1

issue Information Services at Stirling University

www.is.stir.ac.uk

No. 85 – May 2011

Network StabilityIT networks are inherently complex systems, particularly in universities where they need to be flexible enough to meet the needs of research, learning, teaching, administration and of those living on campus in Halls of Residences, with a mixture of types of connecting devices, some owned by the institution, some owned by individuals. With large and widely variable traffic volumes, it is therefore inevitable that things will go wrong from time to time: in a recent survey some 40% of institutions reported a single major failure lasting more than 24 hours. This academic year, however, the University has suffered more cases of network service disruption than for many years.

In early and mid 2010 in a major project to ensure that there is sufficient capacity to meet the predicted growth in usage of the network and to support the new telephone system, almost all the ‘active network’ equipment (that part of the network infrastructure such as switches which manage the traffic, as opposed the ‘passive’ elements which are the wires and fibres themselves) was replaced. It is almost inevitable for such a large and complicated project that, no matter how diligently this work was carried out, there would be some teething problems. What occurred on 31st August 2010 was slightly more than a ‘teething problem’, as the network was unavailable for all of the morning. Investigations showed that the central systems were too busy sending traffic to each other to accept any other traffic, either from computers or the outside world! This was traced to be the result of a subtle difference between the new and old systems. Information Services thought it had then implemented a number of measures which had addressed the major cause of this problem shortly after the August incident but it recurred on 7th March 2011 (ironically in the presence of one of the UK’s top experts in the use of the equipment involved who was on campus helping us at the time). Subsequent detailed investigations with consultants identified that there was potential for creating instability in the new network which might be brought on by routine change work. A detailed and wide ranging correction plan was quickly devised and implemented on Saturday 16th April 2011, hopefully reducing the likelihood of a future loss of service due to a similar problem.

Contents 1 Network Stability

2 The Battle for Scotland

2 eBooks Trial

3 Connected Histories

3 Penguins in a Class of their Own

5 Blackboard Learn 9.1(aka WebCT 9)

6 IS Leads the way in Hill Race Challenge

6 Portal Development

6 What is iPad2? It’s a prize

7 Shared Services: Saviour or Red Herring

8 RefWorks 2.0

8 Upgrade Plan for Windows and Office Software

On 24th and 25th February 2011 the University faced a sustained and severe attack on the security of its network and systems. Indications identify the source of the attack as being systems located in Russia. The aim appears to have been to take control of a number of the University’s systems and then use them to attack more profitable targets. The side effect was a loss of internet access for the morning and disruption to services as Information Services staff identified compromised systems and tried to assert control before the hackers could compromise them again. It is believed (but it is never possible to be certain) that all malware resulting from this incident has been found and removed. The implementation of security procedures within Information Services has been reviewed and tightened. There will be a review of network security policy but it is important to avoid knee jerk reactions: tightening of policy is likely to create inconvenience to, and possibly prevent, some kinds of legitimate academic IT activities.

Staff and students at the Highland Campus have suffered additional losses of services. There have been two prolonged outages of the service that connects the Highland campus to the Stirling campus which have affected staff in the north from accessing many University services and the internet. Both incidents were caused by problems in the telecom provider’s infrastructure which links the two campuses, the first exacerbated by a poor response by their engineers (allegedly due to a public holiday in Edinburgh!), the second apparently caused by a

continued on page 2

2

The Battle for Scotlandcontractor cutting a major fibre cable (which affected the site of many organisations in the Inverness area). As well as conducting post mortems with the provider, Information Services is examining the feasibility and cost of a second connection between the two campuses; this is not straightforward as the number of providers is limited, it appears impossible to create a truly separate connection at a reasonable cost and there are technical challenges in managing the network traffic in such a set up. With network pricing being a function of distance between the two end points, in a market of few competitors, the significant extra cost of such a second link needs to be balanced against the benefit.

Most universities suffer disruption to their network services at some time due to configuration or software problems, security attacks or long distance telecom provider’s failure. It is rare to have all three within a few months of each other. Information Services has taken, and is taking, a number of steps to try and reduce the risk of outages in these areas.

Networks are complex, however, and despite our best efforts there may be disruptions in the future. One lesson from the recent incidents is that when a major disruption occurs, it usually takes several hours fully to restore services, even when the cause is identified quickly. This should be factored into business continuity plans and the re-arrangement of individuals’ activities. At these times Information Services tries to keep members of the University informed as much as possible, but the main priority of those involved has to be to fix the problem as soon as possible; this can result in a lack of up to date, detailed news of progress being available at the time. Information Services has appreciated the patience of staff and students during the recent incidents; we hope not to have to try your patience again too many times in the near future!

