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Over the past few years, colleges and universities throughout the world have developed their own campus-wide information systems. CWISs are computer based systems that provide information and services to the campus community and to those on the outside. With the growth of the Internet, these CWISs have become valuable sources of information to the international higher education community.
Judy Hallman of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has defined campus-wide information systems in the following way:
A CWIS provides campus information of general interest, online, accessible from virtually every workstation on campus that has communications capability. A typical system contains the campus directory, event schedules, guides, policies, and other documents.
There are three important aspects of CWISs. A CWIS is distinct from the administrative computer systems that an institution uses, such as the academic database or the financial/purchasing system. In order to be an effective and essential source of information, it must be available throughout campus by means of networked microcomputers or terminals. Finally, its purpose is to provide useful information to the campus community in a timely fashion.
Generally, a CWIS will provide the following information: academic policies and procedures; a calendar of events; faculty, staff, and student directories (including E-Mail addresses); contents of the catalogs; schedule of classes; library information; and minutes of meetings.
The general configuration of a CWIS consists of an information server, terminals which provide access to the server, dial-in access from off-campus, and a link to the Internet. The information server can be a minicomputer, a microcomputer, or a combination of different machines. The information server contains the server software, which provides access to the CWIS, and the different data files containing the information.
Access to the information server can be provided by terminals connected directly to the server or through microcomputers linked by a local area network (LAN). Dial-in access is generally provided for users on and off campus with microcomputers and modems who wish to connect to the system. If a school is connected to the Internet, the CWIS may be accessed from anywhere is the world. This provides access to university information on a global basis.
Many CWISs are established using Gopher, a software tool developed at the University of Minnesota. Gopher provides a way of organizing and distributing information over a network, and it has become a popular navigational device for the Internet. A Gopher server is organized in a hierarchical structure of directories and files. In a Gopher-based CWIS, text files containing information are placed in appropriate directories. Users select directories, which then list files of information or subdirectories.
Gopher software (both server and client) is available without charge on a variety of platforms. Gopher systems are relatively easy to organize, and they use primarily simple text (ASCII) files for documents. Gopher is a widely used protocol on the Internet, and there is an international registry of Gopher servers maintained by the University of Minnesota.
In determining the potential for a CWIS, schools should assess the state of campus computing, including automation of campus offices and the existence of a campus network. Personnel will be required to run such a system.
Management issues should also be addressed when planning a system. Decisions need to be made about who will be responsible for the system, what the design will be, and what policies will be established for including material. Plans for maintaining and updating information should be set up.
There are certain pitfalls which should also be avoided when developing a system. These include having a narrow focus, poor organization and presentation of the material, and outdated information.
The primary purpose of a CWIS is to provide information to the campus community. A CWIS benefits schools by providing an additional medium of communication with students, faculty, and staff. Another important benefit of a CWIS is its contribution to a school's image. As more colleges and universities develop CWISs and make them available through the Internet, it is important not to be left out. The final benefit of having a CWIS available both on campus and through the Internet is in making a contribution to the world-wide higher education community.
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