INFORMATION SERVICES
September 2004
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Announcements from the Bulletin, Today, Notification-L
09/24/04, MINITEX Funding - We Need Your Help
Faculty and students - Have you made a request for an interlibrary loan
article and received it the next day? Had an article delivered to your
desktop via "MEDD"? Are you hooked on getting books and articles whether
in print or by electronic delivery from the vast collections of the
University of Minnesota delivered to you here on campus? If so, you have
benefited from the services of MINITEX. Any database that you search via
our Web site (that has the ELM symbol) is provided via subsidies from
MINITEX. Discussions are now underway regarding future state funding for
MINITEX. The Minnesota Higher Education Services Office (MHESO) will be
conducting hearings from 4:00 to 6:00 PM Wednesday, September 29, at Hamline Law
School, room 106 of the Law-Graduate School, University Conference
Center, Hamline University. These hearings are extremely important in
ensuring that MINITEX continues to receive adequate funding in very
tight times. What is most important are testimonies from faculty and
students as to how MINITEX supports your research. Any funding cuts will
have an impact on the interlibrary loan services they provide as well as
subsidies for databases.
If you have time, please consider attending the hearings and stating for
the record how essential their services are for you. If you cannot
attend, letters are also an excellent means to communicate to MHESO how
important MINITEX is. Letters can be sent to the Minnesota Higher Education
Services Office at 1450 Energy Park Drive, Suite 350, Saint Paul, MN
55108-5227. If you want more information, or have questions, please
contact Terri Fishel, x6343. [Bulletin]
09/24/04, What's New in the Library
Over the summer we made several changes that we hope will improve
services for students and faculty. If you have not discovered these
changes already, we want to point out just a few:
09/24/04, Open-Source Software In The News
Readers of the Chronicle of Higher Education may have noticed several
articles in the past two weeks about open-source software. These
articles describe how open-source tools can be deployed to fight spam,
handle institutional finances and support teaching and learning, as well as
other tasks. Many other colleges and universities have high hopes for
open source. But is open source the panacea it might seem at first
glance? What is CIT doing with/about open-source software? Please see
Joel Clemmer's essay on the subject: http://www.macalester.edu/infoservices/planning/open-source.html. [Bulletin, also 9/28]
09/21/04, Have You Heard of 211?
2-1-1 provides callers with information about (and referrals to) human
services for everyday needs, and in times of crisis. For example, 2-1-1
can offer access to the following types of services:
09/21/04, Are Your Computer's Inoculations Up-to-date?
If not, you're vulnerable. CIT has licensed Symantec's AntiVirus
software for your use - not just on College-owned computers, but also
for computers owned by any Macalester student, faculty member or staff
member. If you have not already done so, go to our Safe Computing page
and download AntiVirus (yes, there are detailed instructions to assist you):
www.macalester.edu/cit/safecomputing/
If you need more reasons to install Symantec AntiVirus and keep it
updated, here are a few:
09/20/04, On-line requisitioning problems resolved
The problem with on-line requisitioning (RPA) we were experiencing on
Friday has been fixed. You should now be able to submit requisitions
on-line without any problems. Please cancel any requisitions that were
created on Friday and re-enter them. [Notification-L]
09/17/04, CARS Requisitioning Problem: Do Not Submit
This morning our administrative computing staff installed a system
update module (SMO) to the Jenzabar/CARS system. (SMOs are upgrades,
improvements and enhancements built by OUR vendor and distributed to us,
the customer.) This particular SMO has caused a significant problem
with requisitioning - so much so that requisitions are not working.
Please do not submit any purchase requisitions and/or check requisitions
into RPA until further notice. We have communicated the problem to the
vendor (in strong terms!) and are working with them on deploying a
solution. If you have questions, please call Database Manager Ramón
Rentas at x.6633. [Notification-L]
09/17/04, Internet Problem Today
This afternoon our Internet connection was flooded with an attack from
an outside system. The attack took up almost all of our available
bandwidth, resulting in slow to nonexistent Internet access for everyone
on campus. It has been fixed. The offending computer was blocked at our
firewall at about 3:45 PM, and immediately the Internet connection was
again useable. [Notification-L]
09/17/04, CIT/Library Instructional Sessions Get New Format
The CIT/Library faculty/staff instructional seminars previously offered
during the academic breaks have been replaced with a new format. Now you
have multiple options for training: scheduled 1-2 hour sessions
scattered throughout the semester, as well as sessions specifically
tailored to the needs and preferences of your group. Check out the URL
below for a list of scheduled classes, descriptions, dates and
registration:
09/14/04, Employee Directories: Want Your Home Phone Published?
The Employee Directory is currently being organized, edited, and
proofread, and hopefully will be delivered to you by the beginning of
October. If you would like your home telephone number listed in the
Employee Directory, please e-mail Kelly Borke at borke@macalester.edu by
12:00 noon, Monday September 20. Home telephone numbers will not be
published without your explicit request, even if they have appeared in
previous directories.
Please include the following information in your message to Kelly: your
name, department and your home phone number, including area code.
Please do not ask someone else, such as a department coordinator, to
respond on your behalf. Your e-mail request must be retained as a
consent document to publish your home phone number, therefore it is
imperative that each employee respond individually. [Bulletin, also 9/17]
09/10/04, The Web Filenaming Issue
A recent server upgrade had unanticipated consequences for Web access to
files in individuals' personal directories. First announced on August 31 in
a Notification-L posting (see www.macalester.edu/infoservices/news/2004august.html),
a more detailed explanation is now available on the Information Services
Planning pages (see www.macalester.edu/infoservices/planning/web-filenames.html).
