Even at the height of its popularity and prestige, KU Info was a mysterious entity. No one seemed to know who was on the other side of the phone line, where the office was located or how the students working there got their information.

Today, the informational service has transformed completely. Headquartered in the always busy and buzzing Kansas Union, now KU Info is still a trusted and useful resource with a new, refreshing openness.

“I want every KU student to know we’re here for them,” says Curtis Marsh, director of KU Info.

CHANGING TIMES

Much has been written about KU Info’s beginnings. A single phone number becomes a rumor control hotline in 1970, then morphs into a general information wellspring. Students, parents, alumni and just about anyone else in the world can dial 864-3506 to get answers to their queries. Pretty cool.

In its heyday, KU Info received 400 to 500 calls a day and was open 24 hours. Students recorded facts and figures on plain white index cards and filled dozens of Rolodexes with unique trivia. They slept by the phone and meticulously kept track of every false bomb threat issued to the university.

But as technology progressed, KU students found digital answers faster than their fingers could dial.

By the ’90s, the service had ceased its all-day, all-night operation and was struggling to maintain financial support. By 2005, KU Info was nearly comatose.

CHANGING GEARS

University leadership decided that KU Info needed a makeover. Marsh was chosen as the fifth director of KU Info, and the service remarketed itself as the go-to source for all things KU. Instead of focusing on questions about Carol Brady’s maiden name (which is Taylor), KU Info workers could help you find Foley Hall or tell you when spring break 2011 started.

The biggest change was the creation of a KU Info booth in the Kansas Union that allowed students to ask questions in person. The service also established a Web presence, with an easily searchable question-and-answer database. KU Info was now working with technology instead of competing with it.

“We accept the fact that the Internet is our co-pilot,” says Marsh. “We don’t have to be the experts on everything. We just have to know where to go to get the information.”

LOOKING BACK

Marsh’s office in the union is crammed with KU memorabilia. But hidden away are some of KU Info’s most precious souvenirs.

Hundreds and hundreds of index cards, some as old as the service itself, fill the cabinets and crannies in the office. Marsh has been going through them. They document former men’s basketball coach Roy Williams’ first day on the job (he was quite ill during an introductory press conference). They list TV show characters, recipes and other seemingly useless information. If a student called to talk about suicide, it was written on a card and filed away.

The cards detail the questions that came in and the answers discovered. Some answers that took weeks to find in 1975 are now easily accessible with a quick Internet search. Marsh also has photos of the old KU Info office that shows a big bulletin board crammed with that day’s top questions.

It’s fun to look back on these little relics, but it’s also informative.

KU Info through the years

In its heyday, KU Info received 400 to 500 calls a day and was open 24 hours. Students recorded facts and figures on plain white index cards and filled dozens of Rolodexes with unique trivia. (Photo courtesy Spencer Archives) | See more photos

“I love the history of KU Info,” says Marsh. “We can keep that history, and we can build upon it.”

LOOKING FORWARD

KU Info’s re-launch has been highly successful. An average of 200 calls come each day, about 90 percent are KU-related. On the first day of class this fall semester, 600 calls to KU Info were placed.

The service is continually looking for ways to improve. All the information on those index cards has been transferred to a searchable online database. KU Info has a Facebook page and is looking to start answering questions via text message. KU Info also allows faculty and staff to become affiliates of the service so that when they are posed questions about the university, they can rely on the same resources KU Info relies upon.

With all of this effort, KU students will always find the answers they need.

By Lauren Beatty