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Rabu, 30 April 2014
Student Tech Buzz 4/28-5/2
IC: Issue with Blackboard
IC has been able to resolve the issue with Blackboard, and Blackboard is now back up and running normally. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
We are currently experiencing problems with Blackboard. The IC staff is aware of the problem and is working diligently to solve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience and will notify you of any updates.
If you have any questions regarding this issue, please contact the Help Desk at helpdesk@su.edu or 540-665-5555.
Thank you,
Institutional Computing
We are currently experiencing problems with Blackboard. The IC staff is aware of the problem and is working diligently to solve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience and will notify you of any updates.
Thank you,
Institutional Computing
Internet Explorer Security Update From IC's Security Administrator
If you are required to use Internet Explorer (aka: IE) for certain task on the Web, you should use IE for those functions. You should use another browser like Firefox or Chrome for everything else, like accessing e-mail and Blackboard.
Also when using a computer you should;
- Make sure all of the operating system's patches are installed
- Apple OS X - Run Software Updates.
- Windows - Run Windows Update. All SU Windows computers should automatically install Windows updates.
- Make sure the computer's Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware is running and up-to-date. All SU computers should have McAfee Anti-Virus/Malware installed.
- Apple OS X - Look for a red shield with an M in the "Menu Bar" (where the clock is).
- Windows - Look for a red shield with an M in the "System Tray" (where the clock is)
- Make sure all applications installed on the computer are running the most current/patched version. This will vary from application to application. Most current apps have a "check for update" menu choice or an About [app name] menu choice that will check for updates.
- If you access specific servers or applications make sure the function you use them for will support the most current version of the application.
- If an app is installed but no longer needed it should be uninstalled.
Once Microsoft releases a patch for this issue Institutional Computing (IC) will test the patch and, if no problems are found, push the patch to SU Windows computers. Apple OS X updates are tested and provided in a similar method, but the OS X user has to run the update process.
If you want to know more about the security failure with Internet Explorer, read Tristan's post by clicking here.
Happy, but Safe Computing!
Happy, but Safe Computing!
Selasa, 29 April 2014
If You Are Using Internet Explorer You are At Risk
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| The Most Interesting Man in the World gets it! |
If you are using Internet Explorer, check out this article for more information!
Senin, 28 April 2014
Study Abroad's Website & Locations accessible from SU's Bb Environment
Studying abroad is perhaps the most life altering experience that can be accomplished at a university. That being said, the valuable information contained within the Study Abroad website should be available and accessible to all SU users regardless of their roll!If you want to access this information from SU's Bb environment, there are many ways to get there. From the login portal you will find a link that takes you directly to the Study Abroad website without ever logging into Bb. Additionally, when you land into Bb you can find a Study Abroad link on the "Quick Links" in the bottom left corner of the Courses page. Students will have access to a "Study Abroad" sub tab when they click into the "Students" top frame tab in Bb, and Faculty/Staff have access to a "Study Abroad" link within their "Links" sub tab of the "Faculty" or "Employee" top frame tab.
Regardless of the way you get to the Study Abroad information, it's just important that you go there. You should stay up to date and current with study abroad information, and like many of your peers, consider applying!
Devon's Monday Tips & Tricks
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Technology Tips and Tricks Email - Brought to you by Institutional Computing
Jumat, 25 April 2014
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Kamis, 24 April 2014
Easily Setup SMS Messaging in Bb!
Did you know that Blackboard can send you an SMS message notifying you about important information? Here's a short list of some of the most useful notifications you can receive via SMS:
"What's the easy way to have Bb send me SMS messages?"
- New Item Graded
- New Item Available
- New Assignment Available
- Announcement Available
- Assignment Due
- Assignment Past Due
And many more!
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Here's the click by click to get you up and running:
1: Log into Bb
2: Go to the Bb Tools module on the "Courses" page (this is where you land once you log into Bb).
3: Click "SMS Messages."
4: Enter your phone number and click save
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5: Click the Course Notification icon on the bottom left corner of the screen
6: In the next screen, select which courses (or select "All") you would like to receive SMS notifications for. Then, Go down the list, and select which notifications you would like to receive on your cell phone. Make sure you are checking the boxes in the SMS column.
Rabu, 23 April 2014
Student Tech Buzz 4/21-4/25
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Organize Your Course List by Term
You can now organize your courses by term. Doing this will allow you to minimize the visual clutter on your "Courses" tab.
If you would like to organize your courses by term, please follow these simple steps!
In the next screen, you will see a checkbox that says "Group by Term." Check this box.
Click submit
Your courses will now be organized by term
If you would like to organize your courses by term, please follow these simple steps!
