Library power outages and losing documents

Just a reminder that students (and all patrons) should be encouraged to save their documents often and in the ways recommended below. Even a brief power outage can results in lost documents. Recommendations and warnings from IT are listed below.

Safest ways to save:

• Flash drive/memory stick
• Google Docs (does auto-save frequently)
• CD
• Email it to yourself

Unsafe:

• Saving to desktop only (can be lost in an outage)
• Documents folder only

Netflix "watch instantly" issue using Firefox on Macs

From Fish Phipps, IT:

For those who may not be aware, 'watch instantly' on Netflix does not work well in Firefox on the iMacs. This is an issue that can generate a lot of patron complaints so here's the 411:

Short version: If Netflix doesn't work on the Macs you have two options: Reboot and/or use Safari.

Long version: Netflix uses MS Silverlight for it's DRM and it seems that when parental controls are enabled on the macs (we use parental controls to control patron access to applications) that Silverlight and Firefox do not play well together. What usually happens is that when we are creating a new master image for all the machines we make sure that all the plugins are working but there are almost always issues with Firefox and Silverlight that, sooner or later, requires a reboot. Add the fact that after some random number of days/weeks later watching Netflix becomes totally broken in Firefox. This is due to changes made by either Netflix or MS on the server end as nothing has been changed on the machines. I am running some updates on a master image right now for the media center and it looks like I can't get Netflix to work at all in the latest version of Ffirefox. Point people to Safari if they wish to watch Netflix.

IT Help Desk schedule 9/27-10/8

The interim IT Help Desk schedule (while they are hiring) is posted at the desk in the same spot as the Ref Desk printed schedule. You'll find the schedules in an organizer on top of the righthand file cabinet (as well as the library phone list, campus phone book, last printed general catalog, etc.).

The coverage until October 8th at McHenry is as follows:

Monday 12pm-4pm, 7pm-midnight
Tuesday 3pm-midnight
Wednesday 12pm-midnight
Thursday 3pm-10pm
Friday 4pm-8pm

So the times we are on the desk and they are not are:

Monday 4-5pm
Tuesday 1-3pm
Thursday 1-3pm
Friday 1-4pm

Call 9-2486 for questions during those times. Sometimes the S&E student can help too.

Dropped wireless connections on laptops

For the past week+ CNS has been seeing laptops with dropped cruznet wireless connections. Here are directions for what to do depending on whether it is a University owned or personally owned device.

If the device is a checkout laptop or iPad, try rebooting the device (making sure they have saved their files to external media)
if that does not solve it put in an ITR ticket and mark the machine out of order.

If the device is a patron owned machine, please have them open up an ITR ticket by emailing help@ucsc.edu or calling 459-4357
it would be good if they could include their CruzID and their computer's MAC address. (how to get MAC, http://www.tvcc.cc/ISS/Find-MAC-Address.cfm)

So far this behavior has been seen at both McHenry and at S&E. The networking people really need tickets for this issue to be able to troubleshoot and resolve it.

Thanks,
Frank

IT Help Desk updated schedule

Staffing hours for the McHenry IT Help Desk through 12/10/10:

9/25/10-10/8/10:
Mon: 12pm-midnight
Tues: 2pm-4pm, 9pm-midnight
Wed: 12pm-midnight
Thurs: 2pm-4pm, 9pm-midnight
Fri: 12pm-8pm
Sat: 12pm-7pm
Sun: 12pm-midnight

10/9/10-12/10/10:
Mon-Thurs: 12pm-midnight
Fri: 12pm-8pm
Sat: 12pm-7pm
Sun: 12pm-midnight

The first schedule through 10/8/10 allows for the new students to be trained. The second schedule reflects full staffing.

The main library hours page now lists these hours, as well as the staffing at S & E: http://library.ucsc.edu/hours

Double-sided copying in InfoCommons (revised)

The copier repair person had to disable double-sided (or duplex) copying as it was jamming the copiers. It jammed repeatedly when the person only had money to copy one side but it was set on duplex. The only remedy was to disable the function. So, if someone tries to use that setting, the paper trays will be grayed out (unavailable).

