The GSD is not above tooting its own horn, and there's no shortage of brass here. The GSD web sites reflect the wide range of activities at the Design School from cutting edge computer graphics in The Studio Zone to the Frances Loeb Library web page with its links to a world of information at Harvard and at sites around the world. There are job postings and telephone listings, course descriptions and profiles of the faculty.
Just start with the index page at http://www.gsd.harvard.edu/, there are links to every department, and more links branching off from every department site. There's a special purple box linking to The Studio Zone, which is run by the Student Forum. It has special projects, research and links to all the student home pages. There is some very high end stuff going on here, with student projects from Computer Graphics and Virtual Landscape projects and some great examples of how wild you can get on the Web.
Information Services is the umbrella department for Computer Resources and the Library, and there is a huge amount of information available at both sites. At the Computer Resources site you can e-mail the Help Desk and let them know your e-mail's busted (expect some delays with this concept). You can order raw fish from Wade Hokoda's Interactive Sushi Bar (I tried this and was still hungry a half-hour later). There is also the Dædalus On-line Manual with instructions for students using computers with the Design School network, Web posting criteria, and a Virus Information page (with some great animation).
The Library home page puts a world of information at your fingertips (be prepared to wear them down to the second knuckle getting there). There are links to HOLLIS, The Avery Periodical Index, Links to Internet Sites related to Design, and the very powerful HOLLIS Plus with links to over a hundred library and bibliographic sites around the country such as Books In Print, The CIA World Fact Book, The Library of Congress, and The Boston Globe On-Line. There are links to all of the Harvard Library Home Pages, the VINE (for Telephone Listings, Outings and Innings, and the up-to-the-date job listings). Be warned, some of these sites (especially the library catalogs) require TELNET access. If you're not sure how to set up your computer to do this there is a 'help' button that will connect you to the relevant part of the Dædalus Manual.
There are locally produced resources too, including the most recent issue of Loeb Design Library News, information on the Libraries collections including Special Collections and Visual Services, and schedules for library training sessions and tours. Some clever devil has even found a way for you to look up Course Reserve Lists and renew library books without having to leave the comfort of your computer terminal (which let's face it, is probably why you haven't gotten around to reading that book in
the first place).
There are Web pages for all the Academic departments, and GSD Publications on-line including the GSD News and Course Catalog, and even a searchable GSD Alumni Directory. There is information on Current Research at the Design School including a project called Biodiversity and Landscape Planning: Alternative Futures for the Region of Camp Pendleton, California. There is the schedule of upcoming events from Lectures and Exhibitions (especially useful for those of us who live from one reception to the next). And finally there are links to the personal Web adventures of Students, Faculty and Staff in the Design School community, showcasing the wide variety of creative vision for which the Design School is justly infamous.
One final note about the layout. The classic if overly rectangular concept at the top of the page did not survive the long winter between writing and publishing this article. This new graphical interface just above and to the right has been created by some professional webmeisters. They are still working on it. In fact just the other day I kept clicking on the darn thing for half an hour without getting anywhere.