Upgrading to Office 2007
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by David Diedriech, Technical Training Director
You may be aware that Microsoft released Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows last fall. Office 2007 includes significant changes from previous versions, most noticeably a dramatically different user interface. Office 2007 will be the campus standard on Windows computers by Fall 2009.Office 2007 for Windows is already installed on the Dell laptops that First-Year students purchased, and we are now beginning the process to rollout the upgrade to rest of faculty members, staff and students across campus.
Before you upgrade:
We strongly encourage administrative departments to consider upgrading all of their systems at the same time to ensure compatibility and consistency within the department. Administrative department directors should review their office procedures and annual schedule of activities to determine the best time for your office to upgrade.
Faculty members and academic departments should consult with their academic support assistants and colleagues with whom you routinely share files before upgrading to ensure that you know how to exchange and open documents in case not everyone decides to update at the same time.
To help you make decisions about when to upgrade, we will be offering brief overviews of Office 2007 throughout the rest of the semester. Workshops are scheduled for the following times:
Tuesday, April 8, 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 15, 4:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 24, 10:00 a.m.
All workshops are scheduled for the computer lab in the lower level of Roy O. West library.
To upgrade:
To have Office 2007 installed on your office computer/laptop, contact the Help Desk to schedule an appointment for a technician to visit your office to perform the installation. Alternatively, if you use a laptop, you can also schedule an appointment to bring it to the Help Desk and have the upgrade installed there. (This process normally takes at least 15 minutes).
This software is also available for all faculty and staff members who use Office as part of their regular DePauw duties to install on their personal home computers. If you wish to obtain a personal installation CD, please visit the Help Desk on the UB lower level and sign a release form.
For more details on Office 2007 please refer to our Office 2007 resources at:
http://www.depauw.edu/it/helpdesk/office2007.
As always, please contact the Help Desk with questions or concerns.
Cleanse Computer Clutter
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Courtney Hime, ITAP Communicatin Consultant
In the weeks leading up to the end of the semester, midterms, papers, projects and deadlines can all stand in the way of a well-deserved rest. In the process of sifting through notes and research material, you are likely using your computer - and often for great lengths of time. If you find yourself glued to your laptop, you may be increasing your chances of suffering from information overload, which can cause stress, confusion and mental exhaustion.
Fortunately, there are some quick ways to prevent information overload and simplify your life.
First, learn to plan ahead and prioritize. To truly break away from your computer, a personal agenda or planner can help keep your life in order. If you do find that you prefer to keep everything digitally organized, online planners can also be very helpful. If you’re not already using your GroupWise Calendar to keep yourself organized, I suggest picking it up. Not only is it helpful for planning, but most faculty and staff use it to keep track of their days – making finding a time to meet as simple as opening up their calendar.
Second, do your best to eliminate distractions. The easiest way to stay focused on the task at hand is to disconnect from the Internet. If, however, you require the Internet for your work, all is not lost. For Firefox users, if you keep distracting tabs in your internet browser, delete them to avoid the temptation to surf the net.
Another easy way to free your mind and your computer of clutter is to organize your files. Back up any files you need to savebut do not need to use, onto an external hard drive, or jump disk. Do your best to minimize the number of files you view on a daily basis by storing them in folders organized by year, course or project. When naming files, use meaningful names or abbreviations that can easily be recognized later to avoid sifting through documents.
Purging your computer and e-mail inbox of unnecessary files is another simple way to destress. Delete and clean out any unnecessary files you may be saving on your computer, and empty your recycle bin frequently. If you find your inbox overflowing, sort through your e-mails and discard what you can. If you’re keeping attachments in your inbox, save them onto your computer. Organize your e-mail account much like your computer by creating folders and filing messages to keep track of your email by topic.
While I can’t guarantee the next few weeks will be devoid of stress, I can assure you that keeping your computer free of clutter will keep you more organized and less stressed than you would be otherwise.
EndNote Citation Management Software
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Caroline Gilson, Coordinator of the Prevo Science Library
and Carol Smith, Associate CIO for Instructional and Learning Services
The University now has a site license for EndNote for all DePauw students, faculty members and staff. EndNote is a program which stores and organizes citations and also enables you to import citations directly into a Word document. It works on both Macintosh and Windows platforms.
