Pace University White Pages is the online directory written by the IT staff at Pace which provides useful information about the members of the Pace community. For staff and faculty, White Pages provides public information such as the division, department, job title, user name, Pace e-mail address, and campus location. For students, you can find your school, major, user name, Pace e-mail address, and campus location. Since this is a key application used by not just internally but also those seeking information from outside, we feel that it is time to redesign it for ease of use with multiple operating systems and browsers as well as PDAs. We provide some ideas that we have come up with, but we want to hear from you about any enhancements that you think would make it better!
It is all about good Data!
Have you been frustrated that whitepages data sometimes is not accurate? Well, in some cases, it is due to the delays in processes that we can control. But mostly, we rely on you to keep your own data current. The Profile Editor which is located under the Edit Your Info tab on the main page can be used to update your information. Of course, you need to provide your username and password to be able to change the information. Rather than list all the things that you can change, we invite you to take a minute to go to this link and provide accurate and detailed information. There is also an option for users to display a photograph by choosing the one on file that appears on your Pace ID card or uploading another image from your hard drive.
What information cannot be changed in White Pages?
Some fields, such as the official name, Pace e-mail address, school, major, and primary campus, are stored and maintained in Banner so, they cannot be changed using the White Pages. If any of this is incorrect, students should contact the Office of Student Assistance or faculty adviser; Faculty and Staff should contact the Human Resources office. Students can choose to make their profiles private which makes their profiles not available while searching.
Some of the features of the White Pages.
The obvious ones to search are: Name, Phone Number (reverse). In addition, you can list members of a Department, Division, Campus, Person Type, or you can do a Full Text Search. Most of the search will involve specifying a search term for Name and choosing a Person Type (Only Staff and Faculty or Only Students, or ALL). The Department search has a nice outcome in that it shows how a particular department is organized; similarly, you can click on students and see what programs or majors are offered by each school.
For any search that involves student search, the results will be restricted to the first 5 search results. You will see a message above the results stating Too many results returned. In this case, you can click the link that says log in to search without limits.
What are we thinking in terms of redesign?
- Redesign the pages to be compatible with the Pace identity.
- Make sure it works on PCs, Macs, and Linux systems and in IE, Firefox and Safari.
- Reduce clicks and opening new tabs or pages. Any click should simply show additional information on the same page by using rolling down informational windows
- First search result should show as much relevant info as possible (such as the phone number).
- Easy way to add the records to your favorite contacts in vcard format
- An easy to use PDA application
- A Google Map link to the address
Why don’t you tell us what is it that you would like to see as we plan the redesign? Also, if you have a favorite white pages application that you have seen on another site, please share the links.
Please remember that we may not be able to incorporate all requests, but we will do our best! Secondly, the upgrade will be incremental. We will not wait until all changes have been made. Once we make a set of changes and test them out, we will roll them out and then work on the next set. Sort of, “Forever Beta”!
I’d like to have the name search have two different fields one for first name and one for last name. I’d like a phonetic name search option. How many times do we think we know the name but we don’t have it exactly right.
I’d like the Department name to be a text field. I don’t want to do drop down menu searches. I’d like the Department name to be smart. For people both inside and outside Pace, OSA doesn’t cut it (anymore than DoIT does)—especially for alumni. We should allow for Registrar, Bursar, and Financial Aid.
While some of us use email programs, some use web browsers and clicking on a link doesn’t quite work. How about a link to a form which will allow you to fill out a form to send the person email. Preferably, it could have a flag for setting priority for emergencies. Which leads to phone messages, a click of a phone link could have you talk directly to the person (if they answer) and leave a voice mail if it doesn’t. Something like Google’s Voice application.
This is a bit much for a simple database search engine, but as long as you are asking…
I think the White Pages Redesign project is a great idea! Having a Google Map link to the address is the perfect add-in for those searching from the outside. This will give them the ability to get directions to the person and location without having to search for directions. Additionally, it will improve the overall experience for the outside searcher.
The reduction of clicks and opening of new tabs/pages is another feature I am looking forward to using. Having roll-down informational windows only makes life easier, especially for those that are less inclined to type.
I would love to be able to search on nicknames in the Whitepages. There is a person at Pace named Cesar but EVERYBODY knows him as Winston. If you search for Winston, he does not show up. You are unable to email him because you do not know his “real” first name. This is just one example of this situation; it actually happens quite often. Hope to see this feature in the future.
It would be great if we could search by major. I have had numerous occasions where Ive had to work with someone for class and I know thier Major and First name but can not remember the last name.