Campus-Wide Information System
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A major concern of all administrative offices, as well as faculty and academic
departments, is the ability to access, integrate, and manipulate information,
regardless of where the information resides. The information may be managed
locally or centrally with items ranging from the online catalog in the library
to an inventory of campus equipment, from a college calendar/schedule to a
directory of college employees and students. The ability to integrate and
manipulate this information will serve a variety of purposes, whether it is to
conduct a simple query, to update Banner (described below), or to routinely
extract a subset of data from one information source to create another one.
The Potsdam College Campus-Wide Information System (CWIS) is a computer-based
system that provides the means for delivering the wide range of information
described above through our campus network to anyone with a connected terminal
or desktop computer. Our CWIS is currently based upon a set of widely used
applications (e.g. Banner, Internet Gopher) that will give us the necessary
flexibility and capability to expand our services as our needs and interests
grow. With our campus network in place, the conversion to relational database
technology and the development of client/server applications with GUI
interfaces, our College is well-positioned to provide access to and control of
available information by all College constituencies.
Goals:
- To establish a fully-integrated CWIS.
- To integrate the components of the CWIS (BearFacts, Banner, library, local department publications, etc.) with a common interface.
- To establish campus databases that are SQL compatible.
The College has re-affirmed its commitment to providing as much online student
information as possible for use by faculty, staff, and students in their
advising, student support, retention efforts, and administrative processing. In
order to bridge the gap between what was needed and what was available, the
College implemented SCT's Banner software based upon the ORACLE database
management system.
Potsdam College has committed to ORACLE for the development of its core
administrative databases. ORACLE is a commercial database development package
which runs on nearly all viable computing platforms and is the SUNY-wide
standard established for database management systems, including Banner. Because
ORACLE is based upon an industry standard language, SQL, it is capable of
integrating data from any database which is SQL-compatible. By establishing and
supporting the use of ORACLE and SQL-compatible database management systems
throughout our campus, we will be able to realize our goal of achieving a truly
integrated information environment.
ORACLE and Banner provide the foundation for a flexible and complete student
information and administrative system. Modules that have been implemented
include: recruitment, admissions, registration, grading, financial aid, student
billing, location management (residence halls, meal plan, event scheduling),
and State reporting. Projects in-progress include installing the alumni module
and automating degree audit.
During the implementation it became obvious that Banner was very effective for
those offices that process large volumes of data (e.g. Admissions, Bursar,
Financial Aid, Registrar). However, the interface was not ideal for those who
use the system occasionally. Therefore, the College is exploring "friendlier"
interfaces that utilize Graphical User Interface (GUI) technology.
Additionally, SCT is developing Banner2 which employs GUI.
Goals :
- To promote and support the use of ORACLE, where appropriate.
- To continue our commitment and participation in the SUNY program to implement Banner.
- To develop and implement a Graphical User Interface (GUI) for use with Banner.
- To establish plans for Banner which include security of data storage, communication links, and processing and publication of descriptions of reports and processes.
Local databases are created whenever an end-user (an individual or
department) establishes a structured set of data records which can be queried,
updated and used to produce reports. The source of the data that comprises a
local database may include subsets of centralized databases, locally generated
data or a combination of both. These databases may be shared within a
department or used exclusively by an individual. Local databases can be
maintained by the end-user(s), and/or routinely updated automatically from
centrally-managed databases. However, as with centralized databases, each local
database will require a database "manager", someone who assumes responsibility
for the accuracy and currency of the data. The delegation of that
responsibility should be determined by the primary users of the database.
Goals:
- To establish ORACLE(tm) compatibility as the campus database development standard for all local database management systems with potential campus-wide accessability.
- To identify a database manager for each local database.
The demand for electronic access to information will continue to evolve.
Access will have two foci: information held locally (on campus) andinformation
available remotely. The newly installed online public accesscatalog will
greatly enhance access to information housed in the collectionsof the college
libraries as well as improve collection managementcapabilities. Collections
housed locally will be increasingly insufficient tomeet the research needs of
the college. The library must rely on access toand acquisition of information
from other libraries and commercial vendors. As users arrive with more
experience using electronic systems, they will havehigher expectations for
access and immediate delivery of information. Electronic systems are needed to
supplement traditional documentidentification and delivery service which have
an average one to two-week turnaround.
Evolving mechanisms will be necessary to enable users to develop andmaintain
proficiency in using increasingly numerous and sophisticatedinformation
retrieval systems. It is imperative that technology be used tomake library
resources more conveniently available to an increasingly diversestudent body
and to staff with a widening range of responsibilities.
Goals:
- To utilize the campus network to extend library services to thecampus community.
- To provide access to the digitally stored serials indexes throughthe campus network.
- To implement a serials control system with electronic access.
- To integrate the acquisitions system with the existing on-linepublic access catalog and circulation system.
- To provide a single user interface to as many electronic information sources as possible.
- To provide electronic delivery of information (documents, audio, video, software, data) obtained from local and remote sources.
- To develop the information retrieval skills in students and staff which are needed in an electronic environment.
- To use technology to provide library services in support of new campus initiatives such as distance learning.
BearFacts is a component of the Potsdam College CWIS and is currently
based upon Internet Gopher, a client-server application developed by the
University of Minnesota. BearFacts provides access to as much interesting and
useful information as possible, not only to members of the Potsdam College
community, but to members of the wider community interested in finding out more
about Potsdam College (e.g. ,prospective students). BearFacts is available to
every workstation on, or capable of connecting to, our campus network and the
national Internet. It is designed to support interactive services as well and
provides users with a more intuitive method of making a connection to remote
information services.
What will make BearFacts truly valuable is the quality and the breadth of the
information it provides. Some of this information may have lasting value, while
some may be ephemeral and need regular updating. As such, it will be necessary
to enlist as many Information Providers (IPs) as possible who will agree to
become a responsible source of high-quality, timely information.
Goals:
- To provide a means of access by all members of the College to information such as:
- information relating to the nature and function of the College (e.g., mission, course offerings and descriptions, policies);
- information relating to the composition of the College (e.g., directories, committee membership, organizational structure);
- information relating to the operation of the College (e.g., campus calendar, meetings, committee minutes, draft policy papers, newsletters);
- information about the wider academic community (e.g., network access, directories, links to other Gopher sites and Internet services);
- information that will help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of members of the College
- information relating to student activities;
- information that will help improve the general morale and welfare of all members of the College (e.g., on-campus cultural and extra-curricular activities, weather reports, movie reviews, etc.).
- To improve communication among all members of the College (faster, more reliably, more efficiently).
- To provide a means to disseminate relevant information about Potsdam College and to enhance its image to the wider community--in New York, nationally and internationally.
- To encourage and enlist a wide range of Information Providers (IPs) within the College to provide relevant information to the system.
- To incorporate access to interactive services (e.g., TELnet) as part of BearFacts' (Gopher) interface to the campus network and the Internet.
- To promote the use of the campus network and computers as means of accessing information.
- To reduce the cost of information dissemination by reducing the volume of paper material distributed around the College.
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This document prepared by Robert Jewett. Email: (jewettrj@potsdam.edu).