Publications CITations #28

CITations

July 7, 2000
No. 28

CITations is a report featuring information technology-related news of interest to UNC-Chapel Hill faculty members, graduate instructors and the staff who support them. CITations, published twice a month, is an electronic service of the ITS Center for Instructional Technology.

Summer 2000 Courseware Bulletin
Wireless Networked Classrooms
Advice on Email Viruses
GIS Draft Proposal Group Solicits Comments
The Technology Source July/August 2000 Issue
June 2000 Issue of CIT Infobits
ITRC Tip: Converting from Access 97 to Access 2000
ITRC Tip: Upgrading to SAS Version 8 for Windows
CITations Tips Archive
Conference Announcements
2000 CITations Publication Schedule
How to Subscribe or Unsubscribe to CITations

SUMMER 2000 COURSEWARE BULLETIN

The Center for Instructional Technology's Courseware Bulletin is an electronic service of UNC-Chapel Hill's Academic Technology and Networks. The Bulletin includes news, tips, and resources regarding Blackboard's CourseInfo and WebCT. The new publication schedule for the Bulletin will be summer, fall, and spring of each year.

Articles in this issue include:
New CourseInfo Request Form
Welcome New CourseInfo Staff
New Courseware Site Available
QuickStart Guides for CourseInfo Online
WebCT Support in 2000-2001
CourseInfo version 4.0.8 is now up!
Making Backups of CourseInfo Sites
Grading in CourseInfo
Watch for Broken Links and References

Contact Lori Mathis at mathis@email.unc.edu if you would like to receive Courseware Bulletin by email. The Web version of the latest issue is at http://www.unc.edu/cit/cwbulletin/bulletin3.html

WIRELESS NETWORKED CLASSROOMS

Wireless networking is currently being used in several pilot programs on campus, from classrooms to public spaces in the Student Union. While the wireless connection uses none of the cables of the conventional Ethernet connection, both connect to the same campus-wide network. Two classrooms, 381 Phillips and 526B Greenlaw, are already capable of wireless network access. By the start of the fall semester we hope to have wireless capacity in the following classrooms: Greenlaw 103, 104, 106, 107, 301, 302, 304, 305, 317, 318, 319 Davie 101, 301

For more information, read the ATN document, "Preparing Your Laptop for Wireless Networking," on the Web at http://help.unc.edu/cgi-bin/getdocs?docnumber=cci21

ADVICE ON EMAIL VIRUSES

Since email attachment viruses are becoming a daily occurrence your best line of defense is the following advice from the IT Response Center:

1. NEVER open unexpected email attachments.

2. Distinguish between "hoax" and "real" viruses and find specific information on each virus by checking http://www.sarc.com/ or http://help.unc.edu/virus/ or by calling 962-HELP.

3. UPDATE your virus definitions on a regular basis, at least once per week.

If you have any questions about computer viruses, please give the ITRC a call at 962-HELP.

GIS DRAFT PROPOSAL GROUP SOLICITS COMMENTS

Since last November, a campus-wide group has been planning ways to centrally provide GIS (Geographic Information Systems) resources and services in order to help enable, coordinate, enhance, and advocate GIS use, teaching, and research on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. A Draft Proposal Group was formed and charged with preparing, by July 31, 2000, a first draft of the proposal that will later be presented to the Provost's Office in December.

If you have any comments that you would like to make about this effort, please contact one of the Draft Proposal Group as soon as possible:

Phil Page, Geography Department, 962-3872, philpage@unc.edu
Steve McGregor, Carolina Population Center, 966-2822, mcgregor@unc.edu
Barbara Levergood, Davis Library, 962-1151, leverg@refstaff.lib.unc.edu

For more information about GIS at UNC-Chapel Hill link to http://help.unc.edu/gis/ or http://www.unc.edu/depts/uncgisc/

THE TECHNOLOGY SOURCE JULY/AUGUST 2000 ISSUE

The July/August 2000 issue of The Technology Source, a free refereed Web periodical, is now available online. The purpose of The Technology Source is to provide thoughtful, illuminating articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools into teaching and into managing educational organizations. Issues include commentaries, case studies, reports on faculty and staff development, articles on the virtual university, and links to higher-education Websites. You can read The Technology Source at http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/

