Carol Currie Sobczak, James Kessler, David Eldridge
The University of Southern Maine needed another computer classroom, primarily to meet the needs of faculty who utilize Macs or those with small, often upper-level classes. The opportunity presented itself to inherit a space that had previously been used as a Foreign Language Lab. We purchased thirteen Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs. We settled on Parallels Desktop for Mac 2,2 running Windows XP on Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger) to allow simultaneous running of both operating systems. By the time of this presentation, we will have experimented with the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac running Windows XP and Vista, and Apple's latest release of Boot Camp, also booting Windows XP and Vista. Two Software Support Specialists collaborated on the process behind the scenes, spending several weeks refining the final product. Some of the issues encountered included: early adoption of beta software (Parallels and VirtueDesktops); choosing between Faronics Deep Freeze for the Mac and Centurion Technologies MacShield (both new to Intel Macs); configuring settings for simultaneous IP connections on each platform; implementing our authentication (login) process; incorporating our in-house pay-for-print system; investigating Parallels Coherence mode pros and cons; utilizing WinBatch and other third-party tools for machine customization; and choosing a disk imaging solution.
南缅因大学(University of Southern Maine)需要另一间计算机教室，主要是为了满足使用mac电脑的教师或那些规模较小、通常是高级班级的教师的需求。这是一个继承以前用作外语实验室的空间的机会。我们买了13台英特尔酷睿2双核imac。我们决定在Mac 2上运行Parallels Desktop，在Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger)上运行Windows XP，以允许同时运行两个操作系统。到本演讲的时候，我们已经试验了运行Windows XP和Vista的最新版本的Parallels Desktop for Mac，以及苹果公司最新发布的Boot Camp，也可以启动Windows XP和Vista。两位软件支持专家在幕后合作了这个过程，花了几个星期的时间来完善最终产品。遇到的一些问题包括:早期采用测试版软件(Parallels和virtuedesktop);在Faronics Deep Freeze for Mac和Centurion Technologies MacShield(两者都是英特尔Mac电脑的新产品)之间进行选择;为每个平台上的同时IP连接配置设置;实现我们的认证(登录)过程;整合我们的内部付费印刷系统;探究Parallels相干模式的利弊;利用WinBatch等第三方工具进行机器定制;选择磁盘映像解决方案。
{"title":"The dual os classroom: if you build it, will they come?","authors":"Carol Currie Sobczak, James Kessler, David Eldridge","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294122","url":null,"abstract":"The University of Southern Maine needed another computer classroom, primarily to meet the needs of faculty who utilize Macs or those with small, often upper-level classes. The opportunity presented itself to inherit a space that had previously been used as a Foreign Language Lab. We purchased thirteen Intel Core 2 Duo iMacs. We settled on Parallels Desktop for Mac 2,2 running Windows XP on Mac OSX 10.4 (Tiger) to allow simultaneous running of both operating systems. By the time of this presentation, we will have experimented with the latest version of Parallels Desktop for Mac running Windows XP and Vista, and Apple's latest release of Boot Camp, also booting Windows XP and Vista. Two Software Support Specialists collaborated on the process behind the scenes, spending several weeks refining the final product. Some of the issues encountered included: early adoption of beta software (Parallels and VirtueDesktops); choosing between Faronics Deep Freeze for the Mac and Centurion Technologies MacShield (both new to Intel Macs); configuring settings for simultaneous IP connections on each platform; implementing our authentication (login) process; incorporating our in-house pay-for-print system; investigating Parallels Coherence mode pros and cons; utilizing WinBatch and other third-party tools for machine customization; and choosing a disk imaging solution.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"3 8-9","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114047942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Our communication audit of IT publications used a survey by the Higher Education TechQual+ Study (www.techqual.org) as a first step. The survey results identified engagement as a key principle for changing our communication mix. Both students and faculty indicated a desire for opportunities to make suggestions to IT and be part of the decision-making process. While characteristics of Gen Y include expectations for communicating across a flattened hierarchy, new faculty expressed this same desire. This session describes how department reorganization into teams has facilitated communication changes and how our findings have changed our newsletters, web site, campaigns, and information guides. How we hope new media (podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking tools, etc.) will help us provide more engagement will also be included.