Click on the images to enlarge them
- Once you log in, hover your mouse over the "Course List" module. You will notice a gear appear in the top right corner of the module name
Selasa, 22 April 2014
Pixlr, A Pleasant Browser Based Image Editing Software, Worth Your Time
Not all of you need to create and edit images for class, but many of you probably do.The tool that I want to share with you today is called Pixlr, and it works great if you are trying to accomplish a simple to moderately complicated edited image. Get this though, Pixlr is browser based, can be created and saved from your Google Drive account, and it's free! Is that a hat-trick? Yup.
Obviously, the most popular name in image editing software is Photoshop. If I was going to compare the two in usefulness via metaphor in a single sentence, I would say that Photoshop is to aircraft carrier, as Pixlr is to Subaru Outback. Maybe that's not the best metaphor in existence, let me try again: Photoshop is to Microsoft Office, as Pixlr is to Google Docs. Well... Still not the greatest, but the point is that Photoshop is extremely useful, expensive, and has a ton of features that almost certainly go unused if you are just using it for basic photo editing. Where Pixlr is packed with the features that encompass the basics of photo editing, lacking in extremely advanced features, does not have issues of installation and licensing, and it's free.
The next time you find yourself needing image editing software for your school work, give Pixlr a shot. You certainly will not lose any cash on a product key, and you just might find yourself a tool worth using into the future!
Senin, 21 April 2014
The Moose Does Not Stand Alone 4/21
Techwinkle, the Traveling Bb Support mascot, and the UX Moose, the Bb Inc.'s Usability Team's moscot, have come together in yet another symbotic fashion that benefits both parties.Sure, today was a beautiful day, but isn't the only thing that made it great! Hooray! Today was one of those awesome days when representatives from Bb Inc. voyage to SU to conduct research about which directions Blackboard will head in the future.
How does this all work?
It's easy! Bb Inc. gets information from SU users that they need to develop future products, and SU users get their issues resolved and stated needs met in future Bb releases and upgrades!
Additionally, having some of the people who design Blackboard's features on hand is never a bad thing!
It's never day for the SU Bb user when Techwinkle and the UX Moose come together!
Devon's Technology Tips & Tricks
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Minggu, 20 April 2014
Leadership & Privilege
Having just returned from yet another, well-organized BC Library Conference, I am left with many complicated thoughts. I aspire to share some of them here as a way of encouraging others to reflect on their own experiences in an effort to wrestle with the problems and assumptions that remain hidden in library culture.
I am interested in understanding how we have arrived at certain conditions that seem to be the product of certain forms of leadership and, more importantly, how we discuss it. Despite the difficulty in trying to tease the issues out, it is important to tap into what lies beneath the surface of this profession and, even, the broader social problems that we all face. Doing so, for instance, may help us to better understand how we might approach our work, our professional development and our education to open up more space for debate, experimentation, and support.
To begin my exploration, I turned to what has been written and what is being discussed both formal and informally at conferences, in the literature and in other web resources. While there is much "discourse" or discussion about leadership, there is space for delving deeper into what is hidden -- the assumptions that construct the ways in which we make decisions and perform our roles. For example, we need to take a closer look into how relations of power and privilege can position certain people to become leaders*. Furthermore, we need to understand how different kinds of leadership produce certain outcomes that may or may not reflect our inherent values and understanding of our roles in library work. This can only be done if we first attempt to unpack the concept of leadership.
The lack of consensus on the meaning of leadership makes it an "essentially contested concept" (Dowding, 2011). This means that our understanding of leadership is relative and is likely to shift over time and circumstance. Recognizing this, enables us to see that approaches that appear in the workplace in addition to the professional and academic literature are merely possible ways of "seeing" and are not, in any way, definitive. Some approaches are so common that they take on a kind of power of their own that is discursive and seemingly natural.
As a way of untangling some of the meaning, it is useful to examine the work of Keith Grint, who appreciates the significance of leadership but challenges the notion that it can be universally understood. He begins his book, Leadership: Limits and Possibilities, with four possible ways of understanding leadership
We can also understand leadership looking at how leaders and leadership are acknowledged and by whom. Grint asks, "So who says what the context is (it's usually a crisis)? And who says that - as a consequence of the context - we therefore need leaders of a particular kind (it's usually 'decisive')? Usually the answer is: the existing leaders" (2005, p. 11). In other words, leaders decide what the crises are and who is needed to lead through these crises.
