Problems Opening Attachments

User complains of attachments not opening.
Advise the user to try again in Firefox.

There is a known issue with IE and opening attachments from Hotmail and UofT's webmail. Typically this problem will not occur with Yahoo mail or Gmail in IE.

All public PCs in the building have had their annual upgrade from the Information Commons staff.
This happens every year and usually consists of small changes such as upgrades to important Internet plugins like Java, Flash etc.

One of the two most significant changes is an upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, from version 6. However the change is mostly visual and should not cause any confusion. We still have version 6 on our staff machines.

The other change is regarding the computers going into sleep mode.
After 60 minutes the computer goes into sleep mode and can only be brought out of it by pressing the power button once. You cannot use the old way of hitting any key on the keyboard or moving the mouse.

As always...call me for help.

Wireless - User Connection Problems

User complains that their laptop was connecting fine before, but now it is not.
SOLUTION: Delete the existing wireless profile and create it again.
-this problem occurs frequently, and the solution works most of the time
-often misinterpreted as a network problem
-always send the user to Jeff, Dana, or the Information Commons if they need/want help

Our previous policy of not giving out network cables to library users has changed.

We now have 15 cables to loan out and i've placed some in the Loan Services desk cupboard where the keys are, and some in the Information desk cabinet where the supplies are.

We are to take a piece of ID from the user when giving them a cable...just as we do for visitors cards.

If a cable ever gets returned with the plastic connectors at either end broken, we do not expect them to replace it. Return the broken cable to Jeff.

Wireless Reception in Lower Reference

The lower reference room gets 'good' to 'very good' reception.

The group study area further south where Consortium used to be and back to where reference is now stored gets 'low' reception and can even lose a connection.

So it is functional in the lower reference room but not great...and almost useless further south from there.

This will have to be retested when the renovations are complete as wireless antennae above those rooms will be activated at that time.

LIRA Kiosk for Guest Accounts

The LIRA Kiosk located near Printing Station 1 is the new way for people to use our 5 open public computers.
These computers used to have no login at all, but now require the user to go to the Kiosk and obtain a temporary username and password.
Instructions on how to use the Kiosk are at the station.

Anyone with a valid Canadian or U.S. drivers licence, credit card or TCard may use the Kiosk.
Anyone without this ID may obtain a LIRA account from the reference side of the Information Desk.

This temporary account is active until 11pm of the day created. On following days the procedure is the same.

RefWorks "Write-N-Cite" Installation for the Mac.

Any users installing Write-N-Cite on a Mac, first need to download and install a free compression/archive tool called "Stuffit Expander". (similar to WinZip for the PC) Without this tool the user cannot uncompress the Write-N-Cite download, and therefore cannot begin the installation process.

Staff from RefWorks, told us:
Write-N-Cite for the Mac needs to be "unstuffed" using a software called Stuffit
Expander. Stuffit Expander used to come pre-loaded on Macs, but apparently
with the latest Macs, it no longer is on there. Stuffit Expander can be
downloaded for free ( http://www.stuffit.com/mac/expander/ ).

Our cash-to-card and change machines usage of $5 bills.
The signs saying these machines do not accept the new $5 bills have been removed.We've discovered that if the bill is inserted with the shiny stripe 'down' they are accepted.

Some users can't open the login page for hotmail.

This is not a problem with our network or equipment.
It is a problem at Microsoft.

The solution I have hasn't been tested thoroughly but may help you with a user in my absence.
Tell them to try "login.live.com" or "hotmail.com"...and to avoid "http://www.hotmail.com/".

Again...the only thing i'm certain of...is that it is not the fault of our network.


Don't confuse this with the year-old problem we've been having with attachments in hotmail.
The solution for that is to get the user to access hotmail using Firefox instead of IE.

How to Manage Slow Print Jobs at Public Printers

For those working nights and weekends...or when Jeff is unavailable:

1. Call Jeff as he may be in late or on the same shift.

2. If i'm not here, ask the person how long they have been waiting.

3. Wait and watch to see how long it takes for one page to come out. (typically 30-60 seconds)

4. Ask the user how many pages were sent for that 'one' job. (typically 5-10, but if it is 20 or more it will take too long and you should stop everyone else from paying for print jobs and go to step "6")
Sometimes they've sent more than one job. It is safe to assume that the one coming out now is the only 'slow' one.

5. Now you can estimate how long it will take using what you learned from step "3" and "4".
If your estimate is under 10 minutes, let everyone that's lining up know. Reassure everyone that it will complete, but they have to wait.
If your estimate is over 10 minutes, stop all other users from printing by placing an out of order sign on the card reader. (this is temporary...do not do it for the whole shift or weekend)

6. Your solution for jobs taking more than 10 minutes (or any person who cannot wait) is to print the job for them from a staff computer. (this is done to hurry the process up and to so they don't lose what they already paid for)
- If you are doing this for the person who has the slow print job...then you want to first delete the slow print job from the printer so others can use it. Most of the time you can do this by turning the printer off...then on. If it doesn't work, call Eugene. On weekends or evenings you can call Mark Leighton if both printers are out of order.
WARNING: if you are successful in deleting the slow print job...you have also deleted any other print jobs that were paid for at that print station. You are responsible for reimbursing them all for the loss.
Reprinting the slow print job at a staff PC may have the same problem. With PDFs you can avoid this by going "Print/Advanced/Print as Image".
- If you are doing this for people who have paid for jobs stuck behind another users slow print job...then you just need to print it for them again at a staff PC. You may want to sit them down and have them bring up the job themselves so you can help others at your desk station in the meantime. You must send the print job for them when they are ready because you have to select the proper printer from the list. (remember...Loan desk stations now have connections to staff printers)

7. If you cannot delete the job, cannot locate Eugene...then the station must be put out of order and all users will need to be reimbursed for lost money using the grey form we've used for years. (the infodesk cabinet has a supply)
If it is just one printer that's not working, leave a message for myself and/or Eugene, put the station out of order and refer students to the other printing station. You will need to reimburse users for any print jobs paid for. Fill out the grey form or redo their jobs at your desk.
If it is both printers that are not working and it's the weekend, leave a message and number for Mark Leighton to call you back. Put the station out of order and refer users to Robarts. You will need to reimburse users for any print jobs paid for. Fill out the grey form or redo their jobs at your desk.