{"title":"Looking for the magic formula: evaluating our it communication mix","authors":"Joyce E. Hicks","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294086","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294086","url":null,"abstract":"Our communication audit of IT publications used a survey by the Higher Education TechQual+ Study (www.techqual.org) as a first step. The survey results identified engagement as a key principle for changing our communication mix. Both students and faculty indicated a desire for opportunities to make suggestions to IT and be part of the decision-making process. While characteristics of Gen Y include expectations for communicating across a flattened hierarchy, new faculty expressed this same desire. This session describes how department reorganization into teams has facilitated communication changes and how our findings have changed our newsletters, web site, campaigns, and information guides. How we hope new media (podcasts, blogs, wikis, social networking tools, etc.) will help us provide more engagement will also be included.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114074616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the Fall of 2003 a new campus for Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) was established in Doha, Qatar. This campus offers students a degree in either Electrical, Petroleum, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering fields just as if they were on our Main Campus. This paper will describe the history of how the Helpdesk within Information Technology Services (ITS) was created on the Qatar campus and how it is managed today in a multicultural environment. I will describe what happens to a problem ticket when it is submitted to the problem tracking system and the many challenges we encounter.
{"title":"Creating and managing a helpdesk in a multicultural environment","authors":"Teresa Chipman","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294054","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294054","url":null,"abstract":"In the Fall of 2003 a new campus for Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) was established in Doha, Qatar. This campus offers students a degree in either Electrical, Petroleum, Chemical or Mechanical Engineering fields just as if they were on our Main Campus. This paper will describe the history of how the Helpdesk within Information Technology Services (ITS) was created on the Qatar campus and how it is managed today in a multicultural environment. I will describe what happens to a problem ticket when it is submitted to the problem tracking system and the many challenges we encounter.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"81 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116015979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Software training can be challenging, particularly with complicated programs and new users of technology. However, there are ways to help people get over the "fear factor" of trying something new by putting information in a context that makes sense to them. This may be by pointing out commonalities across programs, or by using analogies that make sense to a particular user population. By using visual clues, you can help participants transfer skills and knowledge from one software program to another. While this is especially true across programs from the same vendor (for example, transferring skills from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe Illustrator, or from Microsoft Word to Microsoft PowerPoint), there are also many visuals that are the same across a variety of programs. By making users more aware of the cues with which they are already familiar, you can help them gain confidence and reinforce their skills. Using scaffolding techniques like analogies that strengthen the concept being taught, you can guide participants through new or unfamiliar tools by building on previous knowledge that they may not have realized they possessed. This paper focuses on techniques - including improving visual skills and analogy - that can help your participants get the most out of your one class session.
{"title":"\"You know more than you think you do\": helping participants transfer knowledge","authors":"Laurie A. Sutch","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294124","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294124","url":null,"abstract":"Software training can be challenging, particularly with complicated programs and new users of technology. However, there are ways to help people get over the \"fear factor\" of trying something new by putting information in a context that makes sense to them. This may be by pointing out commonalities across programs, or by using analogies that make sense to a particular user population. By using visual clues, you can help participants transfer skills and knowledge from one software program to another. While this is especially true across programs from the same vendor (for example, transferring skills from Adobe Photoshop to Adobe Illustrator, or from Microsoft Word to Microsoft PowerPoint), there are also many visuals that are the same across a variety of programs. By making users more aware of the cues with which they are already familiar, you can help them gain confidence and reinforce their skills. Using scaffolding techniques like analogies that strengthen the concept being taught, you can guide participants through new or unfamiliar tools by building on previous knowledge that they may not have realized they possessed. This paper focuses on techniques - including improving visual skills and analogy - that can help your participants get the most out of your one class session.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121059209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ITIL® (pronounced 'Idol'), or Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is gaining popularity in the management of IT Services...not just in Industry but in Higher Education as well. Hobart and William Smith Colleges is beginning to use the ITIL® framework to transform the way it provides services to the Colleges. During this session, the CIO and Director of Operations and Technical Support from Hobart and William Smith Colleges will walk you through how the Colleges are using ITIL®, including Incident Management, Problem Management, the beginning stages of creating a Service Catalog, developing internal Operating Level Agreements (OLA's), establishing Service Level Agreements (SLA's) and creating metrics. Approaching service in this way, will allow you to create meaningful metrics that the customer can understand and that the IT support personnel will buy into. Involving key customers and IT personnel throughout the process is critical to success. We will talk about our approach to involving both IT support personnel and customers in each step of the process.
