Purdue-Board to streamline news for students, parents, alumni

Developed by a campus-wide group and administered by the Office of the Vice President for Student Services, Purdue-Board is a Web-based system utilizing RSS, or really simple syndication, technology that allows information to be posted online in a single location for subscription by anyone.

"Purdue-Board was developed in response to students telling us that they were getting too many e-mail messages from campus groups and organizations," said Dan Whiteley, student services technology and assessment data steward. "Many of the messages ended up ignored or filtered out as junk mail. As a result, the students missed some important e-mails, such as those from the registrar or the financial aid office."

Whiteley said Purdue-Board allows the community to stay informed without spending a great deal of time on the Internet looking for information or receiving e-mail to an overflowing inbox. Content can be viewed by using an Internet browser to visit the Purdue-Board Web site and clicking on any of the folders. Users also can subscribe to a folder, or channel, using their RSS reader. As content is posted to Purdue-Board, the RSS reader will check for feed regularly, highlight new material and download it in a separate folder directly to the user's computer desktop.

To utilize RSS feeds, Purdue's student computer labs will have RSS readers installed on the desktops.

Purdue-Board currently has 11 content folders: alumni, athletics, career opportunities, computing, housing and food services, public lectures, Purdue graduate student government, registrar, schedule of classes, student health and student organizations. Whiteley said the number of content folders is designed to grow. Students, faculty and staff can submit a listing by visiting the Purdue-Board Web site and clicking on the "Submit a Listing" link.

The Purdue-Board also will be a convenient way for parents and alumni to stay connected to campus without spending time surfing and reading multiple Purdue Web pages, said Lee Gordon, assistant vice president for student services technology and assessment.

"Because people can opt in to only those folders they are interested in, they will get less unwanted information," he said.

Those interested in getting an RSS reader on their computer can download one from the FAQ page of Purdue-Board.

Writer: Christy Jones, (765) 494-1089, christyjones@purdue.edu

Sources: Dan Whiteley, (765) 494-7416, dan@purdue.edu

Lee Gordon, (765) 494-0246, leegordon@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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