Education for Our Times
ATUS will be hosting a web symposium, "Education for Our Times: Expertise and Engagement" offered by the Educause Learning Initiative. We will present the sessions live on-screen in our training room, Miller Hall 154, from 9 am to 2 pm on May 24 and May 25.

Four one-hour presentations will occur each day with nationally-recognized experts addressing questions such as

• What will it take for our students to be successful in an era of complexity and rapid change?
• How do we create engaging and successful learning environments?
• What are our roles?

The full program is available for your review at www.educause.edu/eliws061.  Program times are listed within each category as Eastern Daylight Time. Once you convert times to PDT and make plans on your calendar, please sign up to participate with ATUS at our registration site www.wwu.edu/classes/eli.

Online Music Library Now Available
by Marian Ritter

WWU Libraries now subscribe to the Naxos Music Library, an online collection of recorded music in streaming audio. The collection offers access to over 130,000 tracks of recorded music that are available to the WWU community for listening in the music library, classrooms, residence halls, offices or at home. New releases are continually added to ensure that the music library is always complete and up-to-date.

A notable feature of Naxos Music Library already being used by some faculty members is the ability to make playlists. Professors may create and assign playlists to supplement courses with listening material.  Students have the convenience of accessing the playlist directly without having to search elsewhere.

The collection includes the complete Naxos, Marco Polo, and Dacapo catalogs. The repertoire is primarily classical but also includes jazz, national anthems, world/ folk, new age, and Chinese music. Close to 7,000 composers are represented. There are many world-premiere recordings and complete work cycles.

Naxos also features world music anthologies from Arc and Celestial Harmonies labels, reissues of 20th-Century premieres on the First Edition label, and selected recordings from Analekta, BIS, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Haenssler and other record labels.

Some of the navigation options include selecting works by composer, artist, period, year of composition, instrument or genre. Genre categories include Ballet, Chamber Music, Choral, Composers, Concertos, Educational, Film music, Instrumental, Musicals, Opera/Operetta, Orchestra, and Vocal. Listeners can select text options such as reading notes on the works being played as well as biographical information on composers or artists in Naxos's extensive database. Text resources include opera synopses, opera libretti, histories, and glossaries/dictionaries.

To access Naxos, go to WWU Music Library webpage www.wwu.edu/depts/musiclibrary/

Helpful Hints

• When searching for a piece in the WWU online catalog, limit by genre, "streaming audio."
• Naxos Music Library website describes specifications needed for Windows and Macintosh computers, browsers and plug-ins www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/
• Features are optimized for Internet Explorer.

Need help? For technical assistance, contact Library Computer Support at 650- 2158. For more information about the Music Library, or for assistance with playlists, please contact Marian Ritter, 650-3696.

Benefits of Collaborative Learning
Kris Bulcroft

Students learn best when they are actively involved in the process. Researchers report that, regardless of the subject matter, students working in small groups tend to learn more of what is taught and retain it longer than when the same content is presented in other instructional formats. Students who work in collaborative groups also appear more satisfied with their classes. –Barbara Gross Davis, “Tools for Teaching.” (Jossey-Bass, 1993)

As of fall quarter 2006, Bond Hall 419 will be available as a new general university “collaborative classroom” space. This more innovative learning space is designed especially with development of a 21st century skill set in mind. It is optimal to facilitate group collaboration, increase faculty-student interaction, and more fully integrate technology.

When a Western student graduates, she or he must be prepared – more so than ever before – to participate in a diverse and technological world requiring critical thinking, problem-solving skills and teamwork. Western’s mission statement itself clarifies our institutional commitment to this student development goal. Preparing our students for the 21st century requires not only new pedagogies and technological innovation, but also a re-visioning of the spaces where we teach and learn.

What is Collaborative Learning?
Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of learners explicitly working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. It’s based on the constructivist learning theory wherein learning is a natural social act in which participants build on prior knowledge and work together to construct new knowledge.

