contents:
From the Director | Colby Computer Connection |New Support Structure for Personal Computers
Corporate Time: new online campus calendar! | About PDA Support | ITS web site redesigned
Book recommendation | In the Language Resource Center | Meridian Voicemail Instructions
Student Computing Services & Public Labs | Outlook PDF Virus

Web Design & Development Topics:
Web site Accessibility | Intellectual Property Issues

Faculty Resources:
Online Teaching Portfolios | Online Test Generator | Online Discussion Forums

Back Issues: Winter 2001 | Fall 2000 | Spring 2000 | Winter 2000 | Fall 1999 | Spring 1999 | archives
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From the Director .....

My colleagues and I in ITS welcome everyone to the new academic year. We welcome especially those in the class of '05 and the new faculty and staff members that have recently joined the Colby community. We have been working hard since finals ended last May, when we were first able to take over several classrooms for new computer systems, to get ready for the fall 2001 semester.
Many changes have been under way and the articles that you will find in this newsletter will acquaint you with many. Check our web page now, as Wendy suggests in her article about the redesign, and check back regularly for updates. We try to use our web page as a primary channel for communicating information of interest to faculty, staff, and students.

One change in the college that has resulted in some adjustments in the ITS service structure is the closing of the computer store in the bookstore. I want to acknowledge and thank Bill Pottle for his many years of dedicated service in running the operation in the Bookstore. Every year since 1985, when Colby first started making computers available to students, faculty and staff for individual purchase in the bookstore, Bill has been there to provide individual advice and after-sales support. I have personally benefited very greatly from his work in dealing with the hardware vendors to get the best prices possible for college purchases. Bill has moved on to manage the ColbyCard program in the business office, where his exceptional customer support approach will leave a new, and similarly high quality, impression. I know that everyone else who has used this exceptional service in the past will join me in saying "Thanks Bill!!"

The discontinuation of computer sales in the bookstore is largely the result of changes in the market, primarily because students had been making most purchases through other channels. Because there are no longer any college-standard vendors and models for individual purchases, the support available from Student Computer Services will focus on Colby-specific networking and application areas, not on the operating system and hardware areas which are best supported by the manufacturer. Details of these changes were described in a notice sent to students this summer and are available on the Web at the ITS web site.

ITS has continued to make improvements in classroom technology, completing about a dozen upgrades and a few new installations since last spring. Colby is a leader among liberal arts colleges in having this kind of classroom technology, now found in over 60% of classrooms and labs. We encourage faculty and students to use it. Media Services will be working with faculty to assist in becoming familiar with the equipment in their classrooms. They have worked hard to make this equipment as easy to use and reliable as possible. If anyone encounters a problem with classroom technology, call the Media Services hotline (3777) so they can solve it as soon as possible and, very importantly, notify those faculty who have classes in that location later in the day of problems that are pending. We urge everyone to keep the main ITS service numbers in mind as the places to call for assistance:

3666 - Student Computer Services
3777 - Media Services Classroom Support Hotline
3888 - Faculty/Staff Support Center

I hope everyone has a great year, uses the available information technology extensively and effectively, checks the ITS web pages regularly, and takes the time to learn more about technology.

Ray Phillips
Director, ITS