Gerstein Network Cable Access Problems

Because of our ongoing wireless problems i've suggested using network cables as an alternative.

But some of the sockets the network cables plug into are not working.

In our new Gerstein Reading Room only the first two tables to the left as you walk in from the north side of the room are working.
In the Morrison Pavilion I think there are a small number of the sockets that aren't working...so ask users to try another socket or table.

Oct 30 - I just got an update today that ITS/CNS are aware of the problem and will fix asap

Refworks Errors

I have two students trying to complete their papers and both are getting a variety of "errors were encountered while processing your file" messages.
M. Vandenburg
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Two very common mistakes can kill the Write-N-Cite processing function:

1. Adding additional information to the encoded citations (e.g. page numbers).
If you want to add information, use the "Edit citation" function.
2. Adding citations manually, if you are using a footnote or endnote system.

Either or both of these will stop the processing of a bibliography, resulting in an error message.
W. Badke
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Forwarded by Sian Meikle from an OCUL-Refworks mailing list at U of Waterloo - Oct. 20, 2008

Problem with OvidSP Medline Search Button

A few of us have noticed that the "Search" button in Medline is sometimes unusable. (disabled)

If you experience this problem the "Search" button would appear greyed out, and clicking on it would do nothing.

Technical staff at Ovid have been contacted and are looking into it.

Try using the back button on your browser to 'enable' the Search button again. (you may lose some of your search data by doing this)

If you notice anything that might help us figure out why it is occurring...or 'when' it occurs, please let Elena or myself know.

Gerstein Wireless Issue - intermittent or weak connections

If users complain of low or no wireless connection in our building, and it has worked fine for them in the past, please direct them to one of these locations:

1. the octagon portion of the Morrison Pavilion.
2. the new reference room
3. another building

Using network cables to connect is a good alternative for the problem areas.
So you could also offer to loan them one of our cables. (there's some at both the infodesk and loan services desk)

I've just begun testing this and can only say for certain that some of the wireless areas in our building are not working as well as they should...and some laptops work better in these areas than others.

The main problem areas were the long hallway sections of the Morrison Pavilion study space. (which is a huge portion of that study space)

E-book Issues from Knovel and MyiLibrary

If someone is trying to access an ebook from the Knovel distributor from our public pcs, they should use Firefox instead of IE. If one uses IE, the pdfs they click on open a blank window prompting the user to "Download File" first. This has confused some users and they think the ebooks are inaccessible.

The problem does not occur on our staff pcs.

A slightly different issue with MyiLibrary ebooks is also causing some problems.
The increased usage of ebooks has triggered alarms at publishers and they have mistakenly tagged some ebooks as inaccessible.
Users may see a popup that says "Warning! The selected title is temporarily locked":










I've only seen one incident of this with the title "Neuroendocrinology: An Integrated Approach" and have heard of no resolution, but that Ingram/Coutts who own MyiLibrary are working on a solution.

Problem with OSAP forms not opening for public computers.

If users complain of not being able to open an OSAP document on the web, please tell them to use Firefox instead of IE.

When they use Firefox they will still need to be observant of a light yellow horizontal bar at the top of the page that appears when trying to access OSAP documents.
Clicking the button on the right hand side of the bar will permit them to choose "allow popup".
Once they do that they should see the small login prompt form the OSAP page. If not, minimize Firefox, because the popup may be behind the Firefox window.

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.