Learning collaboratively requires different assignments, teaching strategies, and grading methodologies than the traditional lecture mode. It changes the role of the instructor from that a “giver of content” to a “facilitator of knowledge acquisition.” It changes the role of the student from a passive recipient of knowledge, to that of an active participant in the learning process. It also gives students and faculty more shared authority in the classroom, as well as assumes that students can learn from each other. Finally, learning collaboratively requires a different setting than a traditional classroom with its front-facing rows of seats: learning collaboratively means tables, chairs, and technology designed especially to facilitate small group interactions.

Bond Hall 419 is especially designed to provide an opportunity for faculty to use collaborative approaches to teaching and learning. The room will seat a maximum of 36 students and has been both fully renovated and mediated at Level 4. The traditional tablet-arm chairs previously in use will be replaced by small tables and comfortable moveable chairs designed to be easily arranged into a variety of configurations to meet individual teaching needs

Faculty may request Bond Hall 419 for next year by contacting Troy Ragsdale in the Registrar’s Office, email Troy.Ragsdale@wwu.edu. Those interested in more information on collaborative learning strategies and research may contact Karen Casto at the Center for Instructional Innovation, Karen.Casto@wwu.edu, 650-4943.

Gifs vs. Jpegs on a Website
Rochelle Parry

Do you use images on the web, for a department web site or a Blackboard course? Would you like to know more about how to get the best display possible, but aren't a Photoshop expert? How you save your images can make a big difference in not only file size but also image clarity.

"Graphics Interchange Format" (.gif) and "Joint Photographic Experts Group" (.jpg) are two of the most popular methods for displaying images online. When to use each type depends on the image itself. An image with a photographic quality, or continuous tone, should be saved as a .jpg (also referred to as jpeg). Your digital camera typically will download your pictures in .jpg format. An image with solid color areas without shaded variation (think of a cartoon graphic or clip art illustrations) is better saved as a .gif (pronounced with a hard "g" although the creators insist that it's soft). Also, if you require a transparent background of your image, you should use .gif. You can save a photo as a .gif, but your file size will be unnecessarily large.

Jpeg photo saved with no compression, maximum quality (72 kb)

Jpeg photo saved with maximum compression, lowest quality (8 kb)

Gif compressions are accomplished by choosing fewer colors in the palette when saving as a .gif. An interesting thing about gifs is that their file size is more related to their colors than to their pixel size. Two .gif images, one very small gif and one very large, will be the same file size if that large image is mostly one color.

If you need assistance or more tips preparing your images for your online display, please contact Rochelle Parry at 650-2998.

ATUS Launches Sharepoint Workgroup Collaboration
John Farquhar

Beginning this winter quarter, ATUS is launching Microsoft Sharepoint Services as a tool for workgroup collaboration. This web-based tool can provide your office with an effective and secure method for collaborating and communicating.

Sharepoint services include individually controlled access to shared files, discussion boards, tasks and contacts, as well as document versioning. As the owner of a Sharepoint site, you will have control to grant read or write permissions to any faculty or staff member here at Western. And because of Sharepoint’s integration with Outlook, granting access to your Sharepoint site is as easy as sending an email.

When Extended Education and Summer Programs (EESP) was looking for a method to share documents, reports, and policies among off-campus employees, they turned to Sharepoint, because it provided the necessary security in a user-friendly and flexible environment. The off-campus workgroup members login to the website using their Western Universal Username and Password. When new members of the team are hired, they are easily added to the Sharepoint site and are then informed that they have access to the workgroup space. Beyond the file-sharing capabilities described above, Sharepoint features web-based tools such as discussion boards and announcements for workgroups in much the same way that Blackboard provides these tools for classes. Although faculty should continue to use Blackboard to support their instruction, workgroups that have been using Blackboard for communications should strongly consider switching to Sharepoint. The new Sharepoint tool is for workgroups is optimized for users of Outlook, while Blackboard is most accessible through the student portal, MyWestern. Below is a table describing the differences and similarities between Sharepoint and Blackboard.