Mark TooleDirector of Information Services

Network Stability

To coincide with the Scottish elections which were held on the 5th May, the new Archives and Special Collections exhibition takes an historical look at the campaigns waged for the votes of the Scottish electorate over the last century. The Battle for Scotland charts the evolution of political election literature, featuring examples of election material from all the major political parties relating to Local, General and Scottish Elections. The exhibition also focuses on the 1979, 1997 and 2011 referenda relating to the establishment of a Scottish Parliament and proposed changes to the electoral system. An online version of this exhibition is available at:http://www.flickr.com/photos/scottishpoliticalarchive/sets/72157626472435047

The items on display are drawn from the Tait & Watson collection, held in Archives and Special Collections, and the Scottish Political Archive, which is based in History and Politics. The

Many users may be familiar with the concept of ‘patron-driven’ or ‘demand-driven’ acquisition of library materials. The concept lends itself particularly well to electronic books (eBooks).

Essentially, the model allows us to make available a significant amount of new eBook content to our users, selected by library staff in liaison with colleagues in the schools. This material would be added to the library catalogue in the normal way and would be accessed by clicking the relevant links to the eBooks as normal. All we will pay for is the titles that actually get used, thus we can have some confidence that the selected works are meeting the needs of the users. The process of acquisition is also a little smoother, in that we are

bringing the e-content to users, rather than going through laborious checking and ordering processes.

Several university libraries are looking at this model as a way of expanding access to relevant e-content. We propose to conduct a small trial over the remainder of the financial year to gather some evidence on the success (or otherwise) of this approach and to ascertain which suppliers are best equipped to deliver this kind of service. We also wish to examine the control mechanisms and look at which service delivers the best range of content.

A report on our findings will appear in a future ISSUE. In the meantime, comments are welcome.

Colin SinclairLibrary Content Management

Scottish Political Archive was launched in October 2010 and aims to collect political material and archives from Scottish politicians and political organisations to chronicle the political history of Scotland in the twentieth century. Further information about the work of the archive can be found at http://scottishpoliticalarchive.wordpress.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/scottishpoliticalarchive.

Karl MageeUniversity Archivist

The two student volunteers involved in putting together The Battle for Scotland exhibition: Michelle Rehill (left) and Emmi Hillan.

eBooks Trial

3

If you are interested in British history between 1500 and 1900 take a look at the brand new electronic resource Connected Histories. Created by a partnership involving the universities of Hertfordshire and Sheffield and the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London, Connected Histories allows researchers to cross-search eleven electronic resources. The resources included in Connected Histories are:

• British History Online• British Museum Images• British Newspapers (1600-1900)• The Charles Booth Archive• The Clergy of the Church of

England Database (1540-1835)• House of Commons Parliamentary

Papers• The John Johnson Collection of

Printed Ephemera

• John Strype’s Survey of London Online (1720)

• London Lives (1690-1800)• Origins.net • The Proceedings of the Old Bailey

Online (1674-1913)

Connected Histories is freely available online. It can be accessed from http://www.connectedhistories.org or from the A-Z List of Online Resources.

As well as various searching options, Connected Histories also offers guides to specific areas of history. These guides highlight the relevant content contained within Connected Histories and provide advice about searching strategies. The guides cover a range of topics including family history, crime and justice, religious history and parliamentary history.

Most of the resources contained in Connected Histories are either freely available online, or are subscribed to by the University Library. If you cannot immediately access the full text of a particular resource you should check for the name of the source in the A-Z List of Online Resources.

For details of more online primary sources for history have a look at our online listing: http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/research/web/primary.php where you can subscribe to our RSS feed of new additions.

Sarah KevillAcademic Liaison and Development Team

Connected Histories

Professor Claire Squires of the Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication recently ran a class for MLitt Publishing Studies students in the Library’s Archives and Special Collections Reading Room.

Students used a selection of books from the Library’s Mitchell Collection of early Penguin books. This hands-on approach can enrich the learning experience for students, as well as optimising the value of the collections to the University.

We have also been introducing the Archives and Special Collections to classes of students studying History, Film and Media Studies and English Studies. We would welcome further approaches from academic staff who would like to use the collections in teaching. Obviously, there are some restrictions. The maximum capacity of the Archives Reading Room is approximately 15 people, so this sort of class is only appropriate for smaller groups. If particularly old or fragile

materials are to be consulted, we may ask readers to wear gloves or use special book rests. A member of library staff can be there to assist if required.

For further information about the Archives and Special Collections, see http://www.is.stir.ac.uk/libraries/collections/spcoll/index.php. If you would like to use the collections in your teaching, please email archives@stir.ac.uk.

