To: dave
From: jewettrj@potsdam.edu (Bob Jewett)
Subject: An important message about information technology at SUNY Potsdam
Date: 8/15/95
Greetings from Distributed Computing/Telemedia!
Before the new school year starts, we wanted to inform you about a number
of items regarding information technology at SUNY Potsdam. Over the
summer, we have been hard at work developing and enhancing our voice,
video and data services. We hope that this message provides you with the
information you need to make better use of those services, or at the very
least, points you toward useful information for the 1995-96 academic year.
Contents of this message:
1. How to continue receiving (or avoid receiving) these email messages on
information technology.
2. Where to go for HELP with campus information technology.
3. A special note to faculty:
a. Planning on the use of instructional technology this year?
b. Electronic mail (email) at SUNY Potsdam for your students.
4. Workshops and Brown-bag Presentations for '95 - 96.
5. Creating personal and/or department-office "homepages" on Potsdam's Web
(WWW) server.
6. Useful campus Web (WWW) addresses; that is, addresses to use with
Netscape or Mosaic.
7. Software supported for use at SUNY Potsdam.
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1. How to continue receiving (or avoid receiving) these email messages on
information technology:
While we will continue to use conventional means (e.g., The Reporter) of
informing the campus of upcoming workshops and important news, electronic
mail will be our preferred method of disseminating pertinent information.
It allows us to send you the most current information we have at the time
and we know that you will always have a chance to see it, even if you are
away from campus at the time we send it.
If you find the information contained here useful and would like to
continue receiving announcements of workshops, presentations and
information about technology at SUNY Potsdam, you need not do anything
extra--just keep checking your email for new messages.
If you would prefer NOT to receive further email messages such as these,
please REPLY to this message and let us know that. We'll remove your name
from our general news/announcements email list. We don't want to send you
something you don't want. However, we will continue to send critical
messages by email to assure a timely notice to you.
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2. Where to go for HELP (267-4357) with campus information technology:
Questions or problems concerning desktop computers:
Students: Levitt Center in Crumb Library (x4357)
Faculty/Staff: Carson office of Distributed Computing/Telemedia (x4357)
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Questions for problems concerning voice (telephone), video and network
services:
Students/Faculty/Staff: Kellas office of Distributed Computing/Telemedia.
(x3000)
------------
Questions for problems concerning Banner, op-scanning, test-scoring:
Faculty/Staff: Central Computing (x2089)
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3. A special note to faculty:
a. Planning on the use of instructional technology this year?
If you are planning to use technology (e.g., computers, projection
systems, special software, access to the Internet, file-sharing or
"drop-boxes") in your classes this semester, please let us know as early
as possible in your plans. We will be better prepared to assist and
support your efforts if we know what resources and services you intend to
make use of. Please contact Doug Brown (email: browndy; tel: x3017) in Distributed Computing.
If you are planning to use one of the campus "smart" (technology) classrooms
(for example, Carson 101, Flagg 162, Kellas 100, 102, 105) they must be
scheduled through the Registrar's office. However, some negotiation of
times may be necessary to make maximum use of these specialized resources.
b. Electronic mail (email) at SUNY Potsdam for Students:
First and foremost, you should know that *all* of our students are
automatically provided with an email account when they are registered for
coursework as of 8/17) at SUNY Potsdam. Unless a student registered late
(after 8/17) or experiences problems accessing their email account, s/he
should be able to use email upon arrival on campus. Students should be
directed to go to the *Levitt Center in Crumb Library* for more
information, to establish an email account if necessary, and if there is a
problem with their email account and/or password.
Returning students can simply use the same account/password they used
before they left campus for the summer.
New students can determine what their account name and password are by
using the following simple convention:
Account name - 1st 6 letters of their last name + last 2 digits of their
Social Security Account Number (SSAN).
Password - the student's SSAN is their initial password which they should
change as soon as they use their email account the first time.
As examples, the account name for John Woods (379-96-7277), would be
"woods77" and the password would be "379967277". The account name for
Lori McPherson (233-99-1111) would be "mcpher11" and the password would
be "233991111".
Information on *how* to use email is available in the Levitt Center and
other student computing areas (all residence hall computing centers,
Kellas Computer Classroom, Flagg Computer Classroom).