ATUS has scheduled presentations on Sharepoint throughout the winter term. Please click for registration. For online demonstrations of Sharepoint, go to www.microsoft.com and search for: SharePoint Services Demos. If you simply want to get started with this tool, let Web Services know of your interest by calling 650-6355.

	SHAREPOINT	BLACKBOARD
Web-based Collaboration	Yes	Yes
Authenticated Access via University Username	Yes	Yes
Access Controlled	By Site Owner	Through Automated Enrollment
Principle Audience	Faculty & Staff	Students
Discussion Board	Yes	Yes
File Sharing	Yes	Yes
Announcements	Yes	Yes
Tasks	Yes	Yes
Outlook Integration	Yes	No
Instsructional Tools such as Assignments & Gradebooks	No	Yes

ILN Website

ATUS continues to work with Scientific Technical Services on development of a new  multi-institution collaboratory  site for the  Integrated Laboratory Network (ILN).  This  prototype portal, which is still in active development (anticipated launch date mid-August), can be viewed at:

http://wallaby.atus.wwu.edu/iln/

If you would like to learn more about this award-winning, innovative project please join Dr. Devon Cancilla in a nationwide web conference to be delivered from Western on April 28th (exact location and time to be publicized).  Further information is also available in the Winter 2006 Academic Technology Newsletter at http://www.wwu.edu/online_news/ILN.

Share Large Files without Using Email
Linc Nesheim

Western’s robust network file storage offers numerous ways to access and share data with others across campus and on the internet. Many people use email attachments as a way to share documents with others. Others also use the P: drive (also labeled Wuf-facshare) to share documents with people in the same department/workgroup.

An even more effective solution to the sharing of files is the use of Western’s MyWeb directory on your U: drive. By using this storage area, you can easily store files, photos, and web pages that you want other people to be able to access.

Here’s a short description on how to use this feature:

• Create a myweb folder: In your U: drive directory, right-click New… Folder.
• Save or drag your file, photos, or web page to the myweb folder
• You must create an index.html file in the myweb directory – this is your home page and should include links to your other files.
• Your personal web address will be http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/username/
• Open your web browser to verify that your files are available.

A cautionary note: even though these file names aren’t published anywhere, this process involves making the file generally available on the internet. Sensitive or confidential data should not be made available on myweb.

A document with more detailed instructions is available at www.wwu.edu/myweb.

As always, you can also contact the ATUS Help Desk at 650-3333 for further assistance.

New Blackboard Hardware Architecture In the Works
John Farquhar

ATUS and Technical Services have been building a new hardware architecture for the mission-critical Blackboard course management system. Our goals are to improve the reliability, performance, and recoverability of Blackboard with a scalable, redundant system. Through consultations with Blackboard, Inc., industry experts, and other institutions on the bleeding edge of server clustering technology, we've already identified new hardware components and prepared a migration path.

The heart of the system is a ‘cluster’ of application servers which act to distribute the heavy load of Blackboard use. This server cluster will be readily expandable — as our need for Blackboard grows, new application servers can be easily added. Additionally, a sophisticated set of state-of-the-art devices known as "load balancing appliances" will be used to negotiate the traffic to the application cluster. Should any application server fail, the load balancing hardware will recognize the problem and redirect traffic accordingly.

Several components of the new system will utilize existing technologies already in use on campus. For example, the new Blackboard environment will make use of our existing, very-large capacity ‘SAN’ storage system, providing ready storage for hundreds of gigabytes of data. This approach takes advantage of the same fault tolerant file storage system that provides nearly everyone at Western with network file storage. Similarly, the existing campus SQL database server will continue to be utilized by Blackboard; a replicate of this database server will eventually be set up to provide redundancy.