There is a workaround (and two students just asked this very question today):

Make a copy on the glass with the book or paper in the normal position. Then take that copy and put it in the bypass tray (on the right side of the copier), face-up with the printing facing towards you. Then place the next copy to be made from a book or piece of paper on the glass, and choose "Bypass Tray" on the control panel. That's how the copier will know to use that piece of paper and not paper from the lower regular trays. It has to be done one sheet at a time.
(Troubleshooting tip: if the paper edge is at all curled it may jam or feed at an angle, so make sure the paper is straight)

IT Help Desk hours for Fall

The Fall Quarter hours for the IT Help Desk in the InfoCommons is:

Monday-Thursday: noon-3pm and 5pm-8pm
Friday: noon-5pm
Saturday: CLOSED
Sunday: noon-3pm and 5pm-8pm

So folks working the 10am-noon Ref Desk shift may get more printing and computing questions.
Some incoming freshmen have their CruzID Gold passwords already, and some do not. So it's always good to ask if they do, as they often just buy a card when they didn't know they could charge printing to their accounts.

New IT Desk hours for McHenry

Omar let us know that they have a new student assistant who will be trained and on the desk, starting Thursday, August 12th. There is a new schedule also, for Summer Session II: Monday-Thursday, 12:45pm-7:45pm. So today (Tuesday) and tomorrow (Wednesday), there will be no public service coverage.

Call 9-2486 if you need IT Help beyond what we know how to do, or put in a ticket .

Forms on internal site

Some forms on internal.library.ucsc.edu may continue to produce errors on submission. Most staff forms have been migrated to Drupal or elsewhere. The software request form, for example, has been superseded by itrequest (help@ucsc.edu). If you do receive an error when trying to use a form on internal.library, please send a ticket to help@ucsc.edu. We will help you find a newer version of the form or meet your need in another way.

Bryn Kanar
UCSC Library
Web Developer

CNS desk schedule 6/14-18

CNS students will be manning the desks from 9-5 at S&E and 12-8pm at McH from 6/14-6/28. I will have the remainder of the summer schedule published in the next few days.

Thanks,

Omar

McH CNS student out 3-4 today

The CNS student is being pulled for a project today (Friday June 4th) from 3-4pm. He should be back by 4:15, per Elizabeth. Call the CNS number at 9-2486 if you need computing support during this time.

Thanks,

Lucia

Laptop printing

We had a public services meeting an noon today to discuss the Personal Laptop Printing Pilot. I thought all staff would be interested in this pilot as printing from personal laptops is a question we probably all get. While it is a relatively straightforward process for PCs, it is fairly complex for Macs. Information on the pilot is available on the Library website at http://library.ucsc.edu/services/printing-computing. Thanks to Frank Dang and the CNS staff for launching this.

Elizabeth

IT support over Spring Break

Omar let Lucia know that CNS will be providing on-call service only. The students working this week are addressing maintenance issues, but will be checking machines and monitoring paper supplies. We need to call the CNS number, 459-2486, if there are problems.

CruzID Gold setup tips

Hi everyone,

I have found I have had to do a bit more explaining about what the CruzID gold is to students. Here's a list of things I always include in the explanation that seem to help the setup go smoothly and help them understand what they are doing:

-tell them that their CruzID is the first part of their UCSC email address (before @ucsc.edu), and not their student ID#
-they already have a blue password, and that is their email password
-the gold password will enable them to eventually get into other systems on campus, the first first one is charging library printing to their account (and this works at both libraries)
-this is a one-time setup process
-they may not have had to choose a secure password before so they need to read that sentence about how long the password must be and what it must contain (saves time and multiple unsuccessful attempts)
-make sure to hit "OK" or "LOGOUT" before moving on to the gold student print release station
-there is a bug that sometimes happens with the gold release station, and their new gold password won't work. CNS is working on it, and advises to try again in a couple of minutes. they may have to do that more than once. If still unsuccessful, let them know other options (print card if they have one, loan them ours, etc.), and report to CNS.

Hope this helps when you are assisting students with this process.

Best,

Laura

CNS desk staffing

CNS will be running a temporary schedule from Jan 5-Jan 10. Students will be staffing both libraries according to the attached pdf file (check your email; copy will be at the desk also) to assist the switch over to the new printing system. Students are undergoing training to assist patrons in setting up their new "CruzID gold" account passwords to accommodate the new printing system and the option of student account billing. There will be no dual coverage support on Tuesday and Thursday from 1-4pm. Please 9-2486 if you need assistance at anytime. Thank you,

Omar Mojaddedi