Intranets for the lazy

Abstract

The current focus of attention on the Internet has diversified to also address the notion of the ‘intranet’, as an information resource within an organisation, and by the logic of etymology ‘extranets’ are also being talked about. The primary beneficiaries of the intranet concept (and probably also its prime promoters) are computing hardware salespersons, who can now market their existing local area networking technologies under an exciting new name. It has been suggested that information professionals may have a significant role to play in designing such systems within organisations, drawing on experience of information audits and user studies. The main technical components of an intranet used by the staff and students of the Department of Communication and Information Studies, at Queen Margaret College, is described, noting instances where there is differentiation between internal and external users.