkins information. JHUniverse, Hopkins' new university-wide information system, allows users nearly instantaneous access to everything from course catalogs to a directory of library services, from student newspaper articles to listings of grants, awards and contracts. "For five years or more, we have been thinking of putting university information up electronically," said David Binko, director of Homewood Academic Computing, noting the process has been made easier by recent advances in software. JHUniverse is more than simply a new computer and the latest software though. Planners involved in bringing the system online say it represents an important commitment to interdivisional cooperation that should lead to more rapid and fluid as well as more frequent communication among various parts of the university. "The need to provide a comprehensive communications network around the whole university is very important," said vice provost fro research Ted Poehler, whose office helped fund the startup of the new system. "JHUniverse is a piece of what we ultimately want to do. The initiation of this system is a good start toward the creation of the basic electronic infrastructure that will one day include a comprehensive interoperable network across the university." The creation of JHUniverse is itself a study in interdepartmental collaboration. "It really is a decentralization story," said Dennis O'Shea, director of communications and public affairs at the Homewood campus. "For some time, I had been discussing the need to make more of our information available electronically with Gazette editor Laura O'Callaghan. At the same time, [Eisenhower Library director] Scott Bennett had been having similar discussions with Dean [of HOmewood Student Affairs] Larry Benedict. When they called us, we were extremely happy to find able and willing partners." Soon after the initial call, a plan was in place. A consortium of four independent departments -- News and Information, Homewood Student Affairs, the Eisenhower Library and Homewood Academic Computing -- would create and maintain a university-wide information system available at no cost to anyone with a computer and access to the network. The group, aided by the Provost's Office, funded startup costs and agreed to pay for the operation of the system in the early going. Others who put their information on the system can do so for free at first, but eventually, will be asked to help defray costs and make JHUniverse self-supporting. "It really is to the credit of the library, Homewood student Affairs, and Homewood Academic Computing that they are joining to put this together and get it going," O'Shea said. "But it's the university community that will benefit the most." The benefit, said Eisenhower Library director Scott Bennett, will come from having a single, central source for a virtually limitless wealth of information. "For us in the library, there is an immense amount of information about how we operate and what services we offer, and it is vitally important that we get that information in people's hands," he said. "Our commitment is to allow people to use as many library services as possible from their location. I foresee JHUniverse as one of the ways in which people first get introduced to the library." In addition to library information, the system will contain everything from a weekly calendar of events to current course catalogs, student directories, notices, news releases and much, much more. "Eventually, I see a whole raft of options," said dean of Homewood Student Affairs Larry Benedict. "For instance, we might be able to list jobs made available through our alumni for students after graduation. We could promote an internship system, handle job applications and even make information available to prospective students. More and more people will be adding things as time goes by. "I'm very excited to take this step forward." Flexibility--both in design and implementation--is a key component of the new system. JHUniverse planners hope that users throughout the university will contribute their ideas about what works--and what doesn't--and what information they'd like to see in the future. "The whole notion behind this system is that it's meant to benefit everyone at Hopkins," said Laura O'Callaghan, whose new duties as associate director for communications and information in the Office of News and Information including managing and developing JHUniverse. "We look forward to working with the people who are using the system and taking their suggestions for improvements. We want to follow the spirit of the Internet and not try to impose functions from the top down, but rather let the system change and develop according to what needs it can fulfill." For the time being, JHUniverse will primarily serve as a centralized location for all sorts of Hopkins-related information, available at no cost to anyone with a computer who cares to go looking. In the not-too-distant future though, it could be the gateway to unparalleled information resources. "JHUniverse represents a phenomenal way for people to communication," O'Callaghan said. "This is part of the information superhighway we've all been hearing so much about. JHUniverse may now seem a little like a bumpy back road, but we'll make it a highway as quickly as possible."
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