How, then, do library folk become leaders? While many who become organizational "influencers" rise through the ranks of their organization through what seems a natural career progression, others are more carefully groomed. There are numerous leadership institutes for librarians and their focus is, understandably, on leadership skill development. A main objective of ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute, for example, is to, "force participants to examine their own leadership styles" (Kalin, 2008, p. 266). An attendee of the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute blogs, "NELI helped me to understand more about myself and my strengths as a leader" (Mac, 2012).
What appears to be lacking in the discourse of leadership is a discussion of the social constructs that enable some to rise to positions of leadership that may or may not have anything to do with their demonstrated abilities and/or knowledge. The matter is made more complex by the fact that the work environments are becoming increasingly "accountable" through technologies that cannot easily incorporate the qualitative elements that are so often the basis of public service.
All of this leads to my observation that inequalities prevail in all sectors and at all levels. Some benefit from privilege while others suffer as the other. While such problems extend outside of the library field, it is essential that some attempts are made to understand where privilege may not only disadvantage some but may also inhibit our collective ability to grow and adapt to changing societal habits, values, and circumstances. Inequality in the workplace is powerful, sometimes subtle and certainly something to be examined and challenged. Pease (2010) attempts to unravel the complexities of inequality by revealing that an examination of unearned advantage (privilege) can help us to understand why some social problems persist. He eloquently states
It should be noted that while librarians are understood to be a class of "professionals", in most cases, they are also paid servants of the state. Pease notes "that professionals have a range of privileges connected to their relative job security and control over their labour process and the work of others (A. Ferguson 1979). So, their material interests are connected to the status quo" (2010, p.75). This creates a strong tension when the ideology of how libraries must organize themselves and define their value shifts. Today, this transformation is part of pervasive and powerful claims that all aspects of education, training and public service must operate to support the interests of business and industry. Many of us know that questioning the very powerful discourse of rationality, austerity, and productivity puts us in very vulnerable positions.
So while many are frustrated by the ebbing away of what it is that we value as a profession, they feel absolutely powerless. This is precisely why we must understand how leadership does and does not work. One of the limits of leadership is that it continues to operate in the library field in a hierarchical fashion that is often position-based. These positions are political and reflect power structures within organizations that structure who is able to speak, what they are able to share and do, as well as when and where. If we are to understand strengthening leadership as a way of facing the future with some degree of success, we are well-served to heed the words of Bob Pease (2010)
Distributed leadership acknowledges a collective responsibility and collective flexibility and helps us to see expertise in new areas within the field. Being less individual-driven, this form of leadership has the potential to re-invoke what it means to be socially responsible (Grint, 2005). This possibility could be one way in which the community of library workers, from all levels, can become more involved and empowered to address the real problems the field must face.
While leadership may remain an "essentially contested concept", we can better position ourselves to understand its varied and contextual role if we are to to continue to provide communities with access to diverse resources and aid in the navigation of a complex information-centric society. The problems we face cannot be solved by individual "heroes" who have had the benefit of elite educational and training opportunities. There is simply more force to defend democracy and intellectual freedom if the profession is able to call upon the diverse knowledge, interest and expertise of all of its members. Without it, we are not much of a profession at all.
__________________________________________
* However, a good place to start is the Progressive Librarian Guild's journal Progessive Librarian: A Journal for Critical Studies and Progressive Politics in Librarianship.
________________________________________________References
Ayers, D. (2005). Neoliberal ideology in community college mission statements: A critical discourse analysis. The Review of Higher Education, 28(4), 527-549).
Collinson, D. (2005). Dialectics of leadership. Human Relations, 58(11), 1419-1442.
Dowding, K. (Ed.). (2011). Essentially contested concept. In the Encyclopedia of Power. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/10.4135/9781412994088.n123
Grint, K. (2005) . Leadership: Limits and Possibilities. New York: Palgrave Macmillon.
Hernon, P. (Ed.). (2010). Shaping the future: Ldvancing the understanding of leadership. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.
I am interested in understanding how we have arrived at certain conditions that seem to be the product of certain forms of leadership and, more importantly, how we discuss it. Despite the difficulty in trying to tease the issues out, it is important to tap into what lies beneath the surface of this profession and, even, the broader social problems that we all face. Doing so, for instance, may help us to better understand how we might approach our work, our professional development and our education to open up more space for debate, experimentation, and support.
To begin my exploration, I turned to what has been written and what is being discussed both formal and informally at conferences, in the literature and in other web resources. While there is much "discourse" or discussion about leadership, there is space for delving deeper into what is hidden -- the assumptions that construct the ways in which we make decisions and perform our roles. For example, we need to take a closer look into how relations of power and privilege can position certain people to become leaders*. Furthermore, we need to understand how different kinds of leadership produce certain outcomes that may or may not reflect our inherent values and understanding of our roles in library work. This can only be done if we first attempt to unpack the concept of leadership.
