Harvard Updates Customized Website

Harvard Arts and Sciences Computer Services (HASCS) yesterday launched its new version of “my.harvard.edu”—which now features a personalized calendar, campus sports, news updates and e-mail access.

The website’s facelift is an effort to make it more accessible and attractive to Harvard students.

The revamped site offers changes such as customizable menu options and Web links, which its designers said will help increase a user’s ability to personalize the site’s content.

“The site provides a single point of communication for Harvard affiliates to access a variety of campus offerings,” said HASCS Director of Residential Computing Kevin S. Davis ’98, one of the site’s designers. “After receiving lots of feedback from users, we’ve tried to make the site more usable.”

Since its introduction in 2000, 5,500 Harvard affiliates have personalized their own my.harvard.edu sites, according to Davis.

Matthew C. Boch ’04 said he already used the site because he found it convenient.

“I can get weather, dining hall menus, news, and handy links to my courses. You can’t find that anywhere else,” Boch said.

But Elizabeth A. Whitman ’05 said she will likely not use the website, despite its new features, because of the time it would take to customize.

“I’m sure if I spent a lot of energy trying to design the site it might have some nice conveniences, but I don’t have the time to hassle with it,” Whitman said.