[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/EandJ.jpg” caption=”Elissa Siroonian and Justin Kominar.”]Welcome to the McMaster Daily News Web site! This daily news service site has been created and developed by the Office of Public Relations and Computing & Information Services. The url is http://dailynews.mcmaster.ca.

Visitors to the site will find regular, daily news relating to University events and activities, news from the wider post-secondary education sector, hotlinks to frequently accessed news, university and government Web sites, and a comprehensive listing of McMaster current events.

The site has been constructed as a portal page with links to sections
on the University's Homepage and to other resources, such as job
opportunities at the University, sports, University reports, and arts & entertainment.

The site will be launched in two phases. Phase one will include fresh news and information daily about McMaster, its people, programs, and research and educational initiatives. The site will also carry short summaries of McMaster faculty, staff, students and alumni in the news, both locally and nationally. News from the broader post-secondary community will also be posted, with links where applicable.

In February, as part of phase two, a comprehensive calendar of events
will be added to the site and more features are planned.

“When completed, McMaster Daily News will be interactive with a fully searchable news database and a unique submission feature that will
enable members of the University community, either on or off
campus, to submit an item for posting onto the site,” says Gillian
Howard, director of public relations. “We hope University staff, faculty and students will start their day with the Daily News.”

“Most of our Web projects have involved presenting McMaster and its achievements to the external community. The McMaster Daily News project was an opportunity to develop a Web service targeted specifically to our internal community,” says Heather Grigg, senior manager, client services, CIS.

External visitors to the University Web site can access the Daily News via the main headline posted on the Homepage. Members of the internal community will be forwarded directly to the site via the University Homepage (http://www.mcmaster.ca).

“Our goal is to provide members of the University community with what might be best described as a one-stop McMaster information centre on the Web,” says Kelly Curwin, publications/communications co-ordinator, OPR, who is responsible for the site content and development.

The site will provide the Office of Public Relations with another communications tool to convey information to stakeholder groups. It also serves as a means to bring the internal community, which has a population the size of a small town, closer together and provides a new link to external audiences such as alumni, prospective students, and the media.

The logo and artwork for the site were created by Illeana Grimm (http://www.grimminc.com), a McMaster graduate and artist who is well-known for her Canadiana T-shirts. Contributors to the project include Justin Kominar, Muriel McKay, and Heather Grigg of CIS; Elissa Siroonian, public relations; and Joanne Kehoe, continuing education (formerly of public relations).

Funding for the site ($50,000), which is being launched as a pilot project, has been provided through the University's Reallocation Pool.
The site will be maintained by the Office of Public Relations, which also produces and publishes the McMaster Courier and the McMaster Times. CIS will continue to provide technical support for the project.