For nearly a year and a half, The Catalyst has published its weekly issue on the web and called it Catalyst Online. This week The Catalyst Online, a redesigned and upgraded Internet version is there for the world to see. And use.

Making it useful was the goal, and still is. There’s the usual information, of course. The same news that’s in The Catalyst will appear each week on the web as before. The same “Campus News,” “Community Happenings,” “Grantland” cartoon, “Research Grants” and “Research Studies,” and an expanded “Seminars and Events” (the MUSC Bluesheet and more).

What we’ve added is a link to a redesigned and ever-expanding “Speakers Bureau,” an “Archives” page with a search engine to locate past Catalyst articles, “Charleston Links” for out-of-towners who want to learn about the Lowcountry, and “Medical Links” to connect to a wealth of information offered by professional organizations and societies.

While The Catalyst Online and Speakers Bureau is the latest in Office of Public Relations offerings on the Internet, it’s certainly not the last. The Internet is an incredibly useful communications tool with potential far surpassing traditional media in effectiveness and accessibility. We’re not about to eliminate paper (not anytime soon, at least), and we have plans to make greater use of video, but we do want to maximize our use of the web in presenting MUSC to the world. Plans include a “Press Room” where media outlets will have around-the-clock access to press releases, news photos, biographies and photos of our major players, and general information about common diseases and seasonal health concerns.

We’d also like to make greater use of the interactivity potential of the Internet, using it to bring our faculty, employees and students to a central location where they can freely exchange ideas, offer suggestions, complain without fear, and openly cheer about the noteworthy events and achievements going on around here. There’s a feeling here that the Internet’s potential is contained only by our limited vision of how best to use it. Therefore, we’d like to hear from you. We’d like you to explore The Catalyst Online, see what’s there, and let us know what ideas you have for making Internet technology work for all of us here at MUSC. E-mail us at catalyst@musc.edu.

Technical and graphic design of The Catalyst Online and Speakers Bureau was provided by Mary Mauldin, Robbin Cullum, and Kathy Downey of MUSC’s Educational Technology Laboratory, and by John Lindroth of CCIT (Center for Computing and Information Technology). The Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, updates the web pages each week, and the Speakers Bureau is expanded and kept current by Jeff Watkins.