This robust solution introduces a number of new components and complexities that will require several stages of careful testing prior to implementation. As we travel down this migration path this spring and summer, we will have an occasional need to take Blackboard offline. These events will always be scheduled at off-hours, with any significant downtime planned for times between terms.

If you have any questions about the new environment or our migration path, please don't hesitate to contact me at 650-6538 or email john.farquhar@wwu.edu.

Student Eforms Site Available
by Earlene Kent

Real time processing. Flexible email routing. Full authentication trail. Documents that are stored on server and protected from fire, water, damage or loss. These are some of the features that make Eforms fast, reliable and easy to use. Many administrative users are familiar with the benefits and ease-of-use web forms provide. But did you also know that a student Eform site exists?

It’s located at www.wwu.edu/forms/student.

Students and academic departments already use web based applications for much of their academic coursework and research. Because of this, many departments such as Biology, Chemistry, Fairhaven, Grad School, Sociology, Registrar and Telecom are extending the use of Eforms to academic needs such as student requests for classroom override, course evaluations, and other miscellaneous applications and permits.

The look, feel and functionality of the student web forms are identical to the administrative forms, complete with Form Finder, statistics and frequently asked questions.

Availability of student web forms provides not only convenience for the student, but also has all the same advantages of administrative forms; data is stored electronically, electronic signatures validate form processing, and flexible email routing provide immediate access to the submitter and approver of the status of the request. In addition, recent Eform enhancements include file attachment capability, validation of email addresses, overall performance improvements, and the addition of the disapprove button.

Forms security for students is the same as for administrative users, requiring Banner authentication via W# and pin. The SSL (Secure Socket Layer) capability and audit trail guarantee that only the submitter and the approver or final processor have access to the form.

Converting paper forms to electronic format provides access for submitter and approver via web from any location, providing convenience and speeding up processing time. Many administrative users have found uses for Eforms for both academic and administrative needs.

Administrative Computing Services (ADMCS) is dedicated to providing greater flexibility to the campus community by bringing forms to both administrative and academic departments. If you have ideas for student web forms that you would like to discuss, please direct inquiries to the ADMCS Help Desk, 650-4444.

Podcasting and RSS in the Academic Curriculum
John Farquhar

Simply put, podcasting is a particular method of distributing digital media over the Internet. And, while the term borrows the "pod" from iPod, the method is neither limited to using Apple's handheld device nor to digital music players in general. Instead, the necessary technology to both create and receive a podcast is simply an Internet-connected computer. The benefit of using an iPod or small MP3 player for podcasts is simply portability.

The content of a podcast is also not limited to music, but can include narrated slides, full-motion video, as well as "just plain-old" digital files. The significant difference between a podcast and other methods of distributing digital media is the ability to use syndication. Through syndication, users can receive "what's new" from a particular source. The technology is known as RSS or Really Simple Syndication.

Syndication is being used throughout the web to feed content such as news items from across thousands of websites. Individuals wanting to receive news from specific news sources can "subscribe" to sources by using a news aggregator (also called an RSS Reader). Dozens of RSS Readers are now available. A number of existing portal services such as Google, MSN, and Yahoo! provide RSS Readers. And, while most Readers are web-based, some (such as NewsGater) make use of email applications like Outlook.

Although the vast majority of RSS feeds are news related, there is a growing list of educational and research topics published in RSS format. For example, Oxford Journals,  www.oxfordjournals.org, is now syndicating the content from many of their research journals. When browsing or searching the web, look for RSS as an indication that the content can be syndicated. You can make use of the feed by copying the feed address into your personal reader.

Apple's latest iTunes Music Store also acts as an aggregator for media produced as podcasts. At the online store, you can currently subscribe to content such as programming provided by NPR, language lessons, and technology tutorials. And, while these materials are distributed through an online storefront, many are made available for free.

Using Podcasting In Your Courses

How can you use podcasts and other syndicated content in your courses? Here are just a few suggestions. You can assemble relevant news feeds or existing podcasting sources into your Blackboard course or website. In particular, ATUS is working with the library to provide reserve material via RSS for distribution in Blackboard courses. In this way, new content relevant to your course would become automatically available within your Blackboard site without any additional effort on your part.

