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February 12, 2007

Filtering spam out of your inbox // Windows Vista at Lehigh (current status // Search plugins in IE 7 and Mozilla Firefox 2 // Blackboard changes // Information Literacy Web site expanded // LTS Strategic Planning online // Technology, Teaching, and Learning surveys // The Digital Library turns to crime

Filtering spam out of your inbox
Spam has become a major issue over the last few years. In order to help combat the spread of spam, LTS has enabled spam tagging using a device called SpamAssassin. When mail arrives at Lehigh, SpamAssassin determines whether a message is most likely spam. If it is, the message is tagged [SPAM] in the subject heading and then you receive it in your Inbox.If you receive a lot of spam and find it a nuisance to sort through it among regular email, consider using a filter to move spam messages elsewhere for review and/or deletion. For instructions on creating a spam filter in Mozilla, see: http://www.lehigh.edu/computing/docs/mozilla/seminar.html#filter
For instructions on filtering in other email programs, contact your computing consultant.


Windows Vista at Lehigh (current status)
Microsoft Windows Vista was recently released to the general public and is now available when ordering a new computer. Lehigh Library and Technology Services (LTS) is currently testing Vista with many critical University systems such as the portal, E-mail, Banner as well as wired and wireless networking. At the present time, there are many software packages and systems that do not work with Vista including the Install Software, LDAP, LTS Print Select, legacy Pocket PC operating systems as
well as connectivity problems with wireless networking. Therefore, LTS does not currently recommend the purchase of Vista for use on campus. When applications work satisfactorily, LTS will change the recommended operating system from Windows XP to Vista. Until then, please order new computers with Windows XP unless there is a compelling reason not to do so. If you have questions, please contact the help desk at 8-HELP or your departmental computing consultant. For more information regardingVista at Lehigh or in general please visit: http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/docs/vista/index.html



Search plugins in IE 7 and Firefox 2
IE 7 and FireFox 2 both offer new ways to easily use your favorite search engines. You may have used Google or Yahoo search toolbars. Have you ever wished you could search your favorite database from a browser
toolbar? Go to http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/docs/ie7/searchplugins.htm to learn how you can customize your browser search box to include many search tools and library databases. NOTE: LIBRARY-SPONSORED LICENSED DATABASES WILL WORK ONLY ON CAMPUS.


Blackboard changes
In January of 2007, Blackboard, Lehigh s Course Management System was upgraded. This upgrade brought important changes to some of the components to
Blackboard.Here are some of the most important changes:Discussion Board Changes to this feature include built-in grading capabilities, participation statistics listed in the performance dashboard, moderated discussion managed by students as well as
instructors, save postings as a draft, receive email notice of new postings, availability options (like other Blackboard areas), rate postings - allows users to rate the postings of their peers on a scale of 1 to 5, and copy forums to a different discussion board. Email - There is now a spell checker for email messages!Teams and Journals are now named Wikis and Blogs, respectively. The Digital Dropbox has been replaced with Assignments, which is a much more flexible way to collect documents from students, download them all at the same time, and provide feedback along with a grade.For more information on these changes, please go to http://cf1.cc.lehigh.edu/itresource and click on the Blackboard tab.



Information literacy web site expanded
If you have not seen it recently, you will be pleasantly surprised by the new look and design of the LTS Navigating Information at Lehigh Web site http://www.lehigh.edu/library/infolit/. The new site was rolled out at the end of December 2006 and offers improved, much clearer organization and usability. Use it to find the information literacy tools created specifically for faculty and students, link to academic integrity materials, learn about the annual research skills assessment as well as the entire information literacy initiative championed by LTS. The site is best viewed in IE, Mozilla Firefox or the Mozilla SeaMonkey
browsers.


LTS Strategic plan online
LTS has recently updated its Strategic Plan for 2006-2010. It is publicly available at the following URL: http://www.lehigh.edu/ltsplan. Contact Sue Cady at sac0@lehigh.edu or x84645 if you have questions.



Technology, teaching, and learing surveys
As part of our Middle States accreditation process, faculty and students will be asked to complete a survey on technology, teaching and learning within the next few weeks. This is a crucial part of our accreditation process and will help set future directions for the use of academic technologies on our campus. When you receive your survey, please fill it out -- there will be a prize drawing!



The digital library turns to crime
LTS has unveiled its tenth project, Villainy Detected : Crime and Consequences in Britain and America in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. Lillian De La Torre's 1947 Villainy Detected served as an inspiration for the project title; her work is an example of the fascination with 18th and 19th century crime and its consequences. The materials demonstrate the continuing appeal of these topics and those who wrote about them. During this period in America and Britain, prison
and judicial reform was debated while writers analyzed and sensationalized the criminal. The site presents a number of these writings, mostly from Lehigh s collections, along with related essays by five Lehigh University faculty: Rosemary Mundhenk, Jan Fergus, Ian Duffy, Roger Simon, and Monica Najar. The Web site URL is
http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/crime/.

