Online campus calendar slated for fall
debut by Sarah
R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff
s part of a new gateway to the campus's Web site,
the University will get a dynamic online calendar this fall, according
to Nina Sossen, Web communication manager in Web Development.
The gateway itself,
formerly known as the "front door," "will have a
whole new look and feel" and will highlight a few events and
provide a link to the full calendar, which can be searched by date
or by keyword (e.g., "dance" or "hockey"), Sossen
said. Because the dates for some events are known months in advance,
the calendar will be searchable well into the future, she said.
As a date approaches, it likely will accumulate more submissions.
Employees and
students who know of upcoming events that aren't yet listed on the
calendar will be able to submit them to Web Development by filling
out an online form on the calendar page, according to Kathryn Eldred,
director of Marketing. After getting the submission, Web Development
will post the event on the calendar.
"A more important
feature is that 'regular' contributors to the calendar will be able
to sign up with Web Development and get authority to post their
events, including images, directly [to the site]," she said.
The success of
the calendar will depend on thorough participation from those responsible
for publicizing events.
Sossen hopes that
the central role of the calendar will encourage people to submit
events - lectures, workshops, performances, exhibit openings and
athletic contests - to keep it complete and accurate.
"This calendar
will become the central source for event information on campus and
hopefully that in itself will encourage groups from across campus
to post their event information," said Eldred. "We have
already spoken to several groups on campus to get their thoughts
and feedback and will continue to do so throughout the spring. Overall,
I think it's a great service that we can offer and an important
step in improving the University's ability to communicate about
the vast array of events that take place on this campus."
Eldred said her
office will be working with the Five College Calendar group on feeding
the campus calendar directly into theirs.
"The whole
point of this thing is we want people to see UMass as a vibrant
place where there are always new things happening, because there
are," Sossen said.
Although she stressed
that it's still at the early planning stages, Sossen said anyone
with questions about the calendar may contact her (7-4741). |