The production and distribution of your own podcast is also possible. These instructional materials could be in the form of audio, audio accompanied by still images such as narrated PowerPoint slides, as well as the distribution of full-motion video. The Student Technology Center has already hosted several workshops on creating your own podcast, with future "how-to" workshops planned. And while many podcasts might be generated from the comfort of your own office, podcasts can also be produced directly from the lecture hall or classroom. Over the summer, ATUS plans to equip a number of larger classrooms with recording capabilities so that classroom presentations can be "captured" for later distribution. As an instructor, you may choose to podcast all of your lectures, a select few presentations, or perhaps use the technology to record student presentations. ATUS plans to explore all of these possibilities and more. To begin, we have scheduled an open forum for those interested in exploring the use of podcasting at Western. The forum is scheduled for 4:00 pm, on Thursday, May 11th, in Miller Hall 186. We hope to hear your own creative ideas for using this new technology.

LabStats: Computer Lab Utilization Stats at Your Fingertips
Rob Galbraith

The ATUS computer lab support team has been testing and implementing LabStats, a new software package that can display real-time availability of seats in each lab, as well as track usage over time and provide a wide variety of utilization statistics for planning purposes.  
The LabStats client has the distinct advantage of running on both MS Windows computers and Mac OS X computers, and will also work on our wireless laptops.

LabStats is now installed on each general university lab computer. From a central server, this program can provide web pages showing computer availability by lab and also store detailed utilization data for future reporting. This reporting can include statistics on average usage, number of users, and number of logins over selected time periods in both tabular and graphical formats.

Lab seat availability information will be posted on the ATUS web pages as well as on public TV monitors (currently in Haggard Hall and Communications Facility) to aid students in finding an available lab seat.

We plan to make the LabStats program available for use in all university computer labs. Use of this lab utilization software in also likely to be mandatory in all computer labs funded by Student Technology Fees. College and department staff members interested in using LabStats in their computer labs should contact Rob Galbraith at 650-3361.

Video Conferencing at WWU
Robert B. Clark

Western Washington University has two special purpose rooms designed for video conferencing: Miller Hall 183, designed for groups of 10 people or less, and Miller hall 186 which seats up to 30 students. Miller Hall 186 is the equivalent of a Level 4 classroom, while both rooms have external computer inputs, document cameras, and white boards to facilitate classes, meetings or training sessions. Together these two rooms have been used over 170 times from September 2004 to today.

Some of the major users at WWU have been…

• A class on Education Theory and Indigenous Populations taught by Dr. William Demmert, a professor with Western’s Woodring College of Education and Director of the Native American Education Program. Dr. Demmert’s students successfully conferenced with other students in Alaska, Hawaii and Arizona.
• NO LIMIT! A Statewide Initiative to Integrate Technology in the Middle Level Math Classroom with Kate Popejoy and Joanne Carney, Ph.D. of the WWU Woodring College of Education.
• The North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership which is a National Science Foundation funded project involving 26 school districts, two education service districts, four community colleges, Washington State LASER, the Naval Undersea Museum, Washington State MESA, and Western Washington University.
• Environmental Studies 441 – A class taught in Huxley College between WWU and Peninsula College in Port Angeles, WA. Covered skills in understanding and managing parks & protected areas.
• Environmental Studies 464 – A class taught in Huxley College between WWU and Peninsula College in Port Angeles, WA., covering U.S. environmental policy.
• The Integrated Laboratory Network Working Group at Western, including representatives from Huxley College, the Department of Chemistry, SciTech, and Academic Technology and User Services (ATUS). Working with the University of British Columbia, this group’s primary goal is to develop the ability for students and researchers to operate instruments located at different locations around campus from any Internet-equipped computer.
• Various workgroup and quarterly certification video conferences for the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Higher Education Coordinating Board.