{"title":"American ITIL","authors":"Kelly McLaughlin, F. Damiano","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294106","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294106","url":null,"abstract":"ITIL® (pronounced 'Idol'), or Information Technology Infrastructure Library, is gaining popularity in the management of IT Services...not just in Industry but in Higher Education as well. Hobart and William Smith Colleges is beginning to use the ITIL® framework to transform the way it provides services to the Colleges. During this session, the CIO and Director of Operations and Technical Support from Hobart and William Smith Colleges will walk you through how the Colleges are using ITIL®, including Incident Management, Problem Management, the beginning stages of creating a Service Catalog, developing internal Operating Level Agreements (OLA's), establishing Service Level Agreements (SLA's) and creating metrics. Approaching service in this way, will allow you to create meaningful metrics that the customer can understand and that the IT support personnel will buy into. Involving key customers and IT personnel throughout the process is critical to success. We will talk about our approach to involving both IT support personnel and customers in each step of the process.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"95 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116718149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The Oberlin College Center for Information Technology and Library, as well as representatives from other groups on campus, began working on the development of an Information Commons, which we now call an Academic Commons, in early 2006. Our initial proposal stated "In response to changes in student learning patterns, changes in libraries and educational technologies, and perceived campus needs for improved academic community and cultural space, a group consisting of representatives from the Library, the Center for Information Technology, Audiovisual Services, and the General Faculty Library Committee has been discussing preliminary, broad outlines of a plan to create an information and learning commons on the main level of Mudd Center".[1] Since that time, we have acquired funding and the authorization to proceed. The Academic Commons is expected to be completed by the start of the 2007-08 academic year. It will provide a "magical world" of library and IT resources, including an electronic classroom, student computer help desk, information desk, multi-media facility, many more computer workstations, group study rooms, and a café. This paper will describe the process from start to finish, with a focus on the magical outcomes.