The lack of consensus on the meaning of leadership makes it an "essentially contested concept" (Dowding, 2011). This means that our understanding of leadership is relative and is likely to shift over time and circumstance. Recognizing this, enables us to see that approaches that appear in the workplace in addition to the professional and academic literature are merely possible ways of "seeing" and are not, in any way, definitive. Some approaches are so common that they take on a kind of power of their own that is discursive and seemingly natural.
As a way of untangling some of the meaning, it is useful to examine the work of Keith Grint, who appreciates the significance of leadership but challenges the notion that it can be universally understood. He begins his book, Leadership: Limits and Possibilities, with four possible ways of understanding leadership
I venture that the general discourse of library leadership is based on ideas of position and, to a lesser degree, results. For example, Peter Hernon (2010) examines the Blackwell Award Program, revealing that not only is leadership tied to program development, applications are focused on management with an underlying assumption that leadership is present. "Management is concerned with executing routines and maintaining organizational stability - it is essentially concerned with control; leadership is concerned with direction setting, with novelty and is essentially linked to change, movement and persuasion" (Grint, 2005, p. 15). In order to understand when true leadership occurs (and whether it is has assisted us in order to move in the direction of a worthy and desirable future), it is important that we carefully separate the practice of management from leadership.
- Person: is it WHO 'leaders; are that makes them leaders?
- Result: is it WHAT 'leaders' achieve that makes them leaders?
- Position: is it WHERE 'leaders' operate that makes them leaders?
- Process: is it HOW 'leaders' get things done that makes them leaders? (2005, p.1)
We can also understand leadership looking at how leaders and leadership are acknowledged and by whom. Grint asks, "So who says what the context is (it's usually a crisis)? And who says that - as a consequence of the context - we therefore need leaders of a particular kind (it's usually 'decisive')? Usually the answer is: the existing leaders" (2005, p. 11). In other words, leaders decide what the crises are and who is needed to lead through these crises.
How, then, do library folk become leaders? While many who become organizational "influencers" rise through the ranks of their organization through what seems a natural career progression, others are more carefully groomed. There are numerous leadership institutes for librarians and their focus is, understandably, on leadership skill development. A main objective of ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute, for example, is to, "force participants to examine their own leadership styles" (Kalin, 2008, p. 266). An attendee of the Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute blogs, "NELI helped me to understand more about myself and my strengths as a leader" (Mac, 2012).
What appears to be lacking in the discourse of leadership is a discussion of the social constructs that enable some to rise to positions of leadership that may or may not have anything to do with their demonstrated abilities and/or knowledge. The matter is made more complex by the fact that the work environments are becoming increasingly "accountable" through technologies that cannot easily incorporate the qualitative elements that are so often the basis of public service.
Our culture has become dominated by the language of austerity. It is increasingly difficult for us to imagine ourselves operating in any other way other than as economic entities. Economic growth trumps social justice. Henry Giroux and Susan Searls Giroux summarize the effects most meaningfully, “As the discourse of neoliberalism seizes the public imagination, there is no vocabulary for political or social transformation, democratically inspired visions, or critical notions of social agency to enlarge the meaning and purpose of democratic public life”(as cited in Ayers, 2005, p. 536). Consequently, we find ourselves attempting to respond to change from only one perspective. This relative position is one that does not allow for individuals to influence development and change in a more distributed, democratic fashion. Doing so invites debate, deliberation and questioning that is simply not welcome in a neoliberal regime.
All of this leads to my observation that inequalities prevail in all sectors and at all levels. Some benefit from privilege while others suffer as the other. While such problems extend outside of the library field, it is essential that some attempts are made to understand where privilege may not only disadvantage some but may also inhibit our collective ability to grow and adapt to changing societal habits, values, and circumstances. Inequality in the workplace is powerful, sometimes subtle and certainly something to be examined and challenged. Pease (2010) attempts to unravel the complexities of inequality by revealing that an examination of unearned advantage (privilege) can help us to understand why some social problems persist. He eloquently states
This belief in the naturalness of inequality leads most people to accept and live with existing inequalities in the same way we live within the laws of gravity. It is only when we understand that social inequalities are human creations designed to benefit a few that we can see the possibilities for challenging inequality (p. 14)This relates directly to the discussion of library leadership because the institution that is the "library" is increasingly influenced by economic and political ideologies that are unraveling what it means to be democratic, accessible, intellectually free, and diverse - values articulated in the ALA Core Values of Librarianship. The present condition of Library and Archives Canada (LAC), the process of program reviews in education, the penetration of private companies that seek to "aid" libraries in becoming more efficient through "de"-selection, automating services and, most recently, the outsourcing of our national bibliographic holdings are only some of the more obvious examples. It is very, very difficult to have an open and candid discussion about why it is that some of the actions taken by government, library workers, and management teams may be problematic. Despite the fact that the profession needs to exercise its voice by challenging problems, most in the field feel limited in how they may speak and act.
