Electronic communication services are essential to the effective utilization of
computing resources on our campus. They provide the interpersonal component to
computing where users can communicate directly with each other. These services
also establish a critical link to other institutions by electronically breaking
through the geographic isolation of our campus. But, to be utilized
effectively, these services must be virtually transparent in operation and
accessible by the campus as a whole. As technology advances in this area it
will be important to plan our services so that they will incorporate all
aspects of communications--voice, video and data.
Goals:
To establish communication service standards which are seamless in operation,
reliable, transparent in use and user-friendly
To support and promote the integration of voice, video and data technologies in
the delivery of campus communication services
This is the single-most important off-campus service we maintain. It connects
our campus to a rapidly growing international network of universities,
colleges, research institutions, and non-profit organizations. It is used
extensively to exchange messages and files between SUNY schools and is
increasingly important to our faculty who use it to maintain long-distance
professional relationships and conduct research projects with their remote
colleagues via file exchange, electronic conferencing, mail and interactive
messaging.
Goals:
To maintain our current membership status with BITNET
To provide BITNET service to all faculty, staff and students
To manage and regulate the use of interactive messaging via BITNET
To provide reliable service on a local level for BITNET communications
To offer one-on-one instruction and support for faculty members, who are
conducting research or working on projects through BITNET facilities
To offer at least one workshop or presentation on BITNET each semester
To support the mailer and file formatting standard used by the majority of
BITNET nodes
To support reliable, timely BITNET service; that is, mail and files sent to
other BITNET nodes should arrive at their destination within minutes of their
transmission
Electronic mail (email) provides the campus with a private medium to exchange
messages, as opposed to the public medium the electronic conferencing system
provides (see Conferencing below). Email is currently limited to users
of the campus mainframe.
Goals:
To establish a distributed electronic mail system which is based upon the X.400
standard and will function via the campus and departmental networks, personal
computers and centralized computing facilities
To integrate the campus and BITNET email systems
The Potsdam College Conferencing System incorporates all of the features of
electronic mail and much more. It is designed to foster public and private,
group-oriented communications. It also maintains an on-going transcript of the
group's dialogue. As a result, an individual may read, review and contribute
to a conference discussion at any time. At present, the system not only
supports general discussions but academic coursework in anthropology, computer
science, history, psychology, music and teacher education.
Goals:
To establish a distributed electronic conferencing system which is based upon
the ISO standards and will function via the campus network, personal computers
and centralized computing facilities
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Document prepared by Robert Jewett. Email: jewettrj@potsdam.edu