Information Management Newsletter for Block 3, 2006
We will announce publication of a new issue via divisional listservs and campus digests. If you aren't subscribed to one of these lists and would like to receive an e-mail notifying you when a new issue is published, please send your request to mbrenceaustin@coloradocollege.edu
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In this Issue:
- Wireless Hotspots
- Help Desk Extended Hours
- Public vs. Private Email Sessions Using Microsoft Outlook Web Access
- Internet Explorer 7: Wait & See Approach
- aCCess: CC's New Portal Name!
Wireless Hotspots
We have created 2 special wireless "hotspots" on campus for the express purpose of visitors. Normally, folks must have a CC account, register their computers, and do some fairly complex configuration (e.g., LEAP secure authentication) to their wireless cards in order to access the CC network, which makes short-term access for visitors very difficult. However, these 2 hotspots are completely open, and visitors can drop by with a laptop and hook up to the Internet (just like in a coffee shop or café) with no registration, no CC account, and no complicated configuration. One hotspot is located in the west side of the Worner Center, and the other is in Tutt Library near the Learning Commons. Enjoy!
The Help Desk now has extended hours! Most weekdays, a technician will be manning the phones until midnight (and said technician is physically located in Tutt Library)! For details about the specific hours, look no further than the Help Desk's website: http://helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu/index.php . The hours are right on the home page.
Public vs. Private Email Sessions Using Microsoft Outlook Web Access
When logging onto the Web-based version of Outlook (called “Outlook Web Access”), your screen looks something like this:
Notice the “ Public or shared computer” option versus the “ Private computer” option under Security in the image above. You might not normally attend to this distinction, and if not, then the “Public or shared computer” option is automatically selected for you by default. Read on to learn a bit more about how these two security options impact your workflow and protect your email privacy.
The “ Public or shared computer” option should be selected if you are reading your email on a public computer, such as in a campus computer lab, the public library, or an Internet cafe. Your session will be logged out automatically for you on a much quicker basis – 3 hours, currently – than if you select “ Private computer .” This shorter timeout window is set recognizing that if you leave a public computer while still logged in, and someone uses that computer after you, they will be able to go back and read your email, or send email messages in your name.
When you are at home, using the “ Private computer” option enables you to stay logged in for a much longer time period – currently 24 hours, or a full day of workflow. This option should only be selected when your computer is in a trusted setting like your home or locked office, because again, if someone sat down at your open session to Outlook Web Access, then they can read your private messages or falsely represent you via email.
The Network & Systems Services Team, in collaboration with the Information Technology & Library Board, will likely move to decrease the timeout interval for “public” sessions (e.g., from 3 hours to 1 hour). For users who step away from their open email sessions in a public venue, the privacy and security of their email data is at stake. The trade-off, of course, is that inactive sessions might log out before users are ready. If, for example, you take a long time to compose a message (without saving it along with way) and you surpass the designated timeout interval, then you could lose your work. “Active” email sessions are triggered and maintained by opening new messages, sending messages, and moving or deleting items (any transactions between your computer and the email server itself); sessions become “inactive” when there is no client-server activity within a specified time period (such as when you leave the session idle, or when you are simply composing a message).
What is our best advice to you? Always log out of email and close your Web browser when you are done, especially in a public/shared setting! In these days of identity theft and other digital security breaches, it is best not to provide careless access to your email and other personal information. A dedicated effort to log out promptly when done, combined with a frequent habit of saving long messages – as you craft them – will ensure a safe and loss-free email experience.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact the Network & Systems Services Team at nsg@coloradocollege.edu, or the Help Desk staff at helpdesk@coloradocollege.edu.
Internet Explorer 7: Wait & See Approach
Microsoft is releasing a new version of Internet Explorer (for Windows, not Mac OS X) as a critical update. The new version is a good upgrade, but it is also significantly different than the current version (Internet Explorer 6).
Rather than allowing this update install right away, we've chosen to "block" it as a critical update for all CC-owned computers. That means you will not automatically receive the update on your office PCs, but you can still choose to install it manually if you wish (we recommend that you don't install it for the time being). We're doing this because we'd like to make sure that IE7 is as stable as possible before introducing it to campus computers, and because a major upgrade like this is not something we'd like to implement in the middle of a block. We're also not yet sure how well it will interact with important Web-based systems on campus such as Access, PROWL, and GoWEST, and would like to take the time to thoroughly test those systems.
However, please keep in mind that you will receive this update automatically on any Windows-based computer that is not owned by CC. In other words, your home computers will likely get IE7 as part of the critical Windows update process. The good news is that this will give you a chance to play with and get used to the new version before it's installed on campus computers. Also, remember that student's personal computers will be receiving IE7, since we are unable to put the same blocking measures in place for them (the labs will not be getting the upgrade yet; they are CC-owned and will be affected by the block of IE7).
We will eventually remove the block and allow campus computers to upgrade to IE7. We just want to make sure that it happens at an appropriate time and causes little to no disruption.
If you want a bit more information about Internet Explorer 7, visit:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx
You might know “aCCess” as the CC community newspaper. You might also know “aCCess” as the course registration system.
What you might not realize is that both of these entities have graciously given up their names to make way for our new campus portal! As announced in the latest issue of the printed “aCCess” newspaper, it is not only changing its format, but it will soon be changing its name to avoid confusion as we prepare the campus portal in the coming months.
During September and October, we ran a two-phased contest to raise awareness of this new online resource, and also to find it a suitable name to represent the CC community. More than 1,000 names flooded in, many around themes such as our Tiger mascot, our unique Block Plan, and our Rocky Mountain sense of place. In the end, however, it was the name “aCCess” that won, and we have alumna Elizabeth Safranek '91 to thank. Elizabeth majored in Art History, and after stints at the Denver Art Museum and the Art Institute of Chicago, she is currently working for a small consulting company called Healthcare Strategy Institute. When asked what inspired her to suggest the portal name, she shared: “I chalk it up to one of those very rare little “aha” moments when something actually fits! But so much of how we live now depends on online access … access to our banks, our cars, our groceries, our music (!), our healthcare … almost everything can be accessed online these days, and we are all looking for ways to make that access easier, which is exactly what CC is hoping to do with the new portal.” Elizabeth is the proud winner of an iPod nano, and she has never experienced a music player of her own, hence the enthusiasm for the new world of online music that awaits her!
Stay tuned in the coming months as we continue to develop and roll out the new portal. We expect that it will bring many online conveniences and communities together for easy “aCCess” to CC!