{"title":"The magical world of an information commons","authors":"Cynthia A. Murnan","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294108","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294108","url":null,"abstract":"The Oberlin College Center for Information Technology and Library, as well as representatives from other groups on campus, began working on the development of an Information Commons, which we now call an Academic Commons, in early 2006. Our initial proposal stated \"In response to changes in student learning patterns, changes in libraries and educational technologies, and perceived campus needs for improved academic community and cultural space, a group consisting of representatives from the Library, the Center for Information Technology, Audiovisual Services, and the General Faculty Library Committee has been discussing preliminary, broad outlines of a plan to create an information and learning commons on the main level of Mudd Center\".[1] Since that time, we have acquired funding and the authorization to proceed. The Academic Commons is expected to be completed by the start of the 2007-08 academic year. It will provide a \"magical world\" of library and IT resources, including an electronic classroom, student computer help desk, information desk, multi-media facility, many more computer workstations, group study rooms, and a café. This paper will describe the process from start to finish, with a focus on the magical outcomes.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"76 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130680081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Several years ago Baylor University moved from a passively managed data backup model to an actively managed strategy. As much as we would like the responsibility for data backup to reside with the owner of the data, we realize that in most cases this does not hold true. Our clients' expectation is that the Information Technology Systems (ITS) department is backing up their data. In the past, data backup was not likely to be something our client gave any thought to. We often did and still do see faculty members working on research, publications or databases requiring hundreds of hours of work. Users will often keep the only copy of the file on the desktop of their PC. As portable storage devices (flash drives) have come down in price, we are now seeing users backup a copy of a file to a flash drive in order to work on it at another location. They will usually copy a file here or there but usually not for disaster recovery purposes. Although most of the computers on campus have read/write to CD or DVD capabilities, again we don't typically see our users archiving their files unless we instruct them to do so. We see that there is often confusion on their part as to what data is accessed from the client's hard drive and what data actually resides on a server. The storage solution used for Staff/Faculty electronic data at Baylor University is the Tivoli Storage Manager® software program. The support side of ITS was not involved in the decision to migrate to this software so we were not prepared for the amount of attention that would be required. Tivoli Storage Manager® is a powerful program and from a Help Desk or Client Support standpoint, it was a high maintenance relationship from the beginning. We tried unsuccessfully to rid ourselves of this time consuming and frustrating relationship. Later we realized that as much as Tivoli needed us, we needed Tivoli. Much like any other codependent relationship, we've had our ups and downs. We like to believe that we have reached a point of happy coexistence with Tivoli and we'd like to share the journey we took to arrive at this place. We also realize that like any other relationship in our lives, it requires effort on our part to ensure that the data backup process continues to work in a smooth and consistent manner. We may not be able to change the need for the software or the software's need for our attention but a shift in thinking can open up different ways of handling issues that come up in a positive and productive way. We will use the premise of a 12 step program used to recover manageability to one's life as a basis for the presentation of our data recovery program.
{"title":"Twelve steps to recovery: my co-dependent relationship with tivoli","authors":"Karen Griffiths, Tammie Kramolis","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294078","url":null,"abstract":"Several years ago Baylor University moved from a passively managed data backup model to an actively managed strategy. As much as we would like the responsibility for data backup to reside with the owner of the data, we realize that in most cases this does not hold true. Our clients' expectation is that the Information Technology Systems (ITS) department is backing up their data. In the past, data backup was not likely to be something our client gave any thought to. We often did and still do see faculty members working on research, publications or databases requiring hundreds of hours of work. Users will often keep the only copy of the file on the desktop of their PC. As portable storage devices (flash drives) have come down in price, we are now seeing users backup a copy of a file to a flash drive in order to work on it at another location. They will usually copy a file here or there but usually not for disaster recovery purposes. Although most of the computers on campus have read/write to CD or DVD capabilities, again we don't typically see our users archiving their files unless we instruct them to do so. We see that there is often confusion on their part as to what data is accessed from the client's hard drive and what data actually resides on a server. The storage solution used for Staff/Faculty electronic data at Baylor University is the Tivoli Storage Manager® software program. The support side of ITS was not involved in the decision to migrate to this software so we were not prepared for the amount of attention that would be required. Tivoli Storage Manager® is a powerful program and from a Help Desk or Client Support standpoint, it was a high maintenance relationship from the beginning. We tried unsuccessfully to rid ourselves of this time consuming and frustrating relationship. Later we realized that as much as Tivoli needed us, we needed Tivoli. Much like any other codependent relationship, we've had our ups and downs. We like to believe that we have reached a point of happy coexistence with Tivoli and we'd like to share the journey we took to arrive at this place. We also realize that like any other relationship in our lives, it requires effort on our part to ensure that the data backup process continues to work in a smooth and consistent manner. We may not be able to change the need for the software or the software's need for our attention but a shift in thinking can open up different ways of handling issues that come up in a positive and productive way. We will use the premise of a 12 step program used to recover manageability to one's life as a basis for the presentation of our data recovery program.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125496646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lehigh University is implementing a plan to secure sensitive information across campus through the use of various encryption technologies. Several committees were formed, at all levels of the University, to advise, identify, and direct data security activities at the enterprise level. One of these committees was assigned to take a detailed look at the types of hardware and media that need to be secure, to test various encryption technologies and hardware devices, and to produce a recommendation on which technologies needed to be implemented. The committee began by developing a document listing the types of hardware and media that need to be secured, operating systems that need to be supported, and an estimate of the number of individuals on campus with access to secure information. Special criteria were developed for evaluating the products such as: price/performance, platform compatibility, media compatibility (SD cards, USB keys, handhelds), authentication level (one- or two-factor), user friendliness, key management, and enterprise implementation tools. Next, several whole-disk, file, and volume encryption software packages were selected and evaluated as well as special devices such as USB keys and handheld devices. Performance benchmarks were run on the test systems to compare performance variations. Enterprise encryption key management features were also tested. This session will provide a detailed overview of the various steps involved in the evaluation process mentioned above, discuss the successes and failures encountered, and review the final results.