Helen BeardsleyAcademic Liaison and Development Team

Penguins in a Class of their OwnAs a result of the refurbishment of the Library, the Archives and Special Collections now enjoy a more prominent location on the entrance level of the Library. Early indications are that the collections are getting more usage than previously. We are particularly keen to promote the collections amongst the University’s own staff and students. Our Archives and Special Collections are, of course, valuable resources for staff and student research. They also, however, have the potential to be integrated into the teaching curriculum, using a research-led teaching approach.

Publishing Studies students consulting the Mitchell Collection of early Penguins

4

Graphics & Print Services

Opening Hours: Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pmRoom 1A1, Cottrell Buildingt. 01786 467209 e. graphicsandprint@stir.ac.uk

Personalised Graduation Banners » Help celebrate someone you care for’s

success with a personalised banner

» All you need to do is log on at our website: www2.netprintmanager.com/external

©iStockphoto.com ©Aldo Murillo

5

At present there isn’t much to see as you will have no modules in the new system! Nevertheless, you can see the new ‘My WebCT’ page which is called ‘My Learn’. The boxes on this page are actually called ‘modules’, in Blackboard speak. We’re currently looking at how easy it is to rename them to something else, however, to avoid confusion. The likely name will be ‘panels’. To move these panels around, simply click in the bar along the top of the panel (the mouse pointer turns into a cross when you hover over the title bar) and drag it to your preferred position on your My Learn page. This is so much slicker than trying to do the same task in WebCT.

The mechanism for switching between the student view and the instructor view is much better and crucially does not also take you back to the module home page each time. This saves a lot of mouse clicking. The distinction between the Section Designer and Section Instructor (Build and Teach tab views in WebCT respectively) is also now removed. The control panel area just shows the things that your role in the module allows you to do, so there will be no more switching between the Build and Teach tabs.

We will be going live with Blackboard Learn 9.1 service in the autumn 2011 semester and to this end training for Learn 9.1 starts this June (an email will already have been sent to all staff by the time ISSUE is published). Also, the eLearning Liaison and Development Team have offered a series of seminars to all Schools to discuss with staff the new features and changes which Learn 9.1 will bring about.

As with WebCT, we intend to have standard templates for divisions/

Blackboard Learn 9.1 (aka WebCT 9)The work on getting the Blackboard Learn 9.1 service up and running is proceeding according to plan. The production servers have been set up and the software has been installed. This was completed by mid-April, pretty much on schedule and Learn 9.1 is therefore now up and running. The next step is to add all staff and student accounts into the system. This should be completed by the time you read this edition of ISSUE and so you should be able actually to log in at http://learn.stir.ac.uk/ using your normal university details. The single Sign-on (SSO) link from the Portal will come later.

institutes/etc, thereby ensuring that students, particularly undergraduates, see a fairly uniform presentation of the materials available in their Learn 9.1 modules. The standard template currently for an instructor looks as shown in Figure 1. The Standard Template features areas for Announcements, Teaching Materials, Learning Resources, Turnitin, Discussion, Groups and Administration. As with WebCT, however, all of these can be modified by the module co-ordinator. Within Learning Resources there will be

a Library Resources area. This will contain links to the Library Catalogue, Subject Specific Resources, TalisList Reading List (if present in that module), Information on Referencing, RefWorks, and the A-Z list of resources.

Figure 2 shows the student view of the Standard Template:

Simon BoothAcademic Liaison and Development Team

Figure 1 – The Standard Template for a Learn 9.1 module (this template is a work in progress)

Figure 2 – The student view of the Standard Template for a Learn 9.1 module

6

Among the record number of entrants for the Dumyat Hill Race on 4th May 2011 were four Information Services staff. Stephen Winter and Paul Scott (both Programmers/Analysts in Business Systems Development and Support), Colin Sinclair (Team Manager, Library Content Management) and Steve Boulton (e-Learning Developer, Academic Liaison and Development) formed an informal but effective team to compete against teams of staff from other Schools within the University. The IS runners scooped first place in this purely-for-bragging-rights competition, beating teams from Scottish Swimming, Property Management and three teams of staff from the School of Sport. The times of the four runners in each team were added up and the lowest overall time won.

Stephen Winter was the fastest runner from all the informal university School teams, finishing the 4.65 mile race up to the top of Dumyat and back in a speedy 39 minutes and 47 seconds, made even more impressive by the fact that he had run

the Belfast marathon only a few days earlier. Stephen was placed 28th in the entire field, about 6 and a half minutes behind the overall winner Murray Strain. Second home for IS was Dumyat Hill Race debutant Steve Boulton whose time of 46.23 placed him 144th overall. Colin Sinclair pipped Paul Scott by one second in a dramatic photo finish as their times of 52.28 and 52.29 respectively placed them 222nd and 223rd overall. The IS team’s combined time of just over

3 hours and 11 minutes was 19 minutes ahead of their closest rivals in the challenge, one of the three teams from School of Sport.

