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"ERROR, PLEASE try again." After another series of clicks, the screen is yet again showing the same "Error" page. The user, a Yonseian or possibly a prospective Yonseian student shakes his head in frustration and tries again.
This is a common situation found when using the Yonsei Univ. website. Students who need to obtain information about Yonsei Univ., constantly find themselves staring at blank pages. Sometimes, the joy of finding the right page is cut short upon the discovery that the contents are not of much use.
Broken links, pages and pages with no specific information, a search engine that does not produce the correct results-this is the state of the current Yonsei Univ. website.
In Yonsei Univ., there are many different kinds of websites. The main website ( http://www.yonsei.ac.kr) has the basic information about the school such as: the history, faculty members, academic status, and admissions information. Linked onto this main page are many other Yonsei Univ. websites such as Yonsei Portal ( http://portal.yonsei.ac.kr), Yonsei Cyber Education Center ( http://ysec.yonsei.ac.kr), all the individual websites of each department and many websites of the school clubs such as Yonsei Yell Leaders. Among these various sites, there seems to be none in order. Within all these pages, there are uncountable flaws.
A major problem is that the search engine does not function properly. Currently the search engine at the main website only provides results within the main website’s pages. The probability of finding the desired information using this search engine is close to zero. Advanced searches are almost unheard of and even if search results do come up, most of the information is unrelated or useless. Eventually, students just give up and look manually through the websites.
Fundamentally, the biggest problem is that there is actually nothing to search for. The main website covers mainly basic information about the school that is no more than a simple introduction of the school. Even this fundamental information has not been updated in the last three years. On the notice boards, old news can still be found. For instance, the latest news is a notice announcing the 2003 TOEFL in June. The same situation applies to almost all department’s websites. In the Dept. of German Lang. & Lit. for example, the pin-up boards for the students are left untouched with no feedback to the students’ queries. Along with each department websites, the Yonsei Univ. English website is also not updated at all and even lacks the most basic information such as school courses for students.
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Adding to the problems of the contents are the technical issues. Many departments do not even offer a website, a broken link and an error sign is the biggest service offered. For example, a student may click on the Dept. of Russian Lang. & Lit. link all day long but still will only encounter the "please try again" page.
Due to all these inconveniences, the students are the ones that are suffering. The school is not seizing its golden opportunity to promote Yonsei Univ. out to the people. The internet is an essential method of introducing Yonsei Univ. to foreigners yet this task is not being carried out properly.
All these problems occur as separate institutions manage the school websites. The main school website is managed by the Informatization Promotion Committee and other websites such as Yonsei Portal are managed by different places. As there is no center that manages all the Yonsei Univ. related websites overall, there is no way of checking whether all the websites are updated regularly with equivalent information for the users or not.
In Oxford Univ., the school website is extremely well run. Everything is categorized neatly for the users’ convenience. An in-depth analysis about the school can be found on the school website. Useful information about school facilities and jobs are all updated on a regular basis for the users.
With the main website of Oxford Univ.( http://www.ox.ac.uk) acting as the center stage, all the websites of each individual department are managed overall. The websites of all the academic departments are in perfect condition, providing the information sufficient to the students’ needs.
The most impressive feature of the Oxford Univ. website is the search engine. Powered by Google, every single page within the Oxford Univ. boundaries can be found without difficulty. Even advanced searches are possible; students can find the information they need by typing in the specific orders. The hassle of searching through the entire website is nowhere to be found.
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One of the most outstanding elements of the Oxford Univ. website is that it provides service in many other languages. Despite the fact that the website is set in the world’s most international language, English, parts of the site are provided in other foreign languages for diverse users. For instance, on the page about admissions, information is provided in languages such as Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese. With the school making efforts in all areas, a well-run website is provided for the students’ convenience.
Changes
In order to improve the school website, many changes must be made. Fundamentally a system that could manage the overall Yonsei websites must be made. Once a system is formed, all the websites will run smoothly and regular updates will be made. As all the webmasters working at one institution will be informed of the problems, swift changes will be possible when there is trouble. Although changing the whole system is ideal, it may take many years to come. For the time being, the most practical solution is for the institutions to responsibly take charge of their individual websites.
Another step that could be taken for improvement is the change in the search engine. Although the school officials acknowledge the need of a new search engine, they are not making any changes because of the burden of high costs. The Google search engine is indeed extremely expensive, but such a large investment is occasionally necessary considering the long term advantages of the website. With a powerful search engine, many complaints of fellow Yonseians will cease. Once a well-established search engine is in place, changing the information on the website would be the next step. Fundamentally, Yonsei Univ. needs a full update. Pages created three years ago are not going to be of much use to the users. The school needs to take an interest in the school website and produce new material for the site. If each department has the responsibility of managing their websites, then that responsibility must be carried out. The websites are practically the only source for the students to keep up with the news in their departments. If the website is not updated regularly, what are the students to use as their source for information? Considering the fact that there are also foreign students, drastic changes must also be made to the English website. The Division of International Education and Exchange is in charge of managing the English website yet nothing on the site has changed for the past two years. The school must recognize the foreigners’ inconvenience and renovate the website.
The importance of school websites
Today’s world is an era where literally everything is found on the internet. The Yonsei Univ. website is no exception. The internet is an amazing opportunity to provide information about the school to many others. Currently the school officials are not revealing the total number of users at all. With the school’s negligence, it is a wonder if there are any users at all. What would the true purpose of the school website be? A useful "showing off" tool? Now with no more time to loose, the school needs to acknowledge the importance of school websites and take their first step towards renovating it.
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