From Paul LeSack:
Hi everyone,
Yvonne from Systems was here and she and I attempted to duplicate the problems found by students. While we did eventually manage to do so, we could only do so sporadically. The problems may be confined to a specific version of a workstation, or they may be caused by vista itself. As they say, more data are needed.
If the problem occurs again, we should endeavour to get the following information 1. The address of the workstation 2. A screenshot of the problem 3. A screenshot of the Java error log (or, better, a complete copy/paste)
Number 1. is straightforward.
Number 2 requires that a) the workstation has not crashed, plus the following
a) Press CTRL-PrtSc
b) Open up Windows Paint
c) Paste from clipboard
d) Save the image
e) e-mail as an attachment to Systems or, failing that, me.
Number 3 is more problematic
a) When problem occurs, right click on the coffee cup in the task bar (Java)
b) Select Console
c) Select all the text in the console box and e-mail to Systems
If the computer freezes at any point, a quick photograph with a cell-phone digital camera would probably work too.
Also, you can feel free to call me to perform these steps if I am around.
Paul

A few students have been coming to the desk indicating that their print jobs from web-ct were delayed (by about 10 minutes or more) or not showing up at all at the print station. A good work-around for this problem is to show students how to save files from web-ct to their work station so that they can print from the desktop or from “my documents.” The print jobs showed up immediately when we printed directly from the work station.
When saving the documents from web-ct, it’s important to make sure you are not just saving empty HTML files. Be sure to check the file type as you’re saving to be certain that it is a Word, .pdf, or other file type that will actually display the information or document that the student wants to print.
– Shannon

Had a few requests for items from the catalogue that are ‘online’ from Books 24/7. There is no intuitive way to know how to access these books from the catalogue – you have to create an account using a ubc.ca email address – so I have emailed Sue Andrews to ask if there can be some sort of link in the catalogue that takes the user to how to access these. There is a link under e-Resources, e-Books, that takes you to the Books 24/7 collection, that tells you how to create an account, and then access the book. But nothing directly from the catalogue link.

We are getting questions about opening Word 2007 docs in our Word 2003 software. Word 2007 saves documents with a .docx extension, not a .doc. From the Office website, it says…
To open Microsoft Office Word 2007 .docx or .docm files with Microsoft Office Word 2003, Word 2002, or Word 2000, you need to install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint File Formats and any necessary Office updates. By using the Compatibility Pack for the 2007 Office system, you can open, edit some items, and save Office Word 2007 documents in previous versions of Word.
I will email Tracey and ask about the compatibility pack!
Encourage people to save their Word 2007 documents as .doc, and then Word 2003 will recognize it and open it.

A researcher for a film company needed pictures of people (Nixon, Kissinger, Haldeman, McLaughlin, Liebowitz, Zedong, etc.) as they appeared in 1985 (for casting purposes). Tara showed me a brilliant site – Corbis – that you can search by name, and limit to very specific date ranges. He was thrilled to find pictures of most of the people there, and could save the pictures and easily email them to the casting agent.

A patron needed help today converting a document created in Open Office – with an .ODT file extention – to a Word doc. Word wouldn’t recognize it. A Google search found some online options to convert it, but the easiest way seemed to be using ZohoWriter. Once he created an account, he was able to open his document in ZohoWriter and then copy and paste it into Word. Success!

Hi all
We have had a few students telling us they cannot access RefWorks from home, even with the proxy or VPN. RefWorks has issued a notice that the software is ‘extremely slow’ if you use Internet Explorer 7 as the browser. This is due to IE’s Phishing Filter (a new feature to IE7) that evaluates web page contents. I wonder if that is why some students are having problems?
This is the ‘patch’ that RefWorks is recommending to solve the problem
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/928089

Hi all
Re: the changes to journal searching…
When searching for a journal from either the catalogue under journal/ejournal search, or using the blue navigation bar – now labelled JOURNALS instead of EJOURNALS – the results go directly to the Serials Solutions page with title and UBC Print Holdings or online versions available. There is no intermediary screen that allows you to choose Print or Electronic. Because our print and microform collections have been loaded into the Serials Solution database, it was felt that the intermediary screen was redundant. HOWEVER, there are cases where the search brings up no results, or may be missing some of the print/microform collections, when in fact we do have the title. So it’s important to follow up on all search options if you don’t find what you want. This means also searching the “check catalogue” search box if you don’t find results, or the format you want.
Now that some of the bugs and problems have been exposed, we are working on some changes to give us more complete and accurate results from the first search. In the meantime, remember to follow up with a catalogue search if you don’t find any results.
Try searching for the journal “Times Literary Supplement” as an example. You get no results. Yet a catalogue search finds this title. This one is missing I think because it has no ISSN.
Variant titles are also a problem. Try Reference Services Review. It finds the online, but not print – because in our print catalogue it is catalogued as RSR Reference Services Review. Then try it as a title in the catalogue (not journal, but title). It is there.
So, while we (the Serials Solution Working Group) feel this move to eliminating the intermediary screen is a good one, there are some problems, which we are working on. In the meantime, follow up on all options when searching for a journal title.

Hello all
A lot of students at the Ref Desk and in classes mention they can’t get the VPN or proxy to work. There is a third option that has been available for a few months, and the link to the information has been made more accessible from the Connecting from Home page. It is the ‘rewriting proxy’ which requires logging in with campus-wide login and pin, and then voila, you have access to databases, ejournals, and elink from off-campus. It is a slower connection than the VPN or proxy, so the VPN/proxy are still the best options, but for those that – for whatever reason – can’t use the VPN or proxy, the rewriting proxy provides very easy access.

There is an ongoing problem students are encountering with the print workstation adding “extra” copies when they submit their print job. Usually the problem is limited to 2 extra pages. If they wish, you can write them a note and they can get a refund for the extra copies from the Circ desk. Patrick.