Undergrad. catalog makes online debut

The catalog is available for incoming freshmen and transfer students and is the first online interactive catalog the University of Arizona has produced, said Loyd Bell of the office of undergraduate education.

A team from the curriculum initiatives and academic information office and the Center for Computing and Information Technology created the catalog.

The open house was designed to get people involved and aware of the catalog, Bell said.

"It's really important for students to be able to access this information because it includes their degree requirements, among other things," he said.

Some of the features of the new catalog include immediate updates by the departments, easy accessibility from any computer with Internet access and a search engine to immediately locate information on classes and programs, Bell said.

The current undergraduate catalogs can also be accessed online but do not contain any of these features.

A hard copy version of the catalog will still be available to freshmen and transfer students, he said.

The online catalog was created as part of another program, Student Information System 2000. The university implemented SIS2000 to restructure the learning environment for students, including making UAInfo sites more accessible, said Chris Farley, office supervisor for the Bursar's Office.

During the open house, demonstrations of SIS2000 projects were also shown.

These include Smart Start, which is designed for new students to get acquainted with UA resources, the curriculum update project and the UA Info plan, which was completed in 1994.