Subject: LTS Digest November 20, 2003 "Turkey Trot" Edition
From: Helen Zuercher (hlz2@Lehigh.EDU)
Date: Thu Nov 20 2003 - 13:44:58 EST
LTS DIGEST -November 20, 2003 Lehigh Univ. Library and Technology Services CONTENTS: --LTS MOUNTAIN GOATS (TURKEY TROT TEAM) --MICROSOFT DROPS WINDOWS 98 SUPPORT --NEW IN MEDIA PRODUCTION --ERIC SYSTEM CHANGES --WESTLAW CAMPUS --LOCAL NUMBER PORTABILITY --CUSTOMIZING THE MS-OFFICE XP "MY PLACES" BAR --STOPPING POP-UPS --THANKSGIVING BREAK LIBRARY HOURS Subscription, archive and contact information is at the bottom of this digest. LTS MOUNTAIN GOATS (TURKEY TROT TEAM) Library and Technology Services will once again enter a faculty/staff team in the 50th annual Lehigh University Turkey Trot. The Turkey Trot is a 2.6 mile running race that begins in front of Lehigh Chapel, winds its way up South Mountain onto Upper Sayre drive and returns on Lower Sayre drive finishing in front of Packard Hall. The race is scheduled to begin at 4:30 pm on Thursday, November 20th. This is the 6th consecutive year the LTS team has entered in the Turkey Trot and is currently undefeated in the faculty/staff division. This year LTS is entering 2 teams because the number of interested staff has nearly doubled over previous years and it exceeds the 10 people per team limit. There are 17 members on the 2003 Turkey Trot team(s) consisting of: Bruce Taggart (Vice Provost), Tim Foley (Director of Client Services), Gale Fritsche (Client Services Team Leader), Stacey Kimmel (Team Leader, Student and General Services), Brian Simboli (Senior Library Information Consultant), Bill Mitchell (Senior Instructional Technologist), Glenn Piper (Help Desk Assistant), Steve Sakasitz (Help Desk Staff), Bruce Eisenhard (Senior Computing Consultant), Rob Weidman (Library Technical Coordinator), David Morrisette (Systems Manager), Jim Deardon (Professor - Economics), Ed Kay (Professor - Computer Science), Mike Raposa (Professor - Religion), Frank Roth (Lehigh's Legal Counsel), Gene Lucadamo (Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology), Nick Zoller (TA - Math Dept.). The following is a picture of the 2001 LTS Turkey Trot team (due to heavy rains we were unable to take a picture in 2002) http://www.lehigh.edu/~gdf2/irteam.JPG Please mark your calendars to come out and support the faculty, staff and students in the 2003 Turkey Trot. MICROSOFT DROPS WINDOWS 98 SUPPORT The Windows 98 operating system will no longer be supported by Microsoft as of January 16, 2004. This means that critical updates such as security patches (in response to new virus outbreaks) for Windows 98 will no longer be developed. Phone and on-line support at Microsoft will no longer be available. LTS is assessing the situation at Lehigh with software inventory tools to determine what computers may still be using 98. LTS will be contacting key administrators with the current status in their departments as well as recommended solutions. There are a variety of options including upgrading to Windows XP with or without additional memory--some computers may need to be replaced. NEW IN MEDIA PRODUCTION Our new manual object rig facilitates the preparation of three-dimensional QuickTime VR Object Movies from small to medium size objects. QuickTime VR is a technology developed by Apple Computer to display a three-dimensional environment on a computer screen. A panorama, consisting of a single 360-degree photograph with both ends "connected," gives the illusion of traveling through an entire room or location. The new object rig brings panoramic technology into the studio, allowing the camera to move around and over the object. The final result is an Object Movie with a 360-degree view of a single object, allowing users operating a mouse to rotate the object as if it were in the hands. A sample 3d movie can be viewed at the top of the Media Production samples page: http://www.lehigh.edu/computing/media/samples.html ERIC SYSTEM CHANGES The Federal Department of Education has dramatically changed the way education research will be disseminated. A centralized approach will be taken in spite of substantial objection from education researchers, citizens and librarians. