The redesigned MIT Offices & Services Directory has arrived on the scene, and that’s good news for a number of reasons.
- The new design is attractive and well organized, enabling users to find key information about an MIT office or department, lab, or center (DLC) at a glance.
- The website is responsive, displaying optimally for the device on which it’s being viewed.
- Building numbers link directly to the MIT Campus Map, so you can see in a snap where an office or DLC is located.
Organized and easy to search
You can get to the directory by visiting http://officesdirectory.mit.edu/, selecting the offices link on the MIT home page, or choosing "Offices" when using the Search field on the MIT home page. Once on the Offices & Services site, you can search on any term or browse by name or category.
Kimberly Mancino, publication manager in MIT Reference Publications, notes: “Directory listings guide users to the key contacts and services in offices and DLCs.”
Each office’s listing starts with a “business card” that displays information about its location, phone number, email address, website URL, and leadership.
A listing may have key contacts, which can be organized by unit or function. Contacts’ names and titles are displayed along with their locations and phone numbers. A listing may also include services, which can link to a service website and email, and display its location and phone number.
All pages have a footer that includes quick links to "Emergency Info" and other mission-critical areas such as MIT Police and MIT Medical.
Redesigned site simplifies editing
About 300 MIT staff members act as directory editors for their areas; the redesigned site has simplified their tasks.
Editors now log in with an MIT certificate or Kerberos username and password. They also have a lighter load when it comes to data entry. Nearly all of the personnel information in the new directory can be pulled from the Data Warehouse, including an individual’s title, name, email, location, and phone number. Changes that an individual makes to his or her employee profile through Atlas Self-Service are mirrored in the People Directory and now appear as well in any of his or her listings in the Offices & Services Directory.
Training options
Information Systems and Technology (IS&T) developed in-person training sessions to introduce editors to the system. In January and February, more than 110 editors received training and assistance in populating their listings from IS&T and Reference Publications staff.
New editors or anyone who missed the scheduled training and would like to attend an in-person session should contact Reference Publications; sessions will be offered periodically as demand warrants. In addition, e-learning modules will be available this spring in the MIT Learning Center.
Behind the curtain
The new Offices & Services Directory may work like magic, but it didn’t appear out of nowhere. IS&T and Reference Publications collaborated from project development through launch, determining the scope and parameters of the project and developing the wireframes.
IS&T staff built the directory using Drupal, creating several new modules to meet the directory’s complex business requirements.
Give it a glance
When you have a moment, check out the MIT Offices & Services Directory and see how well it works. If you spot information that needs to be updated, contact the listing editor using the "Request a Change" link. If you wish to list your office, contact MIT Reference Publications to discuss inclusion. Feel free to share your thoughts about the site with the team by emailing referencepubs@mit.edu.
