| Getting Connected guide wins first place at conference The student edition of Getting Connected: Your Guide to Information Technology Resources at American University, won first place in a competition for Printed How-To Guides at the 2005 SIGUCCS conference held last month in Monterey, California. The Getting Connected guides are published by the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in coordination with University Publications. OIT, with input from other IT departments in the AU community, began publishing a printed AU technology guide called The IT Book in 2000. It was a concise guide that covered basic topics, such as information on computer accounts, tips for buying a computer, connecting to the Internet, backing up data, and virus protection. It also listed the help desk contact information and computing lab locations around campus. In 2002, the name changed to Get Connected and included more information and more graphics. The next year the Office of Information Technology worked with University Publications to produce a comprehensive technology guide called Getting Connected in two separate editions: one for students and another for faculty and staff. University Publications gave the new guides a professional look with an attractive and easy-to-read layout. It also included photographs of actual IT employees from AU, taken by University Publications photographer Jeff Watts. A new Information Technology help desk Web site was introduced that included electronic copies of the printed guides, as well as in-depth how-to articles that were kept up to date throughout the year. University Publications continues to work with IT to produce new versions of Getting Connected each summer. The 2005 editions featured photographs by Watts and design by Alayne Trachewsky. Brooke Sabin was the editor and Terry Fernandez of Information Technology compiled the content. The Center for Teaching Excellence, the American University Library, and the Washington College of Law also contributed to the content. SIGUCCS is the Association of Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services. It hosts an annual fall conference for professionals who support and manage information technology services in higher education institutions. The fall conference provides an opportunity for IT staff from many different colleges and universities to share ideas for providing new technology services, as well as strategies for improving existing technology and customer service. Seminars, discussion groups, and publication competitions are all part of the annual conference. The Getting Connected guide also won first place for Printed How-To Guides in 2003. At that same conference the AU Information Technology Web site, http://help.american.edu, also won first place for Electronic How-To Guides. The Getting Connected guides are updated each summer and the student edition is distributed to all students at the university. The faculty and staff edition is distributed each fall to all faculty and staff. If you did not receive a copy, you can request one through helpdesk@american.edu. The printed guides are also available for download as Adobe Acrobat PDFs from http://help.american.edu. |
