CLICK & DOUBLE CLICK: UNIVERSITY SITES PROVIDE GLOBAL OPPORTUNITY FOR PROMOTION, EDUCATION (COLUMN 61)

CYBERTIP: Sorry folks. We accidentally left out the web address of the city of Jackson home page last week. You can find it at www.jacksonmo.com It's a great site.

For a change of pace, we welcome Dennis O'Shields to this week's edition of Click and Double Click.

Dennis is one of our resident techies on the SEMissourian.com staff. He not only knows what looks good, he knows how it's done.

This week, we plan to take a tour of Southeast Missouri State University's brand new web site as well as the web sites for Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and University of Missouri-Columbia.

Universities are finding the Internet is a great place to market their campuses to the world, and a forum for distance learning classes.

www.semo.edu

Joni: The university's new web site is pretty slick. The photo at the top is three-fold. Academic Hall signifies the university's rich history. Dempster Hall reflects Southeast's state-of-the-art technology. In the middle, is a photograph of students. It sends a very good message of being student-centered.

Dennis: The layout on this site is much nicer than the old design. It's more state-of-art, with easy access to the different areas.

Joni: You can choose from welcome, prospective students, academics, student life, athletics, people and groups, alumni, foundation and much more. Under news and events, you'll find a university calendar, along with arts and entertainment listings. It's a great planning tool.

Dennis: Under student life, there is some really neat Javascripts.

Joni: English, please.

Dennis: When you move your mouse over the buttons, it gives you listings of more detailed information. When you move over recreation, it lists students recreation center and intramural and club sports.

Joni: Under people and groups, you can find phone numbers and e-mail addresses. The campus telephone and e-mail directories are online and searchable. That's handy. It's hot-linked to the e-mail addresses.

Dennis: You can search for any Southeast student or faculty member just by knowing part of their name.

Joni: You can update your alumni information online. That's a plus in today's busy world. Next stop: Carbondale and the campus of SIU.

www.siu.edu

Dennis: The welcome at the top of the page scrolls in several different languages. You can choose between the Carbondale campus and Edwardsville. The welcome to SIU is offered in RealAudio or QuickTime video.

Joni: This is also a nice-looking site. The front page promotes a recent national ranking by U.S. News and World Report, in which the Carbondale campus ranked 7th in students graduating with the lowest debt. This is a good way to get the message out.

Dennis: You can find out more about admissions, academics, SalukiNet -- which is their student information network -- research, resources and services, news and events and much more. I want to go to research. There you can learn a few things about SIU's role as a research institution.

Joni: I do know you can post job openings online. I did it a few weeks ago, and it was quite easy. That's an asset to area employers.

Dennis: SIU also has phonebooks and directories online -- for students, staff and faculty. It's all searchable. They also have fax numbers and e-mail searches. It lists local addresses and permanent addresses of students.

Joni: You can find a weekly guide to entertainment events in Carbondale and a number of city schedules and listings -- including the City Council agenda. The Southern Illinois Tourism Council calendar is also online. Next stop: University of Missouri.

www.missouri.edu

Dennis: A people finder and keyword finder are found at the top of the main page. There are dozens of links off the front page.

Joni: You can find out what's happening for today, the next seven days or a specific date. You can also search by month or event type, etc. You can also submit an event online.

Dennis: Here's something interesting, the 1996 Entering Class Profile. Some poor statistician decided he had way too much time on his hands. You can find out anything from ACT scores to the top five states represented. Number one was Missouri, of course, followed by Illinois, Texas, Kansas and beat this, California.

Joni: You can find lots about campus life, MU traditions, sporting teams, the Show Me State. The site provides a good overall view of life at Mizzou. I do know you can also post job openings online. I had a little trouble finding the site. It took a phone call, but then posting was easy.

Dennis: The MU traditions area is interesting. For example, the bell atop Switzler Hall will only ring for the death of a student or professor and to signal the Tap Day ceremony. What is Tiger Walk? If you rub the nose of the statue of Gov. David R. Francis, you'll receive an A on your next exam.

Joni: Look here, the huge "M" at Faurot Field was built in about an hour as a freshman stunt the night before the 1927 Homecoming game. This is interesting stuff. These web sites are great way for universities to show off.

Dennis: What's your favorite college or university web site on the Internet? E-mail us at click@semissourian.com

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams and Dennis O'Shields are members of the Southeast Missourian online staff.