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.

Handout at Ref Desk explaining printing

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 .

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

Slug Copy Card Reader Tips and Hints

In the past week we have seen an increasing number of jams in the Slug Copy Card readers. Here are a few tips and hints that can help reduce jams and keep the machines operating smoothly.

1. Ensure that cards that patrons are using or that you have distributed to patrons are free of excess build-up. More specifically, tape of all varieties, dirt, dust, and anything that feels the slightest bit sticky on the card. If need be, you can clean the cards with an alcohol dampened paper towel or cloth

2. Please don't attach anything to cards like balance post-its that could be put into the reader with the card. Any tape, post-its or rubber bands will jam the reader.

3. Sometimes patrons will forcefully insert their student id's or a copy card from Fedex Kinko's. When this happens, call ITS staff before attempting to remove the card as both the reader lens and the card are susceptible to damage when removed incorrectly.


Thank you,

Omar for Library ITS

Student email: CruzMail to SlugMail

I just had a student ask me if I knew anything about the fact that he couldn't log into CruzMail. Here is the story from the ITS site:

"On April 28, 2010 from 2PM to 6PM, all student email accounts currently using CruzMail, will be automatically switched to SlugMail.

On that day between the hours of 2PM and 6PM, students will no longer be able to login to CruzMail to check and send email. Instead, they will login to SlugMail. Their UCSC email address remains the same."

SlugMail login page:
http://its.ucsc.edu/service_catalog/slugmail/

Here is the full news article:

http://its.ucsc.edu/news_and_events/view_news.php?id=523

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.

Opening PDFs on public computers

If a document opens with the open source PDF viewer (not Adobe), right-click to choose "Open with...Adobe" or save it to the desktop and then drag it to Adobe in the dock. Same for the Ref Desk computers.

Printing update and clarification

From the public computers, there is no longer a second popup window (that tells the patron how much the print job will be). That changed with the new system, but some did not hear about the change. Macs didn't need the notify acknowledgment, but PCs did, to send the print job. It was a feature of the old
printing system, that we did not implement in the new version. So now all the patron needs to do is name the print job and then pick it up from one of the release stations. They will see the cost when they pick up the print job from the release station (Thanks to Frank Dang for this clarification).

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

Antidote to the A4 printing error problem

Frank Gravier gets a gold star for discovering the antidote to the A4 tray error printing problem. When you encounter that error and there is no staff at the IT Help Desk, press 7 (for plain letter) and then enter (next to the number 4 and a left arrow), and the job will print out. It may not stop the A4 error from occurring but at least it doesn't hold up everyone else's print job.

Error code on Info Commons printer

If the IT Desk is not yet open and the printer says "Load MBF A4 Plain" it means that the print job has a setting asking for the bypass "A4" tray. The only way around this problem is to delete that print job, because it will not let any others through. It effectively stops printing for everyone networked to that printer. You can call 9-2486 if no one is staffing the IT help desk and they can delete the print job.

Word documents on public computers

A patron came to the desk before the IT desk was staffed and said her Word 2007 document wouldn't open on PC #7. I called ITS and
Frank said that the PC's do have a concerter pac installed and should automatically open Word 2007 docs. If they don't, have the patron try another PC and report that one by submitting a ticket to ITS. And that's what I did and it worked fine on another PC. So in case this happens to you on a morning watch, that's what to do.

Students accessing their home directory in Info Commons

Periodically a student will ask for help accessing their home directory, which is UCSC server storage space provided to all students, faculty, and staff. Here's how to get to one's personal directory from the PC and MAc stations in the Info Commons:

From Macs:
-go to Fetch (from the dock or finder)
-in the Host Name text box, type: unix.ic.ucsc.edu
-in the User Name text box, type your email login (without @ucsc.edu)
-select SFTP from Connect using the drop-down menu
-type in your password in the Password text box
-select Connect

From PCs:
-go to the Secure Shell page
-select the Secure File Transfer Client icon
-select Quick Connect
-in the Host Name text box, type: unix.ic.ucsc.edu
-in the User Name text box, type your email login (without @ucsc.edu)
-at the prompt, type your password
-select OK

Saving docs on public computers: save often and wisely

There is not much more frustrating when a student comes up after a power outage and has lost their paper because they were only saving it to the desktop. So to help them avoid this, we've added some signage in the Info Commons to help them know how to save safely. And it's a good reminder for us to tell them. I conferred with Fish about this so here's the scoop:

Safest ways to save:
-Flash drive / memory stick
-CD
-Google docs
-Email to yourself

Unsafe:
-Desktop only
-Documents folder only

If they've only saved to the desktop or docs folder and the power suddenly goes out or flickers strongly enough, they will lose their paper and there is no way to recover it.