While students have an online directory to help them locate places around campus, some find it easier to use other resources to find their way.

A new resource, the Campus Area Yellow Pages of Verizon SuperPages, lists directions and phone numbers for restaurants and stores in the NIU-DeKalb area.

Students can use the directory to locate stores on campus, but not those off campus, said Lisa Balusek, pubic affairs liaison for Verizon SuperPages.

Senior history major Steve Rauch said only freshmen need to use directories to find locations.

“I never have a problem finding somewhere on campus,” he said.

Senior meteorology major Nina Elias usually does not have a problem finding locations and usually asks people where a place is if she feels the need to.

Not every student, however, feels confident with the locations of places on campus.

Senior art history major Ashley Bloomquist said she sometimes needs help finding locations. The last few times she needed to find a building on campus or in the DeKalb area, she used an internet map service that gave her directions to where she needed to go.

Freshman business major Joseph Majewski, who also needs help locating places on campus, normally asks students because he does not know how to find directions otherwise.

Verizon SuperPages is a nation-wide online phone directory that allows students to search by either category or business name. Popular category searches include apartments, bookstores, coffee houses, pizza places and movie theaters, according to the SuperPages Web site.

Students can have the directory display a map of the NIU campus area with their desired location marked and labeled. It can also be used to find business telephone numbers, Web sites and sometimes general business information, which are shared by numerous phone directories, Balusek said.

The directory listings are updated as often as new businesses submit to it, Balusek said. If a new business pops up on campus, students can expect to see it listed within 30 to 60 days.

“If it’s your first year at school, you don’t know what’s around you, and you’re trying to fit in, [the directory] can help you find interesting places to go,” Balusek said.