{"title":"Encryption technologies: testing and identifying campus needs","authors":"Gale D. Fritsche, Sara K. Rodgers","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294071","url":null,"abstract":"Lehigh University is implementing a plan to secure sensitive information across campus through the use of various encryption technologies. Several committees were formed, at all levels of the University, to advise, identify, and direct data security activities at the enterprise level. One of these committees was assigned to take a detailed look at the types of hardware and media that need to be secure, to test various encryption technologies and hardware devices, and to produce a recommendation on which technologies needed to be implemented. The committee began by developing a document listing the types of hardware and media that need to be secured, operating systems that need to be supported, and an estimate of the number of individuals on campus with access to secure information. Special criteria were developed for evaluating the products such as: price/performance, platform compatibility, media compatibility (SD cards, USB keys, handhelds), authentication level (one- or two-factor), user friendliness, key management, and enterprise implementation tools. Next, several whole-disk, file, and volume encryption software packages were selected and evaluated as well as special devices such as USB keys and handheld devices. Performance benchmarks were run on the test systems to compare performance variations. Enterprise encryption key management features were also tested. This session will provide a detailed overview of the various steps involved in the evaluation process mentioned above, discuss the successes and failures encountered, and review the final results.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"36 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133423230","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In June of 2006 the Director for User Support at Indiana University (IU) issued a mandate stating that the organization should begin to prepare the support infrastructure for the release of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007. The goal: to ensure staff was trained and documentation in place to manage what could be a huge load on user support resources. A 'Vista/Office 2007 Readiness Team' was assembled. The team consisted of members from across the University Information Technology Services organization; experts in the areas of Frontline Support, Knowledge Management, Messaging, Security, Student Technology Centers, Residential IT Services, Local Support Provider Services and User Communications. With access to beta versions of Vista and Office, the team was able to do extensive testing of the products and identify potential problems. User communications was an essential element of the Vista/Office 2007 Readiness project. While the various technology experts shared insights regarding technical problems the User Communications and Knowledge Management teams were there to take that information, distill it into a form readily digested by the average user and then construct a plan to communicate this information to the users. The group's experience proved that educating a user community about high profile IT issues is best done in an environment in which information is shared across relevant segments of the IT organization. It is assumed that this model will work for future large scale implementations at Indiana University.
