Vanderbilt Paper Phone Book

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Why is the Vanderbilt phone book different this year?

The Vanderbilt phone book has undergone some changes most years; however, this year there were a number of fundamental changes:

a. The information included in the PeopleFinder online directory, which provides information for the paper phone book, is now closely linked to institutional information about people and departments.

b. The control of information is becoming ever more decentralized through web interfaces - individual information maintained by the individual, department information maintained by the department, very little maintained centrally.

c. Acknowledging that online information will always be the most current and most often correct, enhancements were made to increase the amount of information available online - notably the addition of student information.

This was an ambitious transitional year for Vanderbilt's enterprise directory. There were some rough edges with the paper phone book, but the improved service realized from the new PeopleFinder online is significant. The benefits of moving from paper-based to online systems, from static and isolated to dynamic and integrated information repositories are clear. We are reaping those benefits as things like the general ledger, labor reporting, academic journals, and employee benefits transition from paper.

2. Why are no home addresses included in the paper phone book?

All home address of employees were omitted from the printed phone book this year for three reasons. First, to maintain a manageable size as the phone book becomes more inclusive through linkage to enterprise people information. Second, to give individuals real-time control of what personal information is published to the world - online information can be made private in an instant; the paper information is a snapshot frozen in time. Third, to achieve consistency of the information in the paper phone book - in past phone books finding home information was hit or miss.

3. Without home addresses and telephone in the paper phone book, how will physicians and other critical medical personnel contact one another at night and on weekends?

ITS telephone operators provide this service over-the-phone for physicians and medical staff.

4. Why can't I find some departments listed in the green pages of the phone book when I could find them in last year's phone book?

The department listings from last year's phone book were used as a starting point, but efforts were made to link those listings to HR home department information. This caused some department listings to have different names and some to become indented below parent departments. The "Directory Responsible Person" (DRPs) in each area were provided tools to modify department listings to suit the department's needs. These tools were different from those used in the past. Some DRPs used the new tools to change department names as appropriate, but some DRPs realized unintended consequences from their changes, up to and including total omission. In some areas of Vanderbilt the training classes for the DRP tools were poorly attended, and, despite multiple communications explaining the need for departmental review, it appears that some listings never were.

Any department listed in the 2001-2002 phone book that did not have a home department number associated with it or a Directory Responsible Person, was researched by staff on the PeopleFinder project team. If no other information about that department was available, the department was deleted from the 2002-2003 phone book.

5. Some individuals and some information about individuals seem to be missing. Why?

Some employees were omitted from the paper phone book. In every case that has been reported to us, the listing was removed by the Directory Responsible Person in that area. To save space, faculty and staff were limited to three position titles in the paper phone book (PeopleFinder online displays up to 10).

6. Why did I receive my phone book so late in the year when people on the other side of campus received theirs weeks earlier?

The phone book was printed at the same time as last year. The staff responsible for delivering the phone books was new to the process this year, and did not understand the process and priorities. As mentioned above, ITS was also new to this responsibility and did not find out that all directories had not been delivered until there were complaints. The release date of the phone book is always a point of concern - late enough to include changes at the beginning of the semester but soon enough to be of some use. Of course, PeopleFinder online will always be a better source for current information.