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Newsletter 13, October 1996 LSS User Group

The July Meeting of the LSS User Group commenced with a demonstration of the Staff Area of the LMU Web site, given by Dennis James. Dennis showed members the various sections already available, with particular emphasis on the helpful hints for creating lecture notes and tutorial trails. Entries for the Education News &Views Magazine area were also solicited. The ease of constructing pages was stressed, and staff were urged to enrol for the LSS course on HTML authoring, which would give basic information on using the Word Internet Assistant to create pages, and on the University standards.

It is hoped that fruitful discussions about Faculty and School web areas will soon begin, and that all Schools will soon have Web Co-ordinators who will be responsible for overseeing and mounting pages. Although external access to the Internet is still limited due to resource problems, access to the LMU pages is possible for anyone connected to the network once the Netscape Navigator software Is installed.

Philip Payne reported on good news and bad news from the Library area. The good news included the provision of additional funding to allow duplication of stock following the move of the Faculty of Business to Beckett Park, and the establishment of a temporary bookshop at the beginning of the Semester. The bad news was the fact that from August 1st there would be a charge made to both staff and students for the Inter-Library Loan service. The meeting felt very strongly that such a charge was not equitable, and the Vice-Chancellor was approached on this matter. Unfortunately, it seems that reduced resources mean such charges are unavoidable. It will be interesting to see the reaction of staff and students.

Josie Driver reported on various new initiatives from Computing Services, including the provision of a basic student email service for 1996/97. Research would continue in order to ensure the best possible service. The meeting was pleased to hear that external web access was growing, though there was concern expressed by staff in Brunswick Building regarding lack of updated links due to possible moves. Internal access to the Internet should soon be more widely available to staff and students, which would mean that student mail groups could be established for courses and levels.

The report from the Information Needs Survey was tabled, and members were informed that LSS would be undertaking a computer audit of all staff rooms during the Summer to gather data which would allow the agreed objective of putting a networked Windows PC in all staff rooms to be implemented.

Josie also circulated a document outlining the University Network Development Strategy for the next 4 years. There would be on-going development and changes to the present structure to ensure the best possible access speeds. A dial-in facility to MSMail is being piloted, and it is recognized that this is a facility urgently required by many academic staff.

Full minutes of the User Group Meetings are available from Faculty or School representatives, or direct from Sue J Welch, CES, or the Computing Services Secretary, LSS. Items or comments for the next meeting should be sent to Sue J Welch, F707, Calverley Street.