The Technology Source seeks articles that will assist educators as they face the challenge of integrating information technology tools in teaching and in managing educational organizations. Please review the call for manuscripts at http://horizon.unc.edu/TS/call.asp or contact James L. Morrison, Professor of Educational Leadership, UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education; email: morrison@unc.edu

JUNE 2000 ISSUE OF CIT INFOBITS

Infobits is an electronic service of ATN/CIT. Each month the CIT's Information Resources Consultant monitors and selects from a number of information technology and instructional technology sources that come to her attention and provides brief notes for electronic dissemination to educators. The latest issue is available on the Web at http://www.unc.edu/cit/infobits/bitjun00.html

Articles in this issue include:
Combating the Crisis in Scholarly Communication
More Scholarly Communication Activity
New Higher Education News Service
Calculating the Costs of Online Education
Internet Dependency Among College Students
Condition of Education Report
Search Education Web Pages and Electronic Books
Recommended Reading: NetSlaves: True Tales of Working the Web
and Web Wisdom: How to Evaluate and Create Information Quality on the Web

ITRC TIP: CONVERTING FROM ACCESS 97 TO ACCESS 2000

Converting from one file format to another can be an uneasy experience, especially when the file format is as complex as an Access database. A lot of users who are converting a database from Access 97 to Access 2000 have Macros and Modules in their Access 97 databases that need to be usable after the conversion. If an Access 97 database is not completely compiled before conversion to Access 2000, users can receive the following error message: "The Visual Basic for Applications project in the database is corrupt."

To fix this problem, return to Access 97 and compile the database's modules:

1. Open the database in Access 97
2. Click on the "Modules" tab
3. Open any Module from the Modules list
4. Choose "Compile and Save All Modules" from the "Debug" menu
5. Then, go to Tools-- > Database Utilities-- > Compact Database

Now, try to convert the database again. If you've already uninstalled Access 97, try importing all the Access 97 database objects, relationships, menus, and toolbars. Next, import and export specs, if applicable.

For more information about converting Access 97 databases to Access 2000, check out Microsoft's "Access 2000 Conversion White Paper" at http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q237/3/13.ASP

ITRC TIP: UPGRADING TO SAS VERSION 8 FOR WINDOWS

When you upgrade to SAS Version 8, the SAS System assumes that you have a recent version of Microsoft Windows (at least Windows 98 Second Edition), and this assumption may cause problems when launching SAS. ITRC has received reports that a few users have received this error message from the SAS System: "Fatal: Unable to initialize . . ." This error message typically indicates that there is no "-config" option specified by the command used to invoke the SAS System. The suggested workaround to this problem is to make sure the command being used to invoke the SAS System has the "-config" option along with the location of the config file. Check the Windows shortcut that starts the SAS System to make sure it resembles:

"D:\Program Files\SAS Institute\SAS\V8\SAS.EXE" -CONFIG "d:\Program Files\SAS Institute\SAS\V8\SASV8.CFG"

Another solution to this problem would be to upgrade your operating system. The Windows upgrade is not essential but is recommended in order to make full use of SAS Version 8 features. Some of the more cosmetic functionality of SAS Version 8 will be lost if you do not upgrade to Windows 98 Second Edition; however, SAS Version 8 will process the data just the same.

Thanks to Bryan Ayers in the Information Technology Response Center for making ITRC Tips available to CITations readers.

For more computing assistance, contact the Information Technology Response Center, Wilson Library, Suite 300
Walk-in Hrs: 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Phone: 962-HELP - 24 hours
Email: help@unc.edu

CITATIONS TIPS ARCHIVE

The ITRC, CBT, and Lyris tips published in CITations are archived on the Web so you can locate tips without having to search through all the back issues. The tips archive is at http://www.unc.edu/cit/citations/tips.html

CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Keep informed about technology conferences with the CIT's "Education Technology and Computer-Related Conferences" at http://www.unc.edu/cit/guides/irg-37.html and "Calendar of World-Wide Educational Technology-Related Conferences, Seminars, and Other Events." The calendar is on the Web at http://confcal.unc.edu:8086/

2000 CITATIONS PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

June 23
July 7
July 21

CITations welcomes announcements from all UNC-Chapel Hill campus organizations involved in instructional and research technology. To have an announcement considered for publication in CITations, send email to Carolyn Kotlas, kotlas@email.unc.edu, call 962-9287, or fill out a news submission form. The deadline for submissions is noon the day before the publication date.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE OR UNSUBSCRIBE TO CITATIONS

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