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Learning the ropes: PennInfo provider of information training

By Gayle Belford

As a result of PennInfo's growing importance as a medium for the dissemination of information, Penn faculty, staff, and student organizations are increasingly interested in posting information to the system. Their primary concern is, invariably, the requirements for becoming a PennInfo provider of information (POI).

Requirements are, in fact, minimal. However, some training is necessary to acquaint POIs with the system and to help them take full advantage of the unique capabilities of this electronic medium. Training is comprehensive, though not highly technical, with an emphasis on structuring and presenting information to ensure clarity, readability, and high quality.

Prerequisites

• You must be familiar with the Macintosh and Microsoft Word, the hardware and software used to post information to PennInfo. If you are not familiar with these products, sign up for free training classes or take self-paced tutorials at the Computing Resource Center (CRC), or, for a nominal fee, rent the video entitled "Macintosh Guide: Your First Few Steps" from the Video Library in Houston Hall.
• You must have an individual e-mail account to communicate with POIs campus-wide.
• Two permission forms have to be completed and signed--one by an authorized representative of your group, who acknowledges ultimate responsibility for any information posted by the POI named on the form; the other by the account-holding POI, who is responsible for actually posting information to PennInfo.

Basic POI training

Training combines a brief lecture with extensive hands-on practice. Each session includes planning and conceptual guidelines, as well as practical instruction on document preparation, uploading, editing, and updating. Trainees work online in a special test area with documents they may later post to PennInfo. A provider guide and training aids on such topics as selecting keywords become desktop references.

Support after training

• POI Special Interest Group (POI-SIG). Currently, this group meets monthly to discuss items of common interest, such as changes to PennInfo menus, troubleshooting, and selecting keywords to optimize searching.
• POI e-mail list. POIs can exchange useful information and ask questions via this list.
• PennInfo Administration. For reinforcement or "refresher" training, PennInfo Administration coaches POIs by phone or arranges a brief training session. PennInfo Administration also assists in resolving problems with the system.
• CRC. Your first step in reporting problems with PennInfo is to contact the CRC at crc@a1.relay.upenn.edu or 898-9085. The CRC also has copies of PennInfo quick guides for both the Mac and the PC.
• PennInfo POI booth. A PennInfo booth housing two network- connected Macs is available for POI use. The booth also houses a DaynaFile drive to convert various DOS word processor files to Microsoft Word (Mac) format and an Apple scanner with optical character recognition software to scan documents into electronic form.