While this does not affect Web files for groups, departments and other sites
on the main College Web server, we regret the inconvenience and ask for your
cooperation to keep links functioning. [Bulletin, also 9/14]
09/10/04, Office Productivity User Group
Did you know the campus has an informal user group that meets once a
month on Thursdays from 1:30 to 2:30 in Humanities 302? The group
originated as the Microsoft Word User Group, but eventually expanded to
include other standard productivity applications. Last year's topics
included Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), e-mail,
CorporateTime, network issues, etc.
Come and join us. No reservations are needed. If you want to be added
to our e-mail list or want more information, send a message to Bonnie Alexander
(alexander@macalester.edu).
Our meeting schedule for fall: September 16, October 21, November 18 and
December 16. [Bulletin, also 9/14]
09/10/04, Hospitality Begins at the Switchboard
If you are hosting an event on campus that will involve outside guests,
please notify Colleen Nelson, our switchboard operator, with details.
Helpful information includes: what, where, when, who and any costs.
Please call x6000 or e-mail Colleen (nelsoncm@macalester.edu). This
would be a great help to her, your participants and you! [Bulletin, also 9/14]
09/09/04, Hoax warning: 'Macalester.edu team'
As the new semester begins, another version of a faked message
(ostensibly from CIT staff) is making the rounds. You may see the
following message, or something similarly worded, in your e-mail:
************BEGIN FAKE MESSAGE************
Dear user, the management of Macalester.edu mailing system wants to let
you know that,
We warn you about some attacks on your e-mail account. Your computer may
contain viruses, in order to keep your computer and e-mail account safe,
please, follow the instructions.
For details see the attach.
For security purposes the attached file is password protected.
Password -
Have a good day,
The Macalester.edu team
************END FAKE MESSAGE************
This message is not only a fake, but the attachment was originally a
computer virus. Our e-mail server's virus-detection software normally
catches such viruses, and did with this message - which is why one of
the attachments, the virus, has been deleted and replaced with
'substitute.txt.'
We recognize that messages like this may make you apprehensive or
raise concern, and we know you have better things to worry about (as do
we). Be assured of the following when CIT staff communicate with you
via e-mail:
09/03/04, A Telecomm Tip: Interesting Fraud
Take heed: A telecom employee at another college received a call from a
representative of a telemarketing company. The telemarketer asked if the
person on the phone was the right person he should talk to, and she
answered yes. He then gave a big sales pitch about a voice mail service
and indicated what the price of the service would be. He then asked if
she wanted to sign up for the service, and her answer was no.
About a month later the telecom director got a bill from the
telemarketing firm. He called the firm and indicated that no one had
authorized that service for the college. They replied that they had a
tape of the woman authorizing the service. When the tape was played, it
was obvious that the company had cut and pasted her saying 'YES' after
the question about whether she wanted to sign up. The charge was
ultimately removed. (ACUTA newsletter, September 2004.)
The bottom line is, don't speak to telemarketers; if it's something you
think Macalester is interested in, transfer the call to Purchasing at
x6565. [Bulletin, also 9/7]
09/03/04, Use Lower Case for Web Site Filenames
The upgrade of the Academic file server on Sunday, August 29, caused some
problems with links and images on faculty and student personal Web
pages. The problems relate to the use of upper case or mixed upper and
lower case letters in filenames for Web pages, images and related files
stored in personal public.www folders. An automatic renaming of files to
lower case was done and this has cleared up most of the problems.
However, the use of upper case characters in filenames will continue to
be a problem as new files and new Web pages are added.
At this time, only personal Web pages stored in user home directories on
the Academic and Admin servers are affected. In the future this issue
will likely affect all Macalester Web sites, including those for
departments, offices and organizations. To prevent problems for your
personal or department Web site, observe the following "best practice"
guideline: when naming files, use only lower case letters. This includes
filenames for Web pages (HTML files), images, PDF files, etc. It is
important to note that references to files within Web pages (the HTML
codes that link to images and other Web pages) do not need to be changed
even if they contain mixed case - as long as the files on the server are
named with lower case letters, the links will continue to function. Best
practice, once again, would be to use lower case letters for filenames
as well as lower case letters for any links to those filenames.
If you have questions about your personal or department Web site, please
contact Web Coordinator Sara Suelflow at x6307 or by e-mail. Faculty
needing assistance with personal Web pages may also contact one of the
Academic Information Associates. [Bulletin, also 9/7]
09/03/04, Apple Recalls Lithium Batteries
Apple Computer is recalling some lithium ion rechargeable batteries that
were sold with 15" PowerBooks between January 2004 and August 2004,
inclusive. There have been isolated reports of defective batteries
overheating; there have been no reports of damage or injuries. This
recall applies only to 15" PowerBook models and only to a small number
of lithium ion batteries for those computers. See full details at
https://depot.info.apple.com/batteryexchange/index.html.
If you purchased or were awarded a 15" PowerBook from college funds
(including the Micro Fund, startup or FTR,you will be contacted via
e-mail with information about the recall and how to determine whether
your battery is eligible. If you purchased a 15" PowerBook with personal
funds through the customized Apple Web Store for Macalester College, you
will be contacted via e-mail or paper mail, as appropriate, with the
same information.
If you have questions about whether this recall may apply to your 15"
PowerBook battery, please consult David Sisk at x6745 or your academic
information associate. [Bulletin, also 8/31]
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