Thanks to the Internet, students can now use their iPods to navigate their way through campus.

Students can download a map of the Kent State campus onto their iPods from the Directions and Maps section of the Kent State Web site.

The map, which can be downloaded as multiple image files, was posted Oct. 4, 2007. At the end of the year, the Web site had a total of 520 views.

Lin Danes, manager of Web content services and electronic communication for university communication and marketing, attributes the map’s creation to a former employee’s conversation.

The idea developed when a former employee was talking with some friends whom they were visiting. They had some difficulty getting their bearings and asked if a map was available for a portable electronic device, Danes said.

“We’re always looking for ways to improve our Web site,” she said. “This was one of the ways to do that.”

Senior English major Aaron McMahon said he hadn’t heard of the map.

“It surprised me, but I think it’s a really good idea, especially if I were a freshman,” he said.

Danes said few people know about the map because it has not been promoted.

The university will be conducting usability tests of different areas of its Web site in March and April, which will be followed by an analysis of the results, Danes said.

“That will help us determine how to use the real estate of the Web site and FlashLine,” she said.

Junior fashion merchandising major Brittny Rendano thinks the map is a good idea,”especially if you’re new to the campus. You always have your iPod with you, so it’s accessible. It’s convenient.”

Sophomore nursing major Samantha Horvath, a transfer student who will be beginning her first semester at Kent State, thinks the map would be useful.

“I would definitely try and do it,” she said.

Contact general assignment reporter Nicole Stempak at [email protected].