{"title":"Vista preparedness at Indiana University","authors":"Laura A. McCain, K. Miller","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294102","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294102","url":null,"abstract":"In June of 2006 the Director for User Support at Indiana University (IU) issued a mandate stating that the organization should begin to prepare the support infrastructure for the release of Microsoft Vista and Office 2007. The goal: to ensure staff was trained and documentation in place to manage what could be a huge load on user support resources. A 'Vista/Office 2007 Readiness Team' was assembled. The team consisted of members from across the University Information Technology Services organization; experts in the areas of Frontline Support, Knowledge Management, Messaging, Security, Student Technology Centers, Residential IT Services, Local Support Provider Services and User Communications. With access to beta versions of Vista and Office, the team was able to do extensive testing of the products and identify potential problems. User communications was an essential element of the Vista/Office 2007 Readiness project. While the various technology experts shared insights regarding technical problems the User Communications and Knowledge Management teams were there to take that information, distill it into a form readily digested by the average user and then construct a plan to communicate this information to the users. The group's experience proved that educating a user community about high profile IT issues is best done in an environment in which information is shared across relevant segments of the IT organization. It is assumed that this model will work for future large scale implementations at Indiana University.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"70 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131934577","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Managing the flow of information both within the IT department and to our customers is one of our greatest challenges in the Office of Technology Information at Valparaiso University. To be successful, IT staff first need to acquire the right information from colleagues to provide excellent service. Then, the staff must determine the most effective way to communicate that information to internal and external customers to encourage the flow of information. To advance the IT department's goals, how best can we utilize "information" and "communication" vehicles to exchange information, improve workflow, and ultimately communicate essential information to our internal and external customers? We've asked ourselves this question and have resolved that "information" and "communication" need to work cooperatively! How better than with a wiki. Recent changes in departmental structure gave us the opportunity to examine our communication vehicles - specifically the software tools we use to facilitate the flow of information. Our previous knowledge base, First Level Support, a module of the HEAT support software produced by FrontRange Solutions, once met our needs as an internal knowledge base solution. We realized we had outgrown FLS and needed a more robust alternative. Our student employees asked for a newer, more interactive method of sharing information. With the assistance of our UNIX systems administrator, we investigated various options and decided to implement the MediaWiki™ system. As we had anticipated, use of this wiki system reduced the response time a customer must wait for an answer to their inquiry. What we didn't realize was that utilization of the wiki would meet many more needs than we had anticipated. It has also helped us meet other departmental needs, such as increased collaboration, an online knowledge base, and a training tool for staff. Come see how a sprinkle of pixie dust improved communication through adoption of the wiki, and brought information to the forefront of our operations.
{"title":"Reduce response time: get \"hooked\" on a wiki","authors":"Rebecca Klein, Matthew Smith, David Sierkowski","doi":"10.1145/1294046.1294091","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1294046.1294091","url":null,"abstract":"Managing the flow of information both within the IT department and to our customers is one of our greatest challenges in the Office of Technology Information at Valparaiso University. To be successful, IT staff first need to acquire the right information from colleagues to provide excellent service. Then, the staff must determine the most effective way to communicate that information to internal and external customers to encourage the flow of information. To advance the IT department's goals, how best can we utilize \"information\" and \"communication\" vehicles to exchange information, improve workflow, and ultimately communicate essential information to our internal and external customers? We've asked ourselves this question and have resolved that \"information\" and \"communication\" need to work cooperatively! How better than with a wiki. Recent changes in departmental structure gave us the opportunity to examine our communication vehicles - specifically the software tools we use to facilitate the flow of information. Our previous knowledge base, First Level Support, a module of the HEAT support software produced by FrontRange Solutions, once met our needs as an internal knowledge base solution. We realized we had outgrown FLS and needed a more robust alternative. Our student employees asked for a newer, more interactive method of sharing information. With the assistance of our UNIX systems administrator, we investigated various options and decided to implement the MediaWiki™ system. As we had anticipated, use of this wiki system reduced the response time a customer must wait for an answer to their inquiry. What we didn't realize was that utilization of the wiki would meet many more needs than we had anticipated. It has also helped us meet other departmental needs, such as increased collaboration, an online knowledge base, and a training tool for staff. Come see how a sprinkle of pixie dust improved communication through adoption of the wiki, and brought information to the forefront of our operations.","PeriodicalId":277737,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of the 35th annual ACM SIGUCCS fall conference","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2007-10-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129664317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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