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the "What Works Clearinghouse" has been established. (See http://w-w-c.org/) The ERIC Database, covering education and related fields since 1966 and used extensively all over the world, will continue to be produced under a "new model." The sixteen ERIC Clearinghouses and their content-rich websites will close December 19, 2003. Services supported by the Clearinghouses, such as AskERIC at the library school at Syracuse University, have been a feature of education literature and resources for many years. AskERIC services will become the Educator's Reference Desk at http://www.eduref.org/ Other ERIC-related resources such as GEM, The Gateway to Educational Materials, will continue with university or foundation funding (see http://www.thegateway.org/). For others, see ERIC Clearinghouses Make Plans for the Future <http://www.lib.msu.edu/corby/education/eric/clearinghouseplans.htm> For announcements, visit the ERIC site at http://www.eric.ed.gov/ WESTLAW CAMPUS Students and faculty working on law related issues have a new resource, Westlaw Campus, accessible at http://databases.lib.lehigh.edu/finder/dbfull.asp?DBID=132 This extensive legal research tool makes available cases from all 50 states and the federal courts as well as all federal and state statutes. Research can also be conducted in American Jurisprudence 2d which is West's comprehensive encyclopedia of federal and state law. When looking for articles that summarize or analyze the case law on a particular issue, the American Law Reports component of Westlaw Campus can help. The hundreds of electronic law reviews and journals that are also part of this service will greatly enhance access to the professional and scholarly legal literature. LOCAL NUMBER PORTABILITY Earlier this month, the Federal Communications Commission approved local number portability, which will enable wireless telephone users to retain the same phone number when changing providers. In fact, the FCC ruling went further than most consumers and service providers expected; even traditionally wired home telephone numbers are eligible to be switched over to mobile phones. Consumers should be aware, however, that switching or "porting" a number from one service to another may not be a streamlined process, particularly at the beginning. For example, the ruling is effective November 24, but only in the 100 largest US metropolitan areas (which does include the Lehigh Valley). Further, a number can only be ported locally, to another provider serving the same area as the current provider. In addition, only a number billed directly to the requestor can be ported, so a University residence or office number (which is owned and maintained by Lehigh) cannot be ported to a personal wireless phone. For further information, please see http://www.easyporting.com/ CUSTOMIZING THE MS-OFFICE XP "MY PLACES" BAR When opening an existing file or saving a new file in any Office XP program, you are presented with the My Places Bar: the strip of large icons that runs down the left-hand side of the Open and Save As dialog boxes. The default "My Places" icons that come with Office XP may be sufficient for some users, but there is a way to customize icons for drives or folders that are frequently accessed. Here's how to do it: http://www.lehigh.edu/lts/teams/cbe/MyPlacesBar.htm STOPPING POP-UPS To avoid the frustration of pop-up Web ads, many computer users are enabling pop-up suppression in their Web browser or using a third party utility to suppress pop-ups. In Netscape 7.01or higher, pop-up suppression can be configured in the preferences menu. Within the browser, select Edit/Preferences/Privacy and Security/Pop-ups. Click on the button to suppress pop-ups. Because some pop-ups contain useful information, suppressing all pop-ups can be problematic. In Netscape 7.01 or higher, users can selectively enable pop-ups for sites that require them, such as the Campus Portal. When visiting a site that suppresses a required pop-up, a black exclamation point icon will appear in the lower right corner of the browser window. Click the icon to open the "Allowed Sites" window, click the Add button and then click OK. Some animated advertisements can also be stopped in Netscape. To turn off animated images select Edit/Preferences/Privacy and Security/Images and then change the "Animated images should loop" to Never. Another mechanism for stopping pop-ups is the Google Toolbar, which can be downloaded from http://toolbar.google.com/ The Google pop-up blocker can be told to remember useful sites so pop-up windows for these sites are allowed to launch. For sites that have pop-ups you want to see, click the pop-up blocker button to add that site to your "whitelist" so that pop-ups for that site are displayed. If any questions, contact the Help Desk at 8-4357. THANKSGIVING BREAK LIBRARY HOURS November 26 - November 30 Fairchild-Martindale and Linderman Libraries: Wednesday, 11/26, 8 am to 10 pm Thursday, 11/27, CLOSED Friday, 11/28, 8 am to 5 pm Saturday, 11/29, Noon - 5 pm Sunday, 11/30, Noon - 2 am * *Linderman Library closes at midnight ******************************************************************** Send your comments or suggestions for future topics by replying directly to the list. 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