If a Johns Hopkins colleague needed to contact you immediately, would she be able to look up your direct telephone extension, e-mail address and pager number? When someone tries to verify your name and title for use in a publication, is what is listed in the Johns Hopkins Institutions Directory accurate and complete?

Due to the vital role of the telephone book in the communication process, the Office of Telecommunications Services and senior administration have embarked on an unprecedented institutionswide initiative to get employees of the university and the Johns Hopkins Health System to update their personal information as it's reflected in the printed directory.

This week, letters will be sent out that apprise faculty and staff of their current listing information--such as contact numbers, additional titles and affiliations--and that include instructions on how, if necessary, to correct and add to the details. The deadline to receive individual listing changes is April 25.

The 2003 faculty-staff directory will be available sometime in June. Elizabeth Rodier, director of Telecommunications Services, said the goal of the initiative is to help produce the most complete and up-to-date directory possible.

"It is everyone's responsibility to each other to make sure we are accessible at all times," Rodier said. "This is the first time we've ever sent out letters containing the current, official listing on a person. What we are trying to tell him or her is that unless you change it, this is all we have on you."

Rodier said that the 2002 version of the directory contained too many instances of incomplete and outdated listings, including those without an e-mail address, direct telephone number or additional titles.

"The last edition of the printed directory was not as accurate as it needed to be. It did not include all the information people were used to seeing, and we were told that the updating process was more confusing than it needed to be," she said. "This time around we are trying to make it easier for people and ensure that everyone participates."

University employees will be directed to make changes online or with a payroll administrator; JHHS affiliates will submit corrections to their supervisors.

In a letter sent last week, President William R. Brody alerted the Johns Hopkins community of the acute need to participate in the updating process.

"In an enterprise as large and diverse as Johns Hopkins, it is important that we have good, useful and accurate tools for getting in touch with one another," Brody said in the letter. "In some cases, it's not just important; it's critical. Ask a physician who needs to consult a colleague immediately about a patient emergency, or a security officer who needs to track down a faculty member about a weekend problem in a lab."

For questions about updating, call the printed directory hotline, 410-516-2345.