November 15, 2006

CONTENTS
--NEW FORMATTING OPTION FOR LEHIGH NEWS DIGESTS
--INTERNET EXPLORER 7: IMPORTANT NOTICE
--HOMELAND SECURITY DATABASE
--ASSISTIVE PHONE TECHNOLOGIES
--ENCRYPTING PORTABLE DATA STORAGE DEVICES
--Lehigh's Digital Beer Cellar Now Open
--HOLIDAY LIBRARY HOURS


NEW FORMATTING OPTION FOR LEHIGH NEWS DIGESTS
If you subscribe to Lehigh's daily news digest, you can now receive itin HTML format. Instead of having to scroll through the entire list of news items, you can click a link to jump forward to only those items of interest to you. To receive the new format, go to the Account Maintenance page http://www.lehigh.edu/account and select NEWS Digests. At the bottom of the page, there is an option "Receive in HTML format." Choose Yes, then click the Update Subscriptions button.



INTERNET EXPLORER 7: IMPORTANT NOTICE
Microsoft has released its new Web browser Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7). If you have Automatic Updates turned on in Windows, you will be prompted to install IE 7 some time after November 1, 2006. Please note: IE 7 is not yet recommended for use at Lehigh. At this time IE 7 has not been tested or certified for use with Lehigh's systems and services, and critical services such as Banner, Blackboard, library online services, and the portal may not work as expected. To ensure that end-of-semester activities go smoothly, LTS recommends that staff and faculty DELAY installing IE 7 until testing is completed.

LTS will temporarily delay the Microsoft Automatic Update for IE 7 for most on-campus computers. Lehigh faculty and staff who want to install IE 7 manually can do so, but campus systems/services may not work as expected. In January 2007, IE 7 will be made available through Microsoft Automatic Updates and installed at public sites.
To learn about new features in IE 7, go to http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/docs/ie7/

We appreciate your understanding as we strive to standardize and streamline Lehigh's systems and services. If you have any questions, contact your computing consultant or the help desk at 610-758-4357. The IE automatic update is blocked for all computers in active directory, which is most Lehigh owned computers. Exceptions include residence hall student-owned computers and some special cases.

HOW TO UNINSTALL INTERNET EXPLORER 7:
To uninstall Internet Explorer 7 and restore Internet Explorer 6 when using Windows XP or Windows Server 2003:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Scroll down to Windows Internet Explorer 7, click it, and then click Change/Remove.



HOMELAND SECURITY DATABASE
LTS is providing access through our Database Finder page to a new database, the Homeland Security Digital Library, which is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Office of Grants and Training and the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security. This database offers quick access to important U.S. policy documents, presidential directives, and national strategy documents as well as specialized resources such as theses and reports from various universities, organizations and local and state agencies. The resources are reviewed, selected and organized by a team of homeland security researchers and the HSDL is currently offered only to federal, state and local government officials, research institutions, and the U. S. Military. Material is updated daily and coverage generally extends back to 2002, however older materials will be included if they are pertinent. Topics range from Borders and Immigration, Civil Liberties, Public Health, Intelligence Issues,Weapons, to Terrorism.

ASSISTIVE PHONE TECHNOLOGIES
Addendum to the Assistive Technologies article in the previous LTS Digest: For staff or students with hearing impairments, the Telecommunications office can provide amplification devices for on-campus use. For more information go to:
http://www.lehigh.edu/phones/otherservicesadmin.html


ENCRYPTING PORTABLE DATA STORAGE DEVICES
As portable data storage devices (such as USB memory keys and hard drives) become cheaper, smaller and more widely available, the importance of securing data stored on these devices becomes a necessity. USB memory keys are now available in gigabyte capacities as compared to megabytes just a few years ago and USB hard drives are now
available in hundreds of gigabytes instead of ten or twenty. This means that data in general is becoming more mobile and more concealable. For example, a staff member can now copy a gigabyte database file containing personal student information of the entire student population to a USB memory key and slip it in his/her pocket and take it on a business trip or home. What happens if the staff member accidentally drops the key or it falls from a pocket? What happens if the data falls into the hands
of individuals looking to capitalize on identity theft? This could be disastrous for the University, the students and staff members involved.

LTS is recommending that sensitive data being stored on portable devices, such as memory keys and portable hard drives, be encrypted using a simple open source software package named TrueCrypt. TrueCrypt can be downloaded for free and configured so individuals can encrypt data stored on external storage devices. TrueCrypt is required on all computers from which a TrueCrypt volume will be accessed and used. Instructions for installing and using TrueCrypt may be found at:
http://www.lehigh.edu/security/encryption/extstorage.html

If you have questions on downloading, configuring or using TrueCrypt, please contact the Help Desk at 8-HELP or your LTS computing consultant.

