Friday Tech Update #3 September 24, 2004
Posted by Rachel in Computers, Databases, Printers.add a comment
- If you haven’t noticed, there has been an infestation of mice! But have no fear, it’s the good kind. All the public workstations have happy new optical mice. Optical mice don’t need to be cleaned and don’t need a mouse pad since they don’t need to grip onto something. They will not work properly, however, if they are used on highly reflective surfaces, but I don’t think that will be a problem for us. I’m sure our users will appreciate the new mice.
- Danny has been very busy this week helping us out in the library:
- Deborah, Leslie, and Deb’s laptops have been reimaged.
- Marie’s computer has been reimaged.
- The 2 computers in the student workroom are both re-imaged and fully functional. They have the latest version of Microsoft Office on them as well as Sirsi.
- The computer that will be going upstairs needs a new hard drive. It has been ordered. Then it will be ready to go upstairs. No decision has been made on where to put it.
- New wireless/optical mice have been installed on all the Information Services Staff laptops
- And most importantly, ALL THE PUBLIC WORKSTATIONS ARE WORKING! :)
- The 4th CD of Simmons Choices 3 arrived last week, so NOW Simmons is up and working correctly. Simmons is on the CD Rom Database Server (Public Workstation #9.) Thank you goes to Mills in LITS.
- Ariel (a Document Delivery System) that Deb ordered has arrived! Laura will primarily be working with this, so I will work with the BIS team and we’ll will experiment and learn together how to use this new system.
- The scanner that was in the student workroom area has been moved to Laura’s office to be used with Ariel.
- Kilimanjaro and Matterhorn have been acting funky as of late. If the printer says it’s ready, but things aren’t printing, and there are errors in the print queue, then try deleting everything in the print queue and turning off the printer for about 30 seconds, then turn it back on. This should work, but if not, call Rachel or Danny if she’s not around.
- EbscoHost’s Business Source Premiere is now available campus-wide (thanks to a lot of work from Deb).
Have a good weekend, everyone! Thanks for your attention and time!
Friday Tech Update #2 September 14, 2004
Posted by Rachel in Computers, Databases, LITS, Printers.add a comment
- Both the WML Public Printer and the CD ROM Database Computer are up and running correctly.
- Simmons Choices 3, a new database that Amia has been anxiously awaiting, is now up and running.
- Mills from LITS will be coming by today to install new hard drives for 2 of the public workstations.
- Mills will also be taking away all the “old computer stuff” that is congesting the workroom.
- The Databases page has been updated, and the Info Services Staff is working on database descriptions, categories, and updating the Resource Guides page.
- Elaine, although swamped from having been gone, has been a big help in ordering all kinds of miscellaneous software and hardware. You should notice some changes in the library over the next few weeks. Thanks to Deb for approving the changes and improvements.
- You may have noticed an invitation in your email to come to an Outlook training session. It is the same session that I did before with some of the Info Services Staff, but this one will be a collaborative effort to help one another correctly configure all of our Outlook calendars. Leslie will also be showing us how to view the cric and reference desk schedules.
- With all the instruction that Amia is coordinating (she rocks!), an interest in using PowerPoint more effectively has arisen. I invited the Info Services Staff as well as Laura (who has been learning PowerPoint via New Horizons), but if anyone else thinks it would helpful, please let Rachel know. (We may even invite librarians from other libraries too.)
- The Technology Troubleshooting Flowchart is heading off to the printers today. You’ll see it in your mailbox and posted in various spots in the library soon.
Have a good weekend, everyone! Thanks for your attention and time!
Friday Tech Update #1 September 10, 2004
Posted by Rachel in Computers, Printers.add a comment
- The CD Rom Database Computer has been fixed. Simmons (a new database that Amia is anxiously awaiting) is not quite fully installed yet, but I will update you as soon as it is ready to go!
- One of the two ports that supply a connection to the CD ROM database computer and the WML Public Printer is dead. It is in the process of being fixed. In the meantime, either the printer can be connected to the network, or the computer. Currently, it is the printer.
- I am waiting on Danny to re-image the public workstation that is sitting on the floor in my office. We are going to attempt to put Deep Freeze on it. What does this mean? It means that when you reboot the computer, the computer will be back to its original image, and all the stuff that people downloaded, or bookmarked, will be gone. Hopefully, this will solve many of our problems and help keep all the public terminals consistent.
- I have emailed Danny about Matterhorn. He knows it had a stroke.
- Public Workstation #1 has a dead hard drive. LITS is looking into its warranty and seeing if it can be fixed. I’ll keep you updated.
- Rachel is actually free on Friday to install the new circ computer at the circ desk. Marie, I’ll want you there to make sure everything is set up the way you want it.
- I need to figure out if we have an extra computer that can put upstairs (and can have network access). Marie, if this is possible, let me know where you would like it, and what you want to put it on.
- Amia suggested that we put a computer in the Consultation Room that is also a CD Rom Database computer. This is a great idea because we could do training with small groups (for librarians as well as student groups) on the various databases. Additionally, it would give us another place to do our research without tying up the one computer by the WMLPUBLIC printer. Also, as our reference collection goes from print resources to digital resources, these might be installed on the CD Rom database server as well, and we’ll need more access. Please let me know if I shouldn’t proceed with investigating this process.
- “Not Kilimanjaro” has been reborn. It’s no longer going to have a sign on it that says “Not Kilimanjaro”, but “WML Public Printer”, as it is listed on the Network. Problems with this? See Rachel.
- The computer in the workroom area where the students work, has not been used for quite some time due to an inability to login. LITS has been contacted and will re-image the machine and it might possibly become a CD Rom database computer, if folks desire it to be. OR we can turn it into a normal computer and take it off the Heard network. Someone, please let me know which option is wanted.
- If I missed anything, or if you need something fixed/updated/removed/rearranged, please let me know so I can either fix it or contact Danny or LITS as appropriate.