Andrew Wilson of IS was on hand to lend vocal support to the runners and he captured some fine images of the event which can be seen on his Flickr site here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/goatkarma/sets/72157626523926925

The full final placings for the 2011 Dumyat Hill Race may be viewed on the School of Sport’s web pages at: http://www.sports.stir.ac.uk/documents/Results2011ORDEROFFINISH.pdf.

Doubtless the gauntlet will be thrown down again in the run up to the event next year. Thanks to Ian Graham from the School of Sport for working out all the statistics.

Steve BoultonAcademic Liaison and Development Team

The University Portal has been upgraded to ensure even better availability. A number of pages within the portal present data from the student records system (SITS), in particular many of the student pages and staff admin pages. Until recently, each time the SITS system was upgraded, the whole Portal had to be taken off line for the duration of the upgrade.

The photo shows Leeanne Dougall (BA Hons History) collecting an iPad2 from Director of IS Mark Toole. Leanne was picked at random from all those who completed the recent IS Satisfaction Survey to receive the prize. Thank you to everyone who gave feedback in the recent survey. IS staff are now working through the

IS Leads the way in Hill Race Challenge

Runners from the Dumyat Hill Race, including the IS team in the middle. The IS team were, starting second left Stephen Winter (blue top with yellow band), next to him Paul Scott, then Colin Sinclair (number 220) and then Steve Boulton (in blue).

Portal Development

What is iPad2? It’s a prize

Leeanne Dougall (BA Hons History) collects her iPad2 prize from Director of IS Mark Toole

In January, a new approach was successfully implemented, whereby only those sections of the Portal which have a reliance on SITS data will be unavailable for the duration of an upgrade. This means that all of those useful Portal functions which do not rely on SITS data will not need to be taken down. For example, authentication of users for external journal access will continue to be available, students will still be able to access WebCT and they will also still be able to buy print credit and pay library fines.

If SITS is unavailable, the following message will be displayed.

Peter MooreBusiness Systems Development and Support

responses with a view to improving services even further.

Steve BoultonAcademic Liaison and Development Team

7

IT and Libraries have a long tradition of shared services. JANET (Joint Academic Network), which provides network connections between universities (and, more recently, colleges and schools) and the internet, recently celebrated its 25th anniversary. JISC (Joint Information Systems Committee) Collections negotiates on behalf of the sector with publishers for scholarly content (in particular journals and databases) which has led to a vast explosion in the range of material now available. This has been taken further in Scotland where the award winning SHEDL (Scottish Higher Education Digital Library) initiative takes advantage of economies of scale and simpler administration; all Scottish universities collectively purchase e-journals from a selected group of publishers, thereby not only increasing the number of scholarly publications available to students and researchers but also reducing significantly the cost for each article downloaded. The collaborative work in setting up and managing the Shibboleth/ UK Access Federation means that staff and students do not need to carry around a pocket full of usernames and passwords to access electronic resources and services.

Information Services is currently involved in a couple of projects with the funding councils to explore further extensions of these types of shared services. The first of these dates back to the beginning of 2009 when SCONUL, the UK HE libraries group, was asked by HEFCE to develop a business case for shared services in IT systems which support library activities. Research by members of this project team, including representatives of this University, identified that several people in every university library in the UK spend their time managing scholarly electronic resources and that almost all these tasks are identical and replicated. A year after the submission of the business case in late 2009, HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council

for England) has eventually agreed to pump prime the setting up of a pilot shared service for the management of scholarly electronic resources and licences. Stirling and Edinburgh are helping in the development of this pilot with a target ‘go live’ of spring or summer 2012.

HEIDS (Higher Education Information Directors Scotland), the Scottish HE IT Directors Group, successfully persuaded the SFC (Scottish Funding Council) in autumn 2010 to fund a feasibility study looking at the possible development of IT shared services across Scotland’s universities and colleges: Stirling is the lead site for managing this study project. This work is not just considering sharing the IT infrastructure (including looking at the realisation of the potential of ‘cloud computing’) but also shared software support and the sharing of IT expertise. An important element of the study is looking at the IT shared services activities in universities in countries and regions similar to Scotland to identify what lessons can be leant. The feasibility study report is due in the early summer.