Lehigh's Digital Beer Cellar Now Open
September marked the launch of the Lehigh Digital Library's newest project, The Vault at Pffaff's: An Archive of Art and Literature by NewYork City's Nineteenth-Century Bohemians. The site is devoted to presenting the poetry, drama, art, fiction and social commentary of the group of nineteenth-century bohemians who frequented Charles Pfaff's beer cellar in lower Manhattan. These creative and unconventional
individuals include the likes of Walt Whitman, poet and actress Adah Isaacs Menken, journalist and social critic Henry Clapp, playwright John Brougham, and artist Elihu Vedder. Interested in joining us for a toast? There's no need to reserve a table. Located at http://digital.lib.lehigh.edu/pfaffs/
The Vault at Pfaff's/ is open 24/7 and has room for one and all.



HOLIDAY LIBRARY HOURS
Wednesday, November 22 7:30AM - 10:00PM
Thursday, November 23 CLOSED
Friday, November 24 8:00AM - 5:00PM
Saturday, November 25 Noon - 5:00PM
Sunday, November 26 Noon -- 2:00AM
Regular hours resume on Monday, November 27
Exam hours begin Monday, December 11th , we are open continuously (open at 7:30AM) until Wednesday, December 20th , when we close at 10:00PM.

September 29, 2006

--JSTOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES COLLECTION*
--EXPANSION OF REFERENCE WORKS ONLINE*
--LTS HELP DESK WEB PAGE BLOG*
--ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN LTS*
--GOOGLE'S NEW CALENDAR FEATURE*
--LIBRARY HOURS*

JSTOR BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES COLLECTION Lehigh now has access to JSTOR's Biological Sciences collection. The JSTOR initiative provides backfile coverage for a large number of scholarly journals. The biology collection supplements Lehigh's already extensive JSTOR coverage, which includes Arts and Sciences collections and a Health and General Sciences collection. According to JSTOR, by 2007 the Biological Sciences collection will have one hundred or more titles. As they appear, the journals will be included in the ASA catalog and in the Electronic Journals list. A list of the currently available journals in this JSTOR collection is at:
http://www.jstor.org/about/biosci_content.html Look on this list for a wide ranging list of journals of interest not just to biologists but also earth scientists.

EXPANSION OF REFERENCE WORKS ONLINE
In ur attempt to continually meet user needs Library & Technology Services has added several full text online reference works: titles created from the Oxford University Press award-winning print scholarly reference sets plus two technical encyclopedias from Wiley. These e-reference resources are fully searchable with remote access available anytime, anywhere to Lehigh patrons. Examples include
The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Reformation
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature
The Encyclopedia of Medical Devices and Instrumentation
The Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Technology
Medical Devices
Both Wiley titles can be searched by keyword or browsed by title or subject category; articles are cross-linked and include URLs for the extensive bibliographies. Sections can be printed, saved as PDF files, or bookmarked, making them conveniently available.



LTS HELP DESK WEB PAGE BLOG
The LTS Help Desk Web page now has an integrated blog which will be used to highlight news and goings-on that are of interest to users, such as new seminars, virus or spyware alerts, minor issues and problem reports, help desk "hot topics", etc. Find out the scoop from the folks who hear it all! http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk



ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES IN LTS
LTS and Academic Support Services are working to expand and strengthen services to students who need special support (e.g., low vision students, students with learning disabilities, etc.). Click here to see a list of some of the new offerings:
http://www.lehigh.edu/lts/help/faq/qa/disability.htm



GOOGLE'S NEW CALENDAR FEATURE
Google's gmail has been a popular Webmail service because it provides 2.5 gigabytes of disk space for email (note: it is not backed up!). Recently, Google has introduced new FREE tools available to gmail account holders, including full-featured calendar, spreadsheet and word processing software, photo albums, maps and I/M talk. These tools offer support for collaboration and sharing. LTS is testing the new Google tools and has done some test-migrations of portal calendar events into Gmail with success. Basic instructions importing from portal calendar to
Google's calendar are at:
http://www.lehigh.edu/~inlts/help/faq/qa/googlecal.htm




LIBRARY HOURS
Regular Semester Hours Begin Monday, September 11
Monday - Thursday open 7:30 am - 2:00am
Friday open 7:30 am-10:00 pm
Saturday open 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Sunday open 10:00am - 2:00 am

Four O'clock Quizzes Hours:
Open 24 hours
The library will open Tuesday, October 3 at 7:30 am and will remain open until closing early Friday morning, October 6 at 2:00 am.