Two versions of EndNote are available:
The EndNote client, called EndNote X, is installed on your desktop or laptop computer and offers customizable features for working with saved citations. Faculty and staff members can pick up a copy of EndNote X on CDROM from the HelpDesk or can request for a technician to install it for them by contacting the HelpDesk (x4294, helpdesk@depauw.edu). Students can purchase a copy of EndNote X on CDROM from the HelpDesk for a discounted price of $40.
EndNote Web (www.myendnoteweb.com) is web-based and does not require you to install any software on your computer. It is available for use at no charge to all students, faculty members and staff.
To create your EndNote Web account:
- Connect to www.myendnoteweb.com from a computer on the DePauw network.
- Click the “Sign Up for an account” link.
Once you have created your account, you can log in from anywhere, both on and off campus, to access the citations you have collected in your account. To keep your account active, you just need to login from a computer connected to the DePauw network at least once every twelve months.
Which version should you use?
Librarians have been testing both versions of the software and recommend that faculty members, Juniors and Seniors consider using EndNote X. You may want to try both versions to see which one meets your needs.
Librarians are happy to meet with any faculty member to discuss both versions and offer demonstrations.
Where can you find more information about EndNote?
A LibGuide is available via the DePauw Libraries web site with more information, links to handouts, and tips on how to download citations from selected databases at : http://libguides.depauw.edu/endnote. Or contact any librarian for assistance or if you have questions.
What You Should Know About Printing at DePauw
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Courtney Hime, ITAP Communication Intern
With DePauw boasting one of the nation’s most connected campuses, there’s no reason you should ever have to panic about printing. Of course, for effective printing, there are a few things you can master to make sure you get the most of the money you have for printing.
1. Printing from a Dell. DePauw offers the benefit of allowing students to print from their laptops to any available public printer on campus. To take advantage of this, however, you must install iPrint onto your computer and you must be logged into Novell through the Novell Client. Both of these applications are available on the Downloads page from the Help Desk. http://www.depauw.edu/it/helpdesk/downloads/ . Once you have installed Novell and iPrint, you can view the list of available printers from the iPrint page http://print.depauw.edu/ipp and install your printer(s) of choice onto your laptop.
2. Printing from a Mac. Printing from a Mac is very similar to printing from a Dell. However, instead of logging into Novell from Novell Client, Mac users may access it through the Network Alias Icon for PCounter. DePauw has just upgraded the iPrint server to support all Macs on campus, including Intel-based MacBooks.
3. Uncommon places to print. Though the library may be the most popular place for printing, there are several other places on campus that may be less crowded for last minute printing. For example, there are printers available in the computer lab across from Prevo Science Library. You can add these printers to your computer or – if there isn’t a class – you may use the computers in the lab. To view a list of all available University printers, visit the iPrint page.
4. Places to print in color. You may not need to print in color often, but if the occasion occurs, the University offers access to one public color printer. The Savin printer in the digital media lab (dml) on the lower level of Roy O. West Library offers high-quality color printing. Each page costs $2.50 to print so, if time allows, it’s still more economical to take any color-printing job to Printing Services.
For additional information about printing to public printers on campus, visit DePauw’s printing page http://depauw.edu/it/helpdesk/printer/.
Archives & Special Collections
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Wes Wilson, Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections
Collections of archival records and manuscripts are received nearly every day on the second floor of Roy O. West Library. That’s where the Archives of DePauw University and Indiana United Methodism is located. One example of the new collections in the Archives is the George Beswick family papers. Beswick was a Methodist minister in Indiana and father of Laura Beswick McKaig, one of the first four women to graduate from DePauw in 1871. The papers include a notebook belonging to George Beswick from 1835. The Archives also received scrapbooks for the DePauw band, 1931-58. These included news clippings, lists of band members and programs for the period. One of the most recent additions to the collection is the records of the DePauw Women’s Club. The Archives records for the club go back to the 1950s.