Ironically, while this, and a number of other related activities such those funded under HEFCE’s University Modernisation Fund, are looking at expanding shared service provision, the very budget constraints that are driving the shared services agenda are threatening existing, and successful, shared service provision. For example, recently the University has responded to a Universities Scotland circular which described the potential impact on JANET caused by shortfalls in funding and likely changes in governance.

Are there any lessons to be leant on shared services from all of this at this stage? First, the work with which Information Services has been involved echoes findings from an earlier HEFCE initiative in that adopting more shared services is not likely to save large amounts of money

in the short term, will actually require some additional, short-term pump priming to establish and longer term gains will only accrue with large scale aggregation (involving tens, possibly hundreds, of institutions). Second, establishing new shared services will take time in the current configuration of the sector and therefore will not help in solving short term financial issues. Third, shared services have a significant potential for raising the quality of services provided in some areas.

Information Services’ goal in participating in these projects is to enable the University better to understand the practical potential, pitfalls and implementation of increasing the range of IT and Library shared services and to ensure that the University makes an informed judgement on any future participation in such services.

Mark TooleDirector of Information Services

Shared Services: Saviour or Red Herring?The Governments north and south of the border have proclaimed shared services as being a key tool for maintaining, and even improving, the services of the public sector at a time of severe financial constraints. The funding councils are exploring how this might be achievable in higher education.

Learning Spaces GroupThe Learning Spaces Group is an advisory group on the development of the learning spaces in the University, both physical and virtual, formal and informal. It has representatives from all the Schools, the Students’ Union, Estates & Campus Services, Information Services, CAPL and others in University Services who have a significant interest in learning spaces. If any member of staff or student has suggestions on the development of the University’s learning spaces which they would like the Group to consider, please contact your representative or the Chair, Ian Murray (School of Nursing, Midwifery and Health).

Mark TooleDirector of Information Services

8

RefWorks 2.0 coming to computer screens near you!

ISSUE is designed and printed by Graphics & Print Services.The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159

Information Services Newsletter Schedule for 2011

ISSUE is produced bi-monthly by Information Services for staff and students of the University. Comments and suggestions are welcomed and should be sent to the editor Steve Boulton, ext 6883, email steven.boulton@stir.ac.uk.

Issue Number86

Issue Date19th September 2011

Deadline for Articles5th September 2011

Information Services has been working to produce a replacement desktop platform for university standard PCs to fulfil the University Information Strategy objective COR20: ‘Stability of Key Software Platforms’. The new desktop solution will incorporate the following:

• Microsoft Windows version 7, which is the latest release of Microsoft’s desktop operating system and is the successor to Windows Vista, which in turn is the successor to Windows XP, the operating system used on most of the University owned PCs.

• Office 2010, which is the latest release of Microsoft’s Office productivity suite of tools and contains applications such as

Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. it is the successor to Office 2007, the version of Office currently installed on University PCs.

• Internet Explorer 9, which is the latest release of Microsoft’s web browser. This is the successor to Internet Explorer 8, currently installed on most University PCs.

It is our intension to upgrade the PCs in service departments and schools over the summer period and we will be in touch with each area directly to make suitable arrangements. It is anticipated that the majority will be completed for the start of autumn semester and, as with previous upgrades, any members of staff who require to prepare materials

in advance can be prioritised by contacting the Information Centre.Future communications will assist you in preparing for the upgrade. We will highlight the principal new features in both the Operating System and Office Suite and direct you to appropriate online guidance and reference materials.

The student IT labs and library study PCs will also be upgraded in preparation for the start of teaching in September.

Graham MillarManager, Information and Technology Client Systems

Upgrade Plan for Windows and Office Software

Over this summer RefWorks is launching a new interface. In advance of this event you can have a look at what has changed and try out the new look. Log in to the University Portal, click the ‘Login to RefWorks’ link on the Resources tab and then click on the ‘RefWorks 2.0’ link at the top right of your RefWorks screen, as shown in Figure 1.

To get back to the ‘old’ version simply click on the ‘RefWorks Classic’ link at the top of your RefWorks page, as shown in Figure 2.

For a preview and online training sessions visit the RefWorks web pages: http://www.refworks.com/refworks2/.

According to RefWorks, ‘The new interface puts all your favourite features at your fingertips, is easier and more intuitive to use - and better to look at, too!’ Figure 3 shows an example of the new interface. Note the quick buttons for the most-used functions, tabs for better navigation and the new icons to edit, cite, and view. Elizabeth Andrews

Academic Liaison and Development Team

Figure 1 – The RefWorks 2.0 link

Figure 2 – The RefWorks Classic link

Figure 3 – The new RefWorks interface