Workshops on the use of email, word-processing and Internet applications
(e.g., WWW) for Macintosh and Windows/DOS users, will be offered to
students on a weekly basis throughout the academic year--times and
location will be announced soon (see #3 below). Others may attend these
workshops depending upon the availability of seating.
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4. Workshops and brown-bag presentations for '95 - 96:
We will again be offering our weekly brown-bag presentations this year as
well as a number of special workshops--"Same time. Same channel" (that is,
Thursdays, 11:30am, Kellas studio).
Because these brown-bag sessions often present late-breaking technology or
developments, we find it difficult to meet the deadline for including an
announcement in the Reporter. Therefore, brown-bag sessions are only
announced via email and Web server (refer to URL under #5 below).
This summer, we offered an intensive schedule of workshops and help
sessions on HTML, the language used to develop Web pages. While we cannot
offer this level of training during the school year, we will be offering a
number of special workshops on HTML during the Fall semester. You'll have
a chance to develop your own personal homepage (see #4 below). Watch for
announcements of the time and location in upcoming email messages and via
our Web server (again, refer to URL under #5 below)
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5. Creating personal and/or department-office homepages on the WWW:
There is a lot of talk these days about the World-Wide Web (WWW). There
is also a great deal of interest in learning about how to publish on "the
Web". This keen interest seems to have touched SUNY Potsdam as well, if
our summer workshops on HTML (the language used to develop Web pages) are
any indication of local enthusiasm.
If you are interested in publishing on the Web--office/department
material, academic information or personal "homepages"--you should attend
one of the workshops offered this Fall. The schedule will be announced
through email, the Reporter and, of course, our campus Web server (see #5
below). We will set up the means for you to create Web documents using an
HTML editor (Mac or Windows-based) and provide you with space on our Web
server to store your documents.
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6. Useful campus WWW addresses (URLs) to use with a WWW browser such as
Netscape or Mosaic. These addresses are entered in the "Go to:" field of
the browser window:
- Information about SUNY Potsdam offices/departments, and *much* more:
http://www.potsdam.edu/connections.html
- Current information about technology at SUNY Potsdam:
http://www.potsdam.edu/ISD/IT_Intro.html
- Schedules and descriptions of workshops and brown-bag presentations on
information technology:
http://www.potsdam.edu/dctm/Presentations/IntroTraining.html
- SUNY Potsdam's WWW homepage--our "public image" on the global Internet:
http://www.potsdam.edu
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7. Software supported for use at SUNY Potsdam:
We are often asked what software the campus supports (and what version of
that software). Below is a list of the most commonly used software that
we recommend and support. We urge you to use the software marked with a
"*" if your computer is capable of running it. This software offers the
best balance of features and ease-of-use.
Email:
* Eudora for Macintosh
* Eudora for Windows
- NuPOP for DOS
- Mail-for-Macintosh
Operating Systems for personal computers:
- Mac System 7.x (7.0.1 or better)
- Windows 3.1 (or 3.11) - we will have more news on Windows '95 in the
near future.
Word-processing:
* Microsoft Word 5.x or greater for Macintosh
- Microsoft Word for Windows
- WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS
- ClarisWorks 2.1, or greater, for Macintosh
Spreadsheets:
- Microsoft Excel 4.0 or later for Macintosh -and- Windows
- Lotus 123 for DOS
WWW Browser (for navigating the WWW on the Internet):
* Netscape 1.1 for Macintosh -and- Windows
- Mosaic 2.x for Macintosh -and- Windows
- DOS: there is a Lynx WWW text browser available from the Library
menu on SPOTVC (log on as "library"; no password is needed)
In general, the cost of updates of hardware or software is the
responsibility of the department you are in. To obtain updated software
for your use at the college, consult with Distributed Computing at
267-2083. We can help advise you on cost, availability, suitability for
your purpose, compatibility with your hardware and software and whether
the software is "user-installable" or requires our installation. This
consultation is required by the purchasing department before submitting a
requisition for hardware, software or services.
Last modified: 8/15/95
Contact: R. Jewett (Email: jewettrj@potsdam.edu)