OC Online has new format

New service has daily news and more features for prospectives

Oberlin's official web site, Oberlin Online, received a facelift over the summer. The page now combines a sleeker navigational interface with a daily source of campus news and information.

The old Oberlin Online featured a general assortment of information for those outside Oberlin College, as well as events, dates and links to other facets of Oberlin available for students, staff and faculty. While still incorporating these amenities, the new Oberlin Online adds a daily news source of campus comings and goings.

Administrators hope the new Oberlin Online will benefit admissions. Prospective students use Oberlin Online to learn about campus life and gathering information of interest to their college search. Vice President of College Relations Al Moran said, "Our surveys continue to show an increase in high school students using Oberlin Online," he said. "Our intention in making it a daily is to capture some of the excitement on campus. It was basically done with admissions in mind."

College Relations oversees the management of Oberlin Online, and incorporated its publication, the Observer, into the new web page as the news source. The Observer , which no longer exists, had targeted an audience of faculty, staff and alumni. With the change over to the web, the Observer's staff has concentrated on bringing students into their target audience. Observer editor Linda Grashoff said, "The Observer did a good job of telling what faculty and staff do, but this gives us more immediate news on students and alumni."

With the transition from a published paper to an electronic news source, the Observer expects to lose some of its audience. Concern for staff who do not have direct access to a web server has sparked the introduction of at least one public system in the service building. This system should be available in the near future.

Project Director for College Relations John Appley redesigned Oberlin Online. "For the on-campus audience this is a major change. Students had gotten their news from one source, and faculty and staff another. This is now a common area," said Appley.

Beyond its service as a news source, Oberlin Online also provides a gateway to other areas of campus interest, including the Allen Memorial Art Museum, the Athletic Department and a classified section. The new classified section will serve as a replacement for the Kiosk message system, a feature of the old mail server, but now defunct. "I think Kiosk was good because it was right there. However, a lot of people did not want to turn on Kiosk and sort through 70 messages," said editor of student news Mark Graham.

In the grand scheme of things, the new Oberlin Online represents a step towards a campus centered on web-site based communication. According to Gary Kornblith, a member of the Oberlin On-line oversight committee and the Oberlin Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching (OCTET), a significant amount of information will be available via Oberlin Online to students, faculty, and staff.

A final report on long range planning by the General Faculty Planning Committee states: "In its new configuration, Oberlin Online would become a gateway to the collective life of Oberlin College, allowing members of different sub-communities on campus to publicize their various concerns and their activities while simultaneously learning about the concerns and activities of other sub-communities. This mode of communication would help bridge different social divides on campus."