“Our new website offers direct connections to more than 200 Extension programs available in Illinois,” said Dennis R. Campion, associate dean for Extension and Outreach in the U of I College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences. “It puts people just a mouse click away from important and helpful information on topics ranging from integrated pest management to infant care to selecting trees for their homes to the latest financial, management and marketing information for agricultural producers.”

The new site also links to websites for all Extension county offices in Illinois as well as Extension and College publications.

“There are also links to agricultural research centers across the state,” said Jane Scherer, an Extension specialist who headed the team that designed and developed the new website.

“We’ll be updating the website regularly with in-depth articles about various Extension programs throughout the state and the latest news releases and newsletters.”

One feature of the new website will be a calendar of events.

“This will allow citizens to find out about upcoming Extension programs in their area or anywhere in the state that might be of interest,” Campion noted.

A directory of U of I Extension staff is also available on the website.

“Since its inception in the second decade of the 20th Century, Extension in Illinois has evolved and changed to meet the needs of people,” Campion said. “More and more people are using the Internet to access information at their convenience - anytime and anywhere. We are responding to that demand by putting the information that helps people put U of I research to work for them on the web.”

Published in the December 7, 2005 issue of Farm World.