About Us 
The Butler Collegian Online was originally known as Dawgnet, which first appeared in 1994 as a means to transmit original content as well as content from Butler University's print newspaper, the Butler Collegian, over the World Wide Web to users of the Mosaic browser. The full potential of instantaneous publishing was first realized after the tragedy of September 11, 2001. Dawgnet and the Collegian teamed up to deliver the latest news and reactions of Butler students. Prior to this event, the Collegian distributed photocopied supplements of its print paper to report news such as the results of the 2000 presidential election. In 2009, Dawgnet was changed to The Butler Collegian Online when the decision was made to merge the two publications.
The design of Dawgnet evolved, but was limited by how much content could be pasted into html files in a given week. Often, it took five staff members an entire evening to manually create an edition of about twenty stories. This lengthy process often excluded the participation of computer novices.
In January of 2002, the first issue of Dawgnet was published using a web application developed by Yaw Anokwa and Chris Hoffman. The application was written in the Cold Fusion web application language. Content was inserted into a SQL Server 2000 database. On demand, the static web pages were generated from Cold Fusion templates and database content. In the winter semester of 2003, Dawgnet grew its editorial staff in order to publish its own content.
Since then, editors working for the on-line news source have been recruiting writers and photographers in order to provide original content for the Web site. Material from the Collegian was still used, but rather than Dawgnet material supplementing Collegian content, Collegian articles and photos began to supplement Dawgnet material. Dawgnet began to report news that directly affected the lives of the members of the Butler community. Using the immediacy of the Internet, material could be published for the entire campus to read as soon as it happened. Dawgnet staff compiled news and information from the academic departments, residence halls, and the Greek houses. It also covered news events such as meetings, lectures, and sporting events.
In the spring of 2009, it became apparent to the Dawgnet staff and the Collegian staff that a merge would be beneficial to both publications for several reasons. The two staffs would no longer have to compete for content. With a larger staff, more events could be covered. Thanks to unlimited Internet space, there would be more room for these stories to be published. Writers and editors would be able to work together to create the best possible content and stay true to the strong journalism standards taught at Butler University.
So, starting in the fall semester of 2009, Dawgnet officially changed its name to The Butler Collegian Online. The Collegian published its print version every Wednesday, and that content was placed on the site. Updates were also made on Mondays and Fridays and as needed. Worthy content that did not fit in the limited space of the print version was also placed on the site.
In addition to providing the Butler community with coverage of newsworthy events, The Butler Collegian Online and The Butler Collegian continue to be used as a way for students to become proficient in both print and on-line journalism.
