dwaldron January 20th, 2008
In an effort to better inform members of the campus community about the various information technology resources available to them, the Office of Information Technology has launched an effort to enhance the documentation of these resources and to improve its organization and accessibility. New documentation is being created in the College wiki and links to it can be found under the “Computing Resources” tab of the IT website. Currently, the wiki contains information about audio and video production resources, copying and printing services, classroom technology, IT help desks and networking services (including wireless). The documentation initiative will continue throughout the Spring 2008 semester and into the summer, and many new documents will be created. The initiative is being guided by User Services Intern Catherine Grandgeorge.
dwaldron October 30th, 2007
On Friday, October 26, 2007, Apple released it’s new operating system version–10.5 Leopard. The Office of Information Technology has tested the majority of campus-owned software and hardware with Leopard and found it to be incompatible with the following: Mathematica, Maple, Pharos Print Management, SPSS 11. In addition, Leopard will not connect to the campus wireless network using LEAP or PEAP. Users who are interested in upgrading to Leopard are advised to wait until the appropriate patches for these applications are released. The Office of Information Technology will update the campus community as these patches become available.
dwaldron April 20th, 2007
NTS is currently working on upgrading our current List server software to a new version. We have installed the new software and ported over the current list information. Several list server users have been asked to test the system, and provide feedback on its usability. Some of the features of the new version are easier list maintenance through the web interface, ability to track usage statistics, and easier removal of old and unused lists. Casual users of lists will not notice differences from the old to the new software and will use the same addresses to send postings.
dwaldron April 20th, 2007
Over the past several months NTS has been communicating with users of FileMaker 5.5 and 6.0 to begin to move all of the data over to the newest version available. All of the FileMaker databases housed on the FileMaker 5 server have been updated and moved to FileMaker Server version 8. During this effort User Services has been replacing all of the FileMaker 5.5 and 6.0 desktop installations with client version 8.5. This effort has only been possible with the cooperation of the client offices and their willingness to migrate. At this point of the initiative, any user who still has any FileMaker Client version below 8.5 should contact the helpdesk to schedule an upgrade. Also any group that uses FileMaker databases locally should email Vince Di Scipio (* vdiscipio@wooster.edu *) to discuss moving the databases to the server.
dwaldron February 14th, 2007
In his memo of February 5 to academic department chairs and Academic Affairs staff, VPAA Iain Crawford invited the submission of software acquisition requests. These requests are due in the VPAA’s office by Friday, March 2.
dwaldron February 2nd, 2007
Microsoft has recently released Vista, their much-anticipated new operating system. They have also released a new version of the Office suite–Office 2007. Each of these products differ from their predecessors in very significant ways. For this reason, the Office of Information Technology has assembled a team to evaluate each of these new products, and to make recommendations regarding their deployment on campus. While we will look to this team for guidance as to when we should begin to deploy these products, at this time we do not anticipate significant deployment prior to the summer of 2008.
A significant number of software vendors have not yet released Vista-compatible versions of their applications. Vista-compatible versions of ArcGIS, Autocad, Adobe Creative Suite, Filemaker Pro, Maple, Mathematica, Novell Client, Palm Desktop, Quark Express, RealPlayer, SnagIT, and SPSS will not be available prior to the third quarter of this year. (This is by no means an exhaustive list.) As we evaluate these new Microsoft products, we will also be testing their compatibility with various types of hardware in use on campus including printers, USB drives, scanners and PDA’s. As our testing and validation efforts proceed, we will update the campus as to our timeline for deploying and supporting Vista and Office 2007.
If you have questions about new PC purchases with Windows Vista and Office 2007, please contact the helpdesk at 330-287-3000 extension 4357 (HELP).
dwaldron November 10th, 2006
There are well over 150 Filemaker Pro databases on campus. Many of these databases are located on the College’s old Filemaker server. This server is a G4 Mac running Filemaker Pro Server 5. Many other Filemaker Pro databases are located on individual desktop computers.
IT has installed a new hardware server running the most recent Filemaker server software–version 8.0, and has begun working with departmental and individual database owners to migrate their databases to the new server and the new software version. Our goals are to provide a more reliable hardware platform, to migrate all Filemaker Pro databases to that new platform so that they can be more efficiently managed and reliably backed-up, to recover licenses by identifying and eliminating databases that are no longer in use, and to provide to the College community the enhanced features of the latest Filemaker Pro software. These features include user-based security using existing usernames and passwords, multi-table database design allowing database aggregration, and enhanced web interface.
We have completed the migration of databases belonging to the Biology Department, the Security Office and the Art Gallery, and are currently working with the PEC, Post Office and Web Services. We will be contacting other departments in the near future. If you have any questions about Filemaker Pro or this initiative, please contact Vince Di Scipio or Mary Schantz.
dwaldron November 3rd, 2006
Dreamweaver 8 is now available to faculty and staff. (This software is not available to students.) Dreamweaver is keyserved. If the Keyserver client has not been installed on your computer, you must install this client in order to use Dreamweaver. If you are installing the client on a laptop computer, be sure to download and install the version specifically for laptops. Both the KeyServer client and Dreamweaver can be obtained from the College software download site.
Each time a keyserved application is launched, the Keyserver client determines whether a license is available. (The College owns 30 licenses for Dreamweaver 8, so up to 30 users may use it concurrently.) If the client is unable to make this determination, the application will not function. In order to use keyserved software off-campus, you must either connect to the campus network via VPN so that a license can be obtained, or you must “check out” a license prior to leaving campus. For assistance with VPN or the “check out” procedure please contact the IT help desk at 330 287-3000 x4357 (HELP).
dwaldron November 2nd, 2006
The College has licensed EndNote. This software can be used to conduct literature searches, to develop a personal library of references, and to create and format citations for papers and publications. Students, staff and faculty members may now download EndNote version X from the College software download site. It is available for Windows and Mac OS X.
EndNote is keyserved. If the Keyserver client has not been installed on your computer, you must install this client in order to use EndNote. If you are installing the client on a laptop computer be sure to install the version specifically for laptops. Directions for installing both the Keyserver client and EndNote are available on the IT documentation site.
Each time a keyserved application is launched, the Keyserver client determines whether a license is available. If the client is unable to make this determination, the application will not function. In order to use keyserved software off-campus, you must either connect to the campus network via VPN so that a license can be obtained, or you must “check out” a license prior to leaving campus. For assistance with VPN or the “check out” procedure please contact the IT help desk at 330 287-3000 x4357 (HELP).
dwaldron October 31st, 2006
Beginning Wednesday, November 1, Microsoft will distribute Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) as a high priority automatic update. Datatel has not yet certified IE 7. Until it does so, the Office of Information Technology will not release the IE 7 update via the Windows update server that the College maintains.
Windows computers can be set to receive MicroSoft updates from the College’s Windows update server, or directly from MicroSoft. We recommend that you set your machine to receive updates from the College server. If your computer does not receive its updates from the College server, or you are unsure as to the source of its updates, visit the College software download site to download the Wooster Windows update installer. Once the download is complete, double click the file “WooUpdate.zip,” then double click the folder “Wooster Windows Auto Updater,” and then double click “WooUpdate.reg.” Answer “yes” when prompted to add the file to the registry. Click “OK” when complete. Your computer will now receive approved Windows updates from the Wooster server.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact the help desk at 330-287-3000 x4357 (HELP).