Having Your Cake and Eating it Too: A Recipe for a Collaborative CWIS in a Decentralized Environment

Abstract

Johns Hopkins University is a politically decentralized, geographically dispersed research university comprised of eight, highly independent schools with numerous centers and affiliates. While the Hopkins community cherishes its independence, we also recognize that internal communication among and between divisions is seriously hindered by this structure. In such an environment, a comprehensive networked information system is absolutely vital, yet differing priorities long conspired to prevent such a system from coming about. As the result of a unique partnership between four differing units of the university--Academic Computing, the Eisenhower Library, News & Information, and Student Affairs--a flexible, comprehensive, and inclusive campus-wide information system is successfully operating at Hopkins less than a year after conception. JHUniverse, as it known, has knit together faculty, students, staff and alumni across the divisions of the university and around the country in a manner that simply did not exist before, while providing the flexibility and "ownership" that is necessary to remain true to the spirit of decentralization. This presentation is a study in interdepartmental collaboration, and is also the story of how this networked information system has made decentralization a win-win proposition for Hopkins. By leveraging the strengths of each organization and capitalizing on the entrepreneurial nature of the institution, the project team was able to implement the system at very low cost while maintaining the commitment to provide universal free access in what is normally a pay-as-you-go internal economy. The result is one of the few true university-wide environments, rather than one perceived as being an enterprise of the computing center, the library, or central administration. The success of JHUniverse parallels and supports similar efforts around Hopkins (including Project Muse, another collaborative effort involving Academic Computing, the Eisenhower Library and the JHU Press, which has received widespread attention), and was a contributing factor in the recent receipt of a major grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts to completely transform Hopkin's electronic information environment. Paper presented at CAUSE94, the full proceedings of which are available through this Library as PUB1094.