Once in a while, DePauw-related items appear on eBay. One such item that the Archives became aware of was a football program for the Old Gold Day game against Hanover, October 20, 1934. After discovering that the football collection lacked that program, a bid was placed. The Archives subsequently became the high bidder, eventually winning the program at a very reasonable price (our acquisitions budget is not large) to add to the football collection. Another football program became available a few months later, a game against Purdue in 1893. Bidding went very high for this program, probably because of its age and the fact that the opponent was a major college. The Archives had to drop out of the bidding for this one and it sold for over $500.
Besides being the archives for the University, the Archives is also the official repository for the United Methodist Church in Indiana, so occasionally United Methodist churches send us their records. Last fall, the Archives received the records for Baker Chapel located at DeGonia Springs, Ind. near Boonville. What is remarkable about this is that the church building was destroyed by a tornado in 2005, but the records survived their storage in the building’s furnace room. The members decided to place them in the Archives following the disaster.
After new collections are received, a description is entered into a database and it becomes the foundation for a catalog record and collection inventory. The catalog record is located in the PALNI database accessible through the OPAC while the inventory is published on the Archives website.
Moodle Showcase: Art Evans and Linda Elman
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by David Diedriech, Technical Training Coordinator
On Tuesday, March 14, 2008, FITS hosted the first Moodle showcase of the semester. Art Evans and Linda Elman, both from the department of Modern Languages, presented their course sites, and discussed the different ways they use Moodle. For Art’s French music course, he showed how he uses streaming audio to create a playlist of songs from different artists. Art also demonstrated how to create an online quiz, and talked about moving materials from Blackboard.
Linda showed her Spanish courses (which she displays in Spanish!), and talked about the articles and images she uses. Linda also demonstrated how she uses colorful labels to separate the information in her Topics. There were several questions from the instructors who attended, and a great Moodle discussion was had by all!
Please put the following Moodle events on your calendar:
Moodle Training: (all sessions held from 4-5pm in Instruction Room A)
· April 9: Bells and Whistles
· April 23: Moodle Overview
· May 2: Wrapping It Up
Moodle User Group meetings: (All meetings held from 4-5pm in Instruction Room A)
· April 16
· April 30
Moodle Showcase: (Noon – 1:00, Instruction Room A)
· April 17
Laptop Initiative Update
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Courtney Hime, ITAP Communication Consultant
As spring approaches, it’s time for the Laptop Advisory Committee to make the final decisions about the new models of laptop for the incoming class of 2012. Mike Moore, director of the Laptop Advisory Committee said they are in the process of finalizing the negotiations with Dell and will begin to create the image (compilation of software) for next year’s model.
Every year the image writers work with Dell to ensure that all the necessary software is installed onto student computers, while at the same time making sure to keep the personalized experience of getting a new computer intact.
Since the laptop initiative began, the basic image of the computer hasn’t changed. Each model – or software package for Apple users – consists of the core operating system, the Microsoft Office suite, Macromedia suite and antivirus software. The incoming class of 2011, for the first time, also received the GroupWise e-mail client on their computers. Novell (network software) isn’t installed with the image, however, because students cannot connect to the network unless they are on campus. There is, however, a huge campaign to install Novell when students arrive on campus.
Last spring, the Laptop Advisory Commitee was faced with the decision of whether or not to upgrade to Office 2007 from Office 2003. Office 2003 is unable to read Office 2007 .docx files, so if they decided to upgrade campus, transferring files could, and would likely, prove to be a challenge. Ultimately the committee decided ro move forward to get campus oriented to the new software, a decision Carol Smith, Associate CIO for Instructional and Learning Services said she was happy with in the long run.
Smith said the Office 2008 upgrade for Apple users should be available to Mac users before the end of the semester. The team is finishing up the testing phase, but the plan is to have software upgrades ready for campus before students leave in May.
The team is now faced with the dilemma of whether or not to embrace Microsoft Windows Vista for next year’s image. Smith said they haven’t made a decision yet of whether or not to upgrade, but will be finalizing that as they finalize the image.
By the Numbers: A Year in Archives
April 2nd, 2008Contributed by Wes Wilson, Coordinator of Archives and Special Collections
If you click on the link below, you will see the wide variety of activities that Archives staff participate in with during the year, from class visits to research to creating exhibits. Stop by Archives and Special Collections on the second floor of Roy O. West, next time you are near the library!