MH 186 Video Conference Classroom

Miller Hall 183 Video Conference Room

For more information on video conferencing at WWU or to schedule a room, contact Robert B. Clark, Manager, ATUS Video Services at video.services@wwu.edu or 650-3302.

LabStats: Computer Lab Utilization Stats at Your Fingertips
Rob Galbraith

The ATUS computer lab support team has been testing and implementing LabStats, a new software package that can display real-time availability of seats in each lab, as well as track usage over time and provide a wide variety of utilization statistics for planning purposes.

The LabStats client has the distinct advantage of running on both MS Windows computers and Mac OS X computers, and will also work on our wireless laptops.

LabStats is now installed on each general university lab computer. From a central server, this program can provide web pages showing computer availability by lab and also store detailed utilization data for future reporting. This reporting can include statistics on average usage, number of users, and number of logins over selected time periods in both tabular and graphical formats.

Lab seat availability information will be posted on the ATUS web pages as well as on public TV monitors (currently in Haggard Hall and Communications Facility) to aid students in finding an available lab seat.

We plan to make the LabStats program available for use in all university computer labs. Use of this lab utilization software in also likely to be mandatory in all computer labs funded by Student Technology Fees. College and department staff members interested in using LabStats in their computer labs should contact Rob Galbraith at 650-3361.

Successful Classroom Scheduling
Nancy Grayum

While academic departments continue to shape the multitude of details regarding class schedules and curriculum offerings for the 2006 – 2007 Timetable, it’s important to keep in mind some important new request mechanisms that could assure the best classroom and lab assignments for your instructional plans.

Classroom response systems can now be specifically requested with “Physical Attribute” codes during the scheduling process. This is done in the same area where other parameters are coded by your department manager, specifying your requirements for moveable tablet arm chairs, whiteboards, or science demo tables. The new code for rooms that include classroom response systems is “PCRS.”

The new collaborative space, BH 419, can also be requested with the code “PCBS” (see related article in this issue)

Use the block schedule guidelines in order to have your classes go through the classroom scheduling software with top priority and successful placement with the special features you request. Nearly all of the mismatches in meeting requests for mediated classrooms occur because of lack of conformance with block scheduling.

Request classroom technologies by using the codes and definitions listed below. The basics, included in all general university classrooms, include a campus network connection, campus cable, a projection screen and an overhead projector.

Level 2 Media (PLV2) provides the basics plus TV with VCR/DVD player.

Level 3 Media (PLV3) provides the basics plus computer, VCR/DVD player, and either a projector or large wall monitor display. Note that many classrooms previously labeled as Level 3 have now been upgraded to Level 4.

Level 4 Media (PLV4) provides the basics plus computer, VCR/DVD player, document camera, and media control system.

And again, PCRS in Level 4 rooms will assure the classroom response system, while PCBS will flag your request for the collaborative space, currently BH 419.

Reservations in general university computer labs are now handled directly by ATUS Classroom and Lab Services. Once computer labs are scheduled and confirmed for your classes, you should be sure to also notify the Registrar’s office so those lab/class locations can be correctly listed in both the Timetable and Class Finder. This coordination will ensure that classrooms are not unnecessarily scheduled for your use when you plan to meet with your classes in a computer lab.

Please do not list lab use in the Timetable before it has been scheduled and confirmed by ATUS, as this can create confusing scheduling conflicts. To request standing reservations in computer labs for summer quarter 2006 and for academic year 2006- 2007, please contact Nancy Grayum, ATUS Mailstop 9094, phone 650-3572 or email nancy.grayum@wwu.edu.

Buy Home Computers at Discount
Fred Robson

Purchasing and ATUS have now added Gateway to the list of home computer equipment available at discount prices for WWU faculty, staff, and students. Both Dell and Apple computers have been available for discounted personal purchase since late fall. You can find links to all the vendors at www.wwu.edu/buyhomecomputer.

