Nobody knows what a student needs like another student.

As part of a summer job working for Information and Library Services, Christopher van der Lugt '05 volunteered to produce a guide to Bates on CD-ROM for new students.

The free Student Information and Resource Disk was produced by the ILS Help Desk for distribution to all first-year students as they received their Bates network passwords, and to any other student who wanted one. All together, about 800 copies were given away by the Help Desk.

"I realized that we needed some unique way to break into the morass of information that first-years get once they come to Bates," says van der Lugt, a political science major with a secondary concentration in medieval history from Zurich, Switzerland. "With this CD, you're able to check when the library's open, learn how to connect to the Internet, and discover other useful bits of information." Other sections advise students on such matters as how to use the Bates voicemail system, where to plug in laptops, and what to do about a computer virus.

All efficiency and no fun didn't seem right, so van der Lugt added a "Just for Students" section. "In this section we suggest many items that might be of interest not only online but also within the local Lewiston-Auburn community, from restaurants to coffee shops to skiing locations and much more," says van der Lugt. "Students tend not to realize that the urban centers of Lewiston and Auburn are growing into cultural and social touchstones of Maine and thus, being here at Bates can make you a part of it, too."

The most popular feature on the CD, according to Help Desk Manager Lee Desiderio, is the anti-virus software that is a breeze to install. "We made these in batches of 100," Desiderio says. "A few times we ran out, asked students to come back, and they did. We are very pleased with the student response."