Networked Services Update 10/27/2003

Contents

E-mail migration is complete; other email news

We have passed several important milestones in building our network services infrastructure. As of this writing, virtually all UC Merced faculty and staff are on the new e-mail system, in addition to being on our calendar system. The e-mail system has also been enhanced with a virus filter, to prevent virus-infected files from reaching our users. UCOP e-mail addresses will stay active through 6/30/2004, but we advise you to start notifying your correspondents about the new addresses, changing listserve subscriptions, and changing other UC Merced folk's addresses in your own phone books.

First set of services now director-enabled

We have also started the process of directory-enabling our services. This means that a single id and password are used to access multiple services. Currently, e-mail, calendaring, and the directory services that allow managing passwords and e-mail options are directory-enabled, and so is our portal, myUCMerced.

myUCMerced (portal) now available

myUCMerced (my.ucmerced.edu) is a “starter-set” implementation of uPortal, an open-source portal developed by universities and in growing use at hundreds of institutions. We will slowly build out services on it as we deploy them. We anticipate that the UC Merced web site will be primarily aimed at prospective students and faculty, while the portal will be the primary means of access for UC Merced folks to access internal services and information.

The portal will initially have a small number of functions enabled. We are hoping that as many people as possible will experiment with it, and give us feedback on what content to expand, how to better organize things, and how to make the portal more useful and user friendly in general. One of the things we would like to draw your attention to is the Discussion Forums service (channel) available under the Collaboration tab. The initial group we'­ve created is called “Looking For”, and we hope it will be a useful location for those of us new to the area for trading references for doctors, plumbers, stores, etc. We welcome your suggestions for expanding the use of Discussion Forums. (Note: As of this writing, there are problems using the Discussion Forums and some other portal features with Netscape 7.1. Earlier versions of Netscape, as well as Microsoft Explorer, do work. This problem will be resolved in the next uPortal release.)

Course management system available

Our initial Course Management System, Academus, is available under the Courses tab. Although primarily of interest to faculty and students, it contains collaboration features that may be useful for committees, clubs, and other interest groups. Over the coming months, we expect to explore, with user participation, which of the collaboration tools (Academus, the portal-provided ones, Docushare, and, in the future, a listserver) are most appropriate for different kinds of applications, and develop guidance and documentation to help everyone select the most appropriate tools.

UC Merced web site now in-house

Our web site, formerly hosted by a service provider, is now entirely in-house. This will make it easier for us to manage and expand it's content. Over the coming months, expect to see more content, and an evolving look and feel. Also, the directory look-up now goes directly to our central electronic directory.

Document mangement - next steps

In coming weeks, UCMShare (DocuShare) will be migrated to a new platform and, at the same time, become directory-enabled. IT will work with departments to coordinate a smooth transition.


Looking for help?

We offer a number of tutorials and FAQs available in the Guides & FAQs section.

If you have any questions, problems, or comments, please contact the IT Help Desk via email at helpdesk@ucmerced.edu, via phone at 209.228.HELP (4357), or visit them in the Classroom and Office Building room 132A.