On both the Dell and Gateway Western-branded sites, we suggest you first take a look at the “Recommended” bundles or “Standard Configurations.” These are PCs with special pricing that have the same hardware configurations we use on campus. The recommended lists include both a desktop model as well as several different laptop models.

Each website will also link you to the complete catalog of all models of Gateway, Dell, and Apple computers, laptops, and accessories. Need an external hard drive, an iPod, or an accessory for your laptop? Check out the prices at these sites especially set up for Western staff and students. Although the discounts here are not as great as for the recommended computers, the vendors have still provided some great discounts.

Improved Communications with Magic
Rick Nichols

The ATUS Help Desk, along with Technical Services, has recently implemented Magic Service Desk Suite 8.0, an updated version of our Help Desk software for tracking, routing, and reporting technology support calls from faculty, staff, and students. Although many of the improvements to Magic, like faster performance, an improved user interface, data importing, and industry standard best practices, are behind-the-scenes, the result will be improved service to campus.

‘Magic’ (as we call it) serves as a key communication tool between the ATUS Help Desk and the technical support professionals within Web Services, Administrative Computing, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the College of Science and Technology, and Technical Services. Service ‘tickets’ are created by the Help Desk when faculty, staff, or students contact us with requests or problems related to the use of computers, printers, email, computer labs, application support, and a myriad of other technology issues. If a ticket is resolved during the first contact (as most often occurs) the consultant logs and closes the ticket. For any ticket that cannot be resolved during the first contact due to a need for desktop support or additional expertise, the ticket is forwarded to the appropriate technical support staff member(s). Help Desk consultants will always provide you with your Magic Ticket number in case you need to follow up on your call.

Additionally, Magic’s scrolling electronic ‘ticker tape’ immediately alerts technical support staff to all university-wide technology problems when they occur. This allows us to keep abreast of minute-by minute changes by pooling all relevant information regarding the issue in Magic’s electronic whiteboard. For example, if our Intermapper screen (see related article) shows that a key service is down or having problems, we can immediately use the ticker to alert all Help Desk and technical support personnel.

This upgrade to Magic also provides enhanced management reporting, which allows Help Desk management and senior ITS management to isolate problem causes, analyze trends, and view summary reports. Our goal in upgrading this product is to continue to improve our service support to campus through use of more effective processes and tools.

Keeping a Close Eye on Critical Systems
Rick Nichols

The departments comprising Information Technology Services (ATUS, ADMCS, Telecommunications, and Tech Services) are now using a powerful new software tool that allows us to conduct up-to-the-minute monitoring of potential network and server problems. The product, called InterMapper, provides us with the ability to prevent downtime and correct poor network performance issues before they seriously impact members of the campus community. For example, Intermapper might flash a yellow light telling us that Blackboard’s connection to its database was malfunctioning; the Help Desk could then immediately notify server managers to correct the problem.

InterMapper continually checks the status of both mission-critical servers and network devices (e.g. switches, routers, hubs) and displays the results on a central dashboard. Key server functions that have been known to cause problems in the past are given special attention. Both the ATUS and ADMCS help desks monitor the Intermapper ‘dashboard’ throughout the day. The dashboard displays an icon for each device or service, with traffic-light colors reflecting status. For example, green indicates normal operation, yellow indicates that traffic or errors have exceeded a predetermined threshold, and red indicates that the device is no longer responding. Catching a problem in ‘yellow’ mode often means that problem can be corrected with little impact on users. Being able to see server-down (i.e. ‘red’) notifications often means service downtime can be minimized.

InterMapper provides the Help Desk staff with the ability to provide accurate and timely information about problems to both technical support staff and users, improves the speed and effectiveness of problem response, and gets end-users up and running more quickly.

If you are in the neighborhood of the ATUS Help Desk in Haggard Hall, stop by and we’d be happy to show you the Intermapper display that’s up in front of us at all times.