Prospectus/web publishing

[Margaret Dikel]

At 04:06 AM 06/19/1998 -0700, Anne George wrote:
>Could people help me with a debate going on here at the moment. Do
>institutions keep the information on academic courses/depts on their web
>sites in step with that provided by the printed prospectus, or do they
>ensure that the Web site contains the most up-to-date information if
>changes occur during the progress of an academic year.
>
>               Here the jury is split with some people arguing that for
>legal reasons, information should not be altered on the Web site mid way
>through an academic year, while others, including me, feel that the beauty
>of a web site is so that such changes can be made easily,

When I was working on a university website, this question came up.
The resolution was as follows, and this was handled through legal counsel.

The *printed* catalog was a contract between the student and the college,
outlining his/her academic program and requirements at the time he or she
entered the university.  Whatever changes were made during the year by
adding classes, etc., did not affect this contract.   

The web was used to keep the students and faculty informed as to changes
made in classes and programs during the year, but only after official
permission
was given by the appropriate areas at the university (registrar, faculty,
etc.)

So, we considered the paper to be the legal contract and the web to be
what it was best, a fluid environment for folks to use for last-minute
information.
The next problem was establishing how often these pages would be updated,
since it seemed like departments wanted to change their minds every 3 days.


Hope this helps.


Margaret


Margaret Dikel, MSLIS    
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