It should be noted that while librarians are understood to be a class of "professionals", in most cases, they are also paid servants of the state. Pease notes "that professionals have a range of privileges connected to their relative job security and control over their labour process and the work of others (A. Ferguson 1979). So, their material interests are connected to the status quo" (2010, p.75). This creates a strong tension when the ideology of how libraries must organize themselves and define their value shifts. Today, this transformation is part of pervasive and powerful claims that all aspects of education, training and public service must operate to support the interests of business and industry. Many of us know that questioning the very powerful discourse of rationality, austerity, and productivity puts us in very vulnerable positions.
So while many are frustrated by the ebbing away of what it is that we value as a profession, they feel absolutely powerless. This is precisely why we must understand how leadership does and does not work. One of the limits of leadership is that it continues to operate in the library field in a hierarchical fashion that is often position-based. These positions are political and reflect power structures within organizations that structure who is able to speak, what they are able to share and do, as well as when and where. If we are to understand strengthening leadership as a way of facing the future with some degree of success, we are well-served to heed the words of Bob Pease (2010)
members of privileged groups need to be aware of the ways in which their speaking positions can be oppressive and dangerous and, at the same time, not retreat from political work that is contentious. After all, what could be more privileged than positioning oneself in a way that is beyond criticism? (p. 31)It is difficult for us to think our way outside of this box unless we consider leadership as something less binary (leader/follower, powerful/powerless, control/resistance, etc.) and something more interdependent and fluid. Collinson suggests that such an approach, "recognizes that leaders exercise considerable control and that their power can also have contradictory outcomes which leaders either do not always understand or of which they are unaware" (2005, p. 1435). Doing so can reveal that deploying other forms of leadership (like distributed or participatory) may, in fact present new opportunities for dealing with very large and difficult problems.
Distributed leadership acknowledges a collective responsibility and collective flexibility and helps us to see expertise in new areas within the field. Being less individual-driven, this form of leadership has the potential to re-invoke what it means to be socially responsible (Grint, 2005). This possibility could be one way in which the community of library workers, from all levels, can become more involved and empowered to address the real problems the field must face.
While leadership may remain an "essentially contested concept", we can better position ourselves to understand its varied and contextual role if we are to to continue to provide communities with access to diverse resources and aid in the navigation of a complex information-centric society. The problems we face cannot be solved by individual "heroes" who have had the benefit of elite educational and training opportunities. There is simply more force to defend democracy and intellectual freedom if the profession is able to call upon the diverse knowledge, interest and expertise of all of its members. Without it, we are not much of a profession at all.
__________________________________________
* However, a good place to start is the Progressive Librarian Guild's journal Progessive Librarian: A Journal for Critical Studies and Progressive Politics in Librarianship.
________________________________________________References
Ayers, D. (2005). Neoliberal ideology in community college mission statements: A critical discourse analysis. The Review of Higher Education, 28(4), 527-549).
Collinson, D. (2005). Dialectics of leadership. Human Relations, 58(11), 1419-1442.
Dowding, K. (Ed.). (2011). Essentially contested concept. In the Encyclopedia of Power. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy.ufv.ca:2048/10.4135/9781412994088.n123
Grint, K. (2005) . Leadership: Limits and Possibilities. New York: Palgrave Macmillon.
Hernon, P. (Ed.). (2010). Shaping the future: Ldvancing the understanding of leadership. Santa Barbara: Libraries Unlimited.
Kalin, S. (2008). Reframing leadership: The ACRL/Harvard Leadership Institute for Academic Librarians. Journal of Business and Finance Librarianship, 13(3), 261-270.
Mac, L. (2012, Mar. 17) TSLIS execs strengthen their skills at the 2012 Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute. [blog post]. Retrieved from: http://tslisnetwork.org/tag/northern-exposure-to-leadership-institute/.
Pease, B. (2010). Undoing priviledge: Unearned advantage in a divided world. London: Zed Books.
Mac, L. (2012, Mar. 17) TSLIS execs strengthen their skills at the 2012 Northern Exposure to Leadership Institute. [blog post]. Retrieved from: http://tslisnetwork.org/tag/northern-exposure-to-leadership-institute/.
Pease, B. (2010). Undoing priviledge: Unearned advantage in a divided world. London: Zed Books.
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