Welcome to this edition of Inside ITS! Inside ITS keeps users informed about technology services available at Weill Cornell.
In this issue:
- Are you on Lync?
- ITS welcomes Terrie Wheeler as the new Library Director
- Summer brings enhancements to the Library
- Download the new WCMC Events App
- New initiatives make tech support more customer-focused
- First Vendor Demo previews potential tech solutions for research administration at WCMC
Are you on Lync?
All about WCMC's new online meeting and chat service
Although much of the Weill Cornell campus is consolidated along York Avenue, official College space stretches across the city, with offices dotted around Manhattan. Thus, many employees may run into difficulties scheduling meeting with colleagues in other locations and finding the time to chat about important matters.
To alleviate this, ITS recently introduced Microsoft Lync, a new service for online meetings, conferences calls, video chat, instant messaging, and desktop sharing. Lync replaces our previous campus instant messaging (IM) service, Spark - and it is much more. Lync is fully integrated into the Outlook Calendar and contacts. It is available on smartphones, desktops, and the web. You can even forward you ITS desk phone to Lync can carry your ITS phone wherever you have a wireless signal. Getting in touch with your colleagues is easy, with many options to share information. Here are just a few of the features offered:
Chatting
At its most basic, Lync allows you to find any WCMC user by name or CWID in its directory and strike up an IM conversation. Once you're in a conversation, though, you have a smorgasbord of options to share information with someone. You can send an attachment, which saves you space in your Outlook mailbox. If you're trying to demonstrate something on your computer, you can share your desktop so the person on the other end of your conversation can see each keystroke. You can even start a video call and invite other WCMC users to join in the conversation.
Online Meetings
Getting everyone to meet in one space at the same time is not always possible. In ITS our employees are split between two main locations at 1300 York and 575 Lexington but teams need to meet frequently. The answer to this problem: Lync's online meetings.
Online meetings are a snap with Lync's integration with Outlook. When creating a calendar invite, simply select the Online Meeting option in your taskbar and Outlook automatically generates the information all of your attendees will need to join the meeting online if they can't attend in person. The meeting host can also share his or her screen with attendees so everyone is on the same page.
You can share presentations and other content on your screen with Lync.
Enterprise Voice
Enterprise Voice* is a feature similar to Skype, allowing you to make virtual local phone calls for free. You can dial into conference calls from your computer, and forward phone calls from your desk to your computer or mobile device via the Lync iOS and Android apps. Enterprise Voice is particularly useful when you're on the go and in an area with spotty cell phone service. Verizon, ATT, and other cell signals do not penetrate many buildings on campus and elsewhere in the city especially. Lync will pick up the slack and let you make your call at any place with an Internet connection. As ITS rolls out our next generation Wi-Fi service across campus later this year, this will get even better.
These are just a few of the features Lync has to offer, and it's free for all employees to download.
For more information on how to download Lync, visit the ITS website.
*Enterprise Voice is free for ITS phone service users. Non-ITS phone users can also get Lync Enterprise Voice
though some fees will apply. All Lync users need to request Enterprise Voice by contacting support@med.cornell.edu.
top
ITS welcomes Terrie Wheeler as the new Library Director
Starting June 2, Terrie Wheeler began her role as the new Director of the Samuel J. Wood Library and the C.V. Starr Biomedical Information Center. She will lead an ongoing transformation of the library to a next generation facility supporting next generation science, care, and education.
Ms. Wheeler previously worked as the Chief of the Education Services Branch at the National Institutes of Health Library. She also served as the Director of the Gorgas Memorial Library in Silver Spring, MD, assisting the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and the Naval Medical Research Center, with their associated overseas labs. Under her direction, this library was awarded the 2009 Federal Library of the Year Award. Prior to this, she served as the Assistant Chief of the Information Services Division at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Most of her career was spent at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System (VAPHS), where she directed both the libraries and the medical media services, and was the healthcare system Webmaster.
Ms. Wheeler's research interest is integrating information into user workflows. In 2008, she led the use of bibliometric analytics to provide information on the impact of various scientific programs. These included research impact analyses of infectious disease science for efficacy and influence as well as publication strategies. This work was used to justify future funding and to report scientific progress via the Command's balanced scorecard. In 2007, she published research on integrating library licensed electronic content into the electronic medical record to assist clinicians with questions as they saw patients. Ms. Wheeler oversees the venerable NIH Library informationist program, which integrates information into user workflows through librarians with science subject expertise being embedded in clinical and research groups.
Active in the Medical Library Association (MLA) since the 1980s, Ms. Wheeler is currently the chair of the Research Section and jury chair for the MLA Thomson-Reuters/Frank Bradway Rogers Information Advancement Award. She has served at various times as Federal Libraries section chair, Federal Libraries section webmaster, section representative to section council, Pittsburgh Chapter chair, chapter representative to Chapter Council, and Consumer and Patient Health Information section secretary.
She also has an interest in information technology and in communicating the value of libraries in language that administrators understand. From 2010 to 2011, Ms. Wheeler led a five federal agency study of the value of information provided by a librarian. This study yielded data regarding the contributions of the library to patient care, research, education and administration. Each agency and participating facility was given their data set to use when discussing their budget with their administrators. This information was so valuable that the VA and Army medical librarians are planning to repeat this study.
A graduate of Adrian College and the University of Michigan, Ms. Wheeler holds bachelor's degrees in biology and a
master's degree in library science with an emphasis in medical librarianship.
top
Summer brings enhancements to the Library
Traditionally the quietest part of the school year, the coming summer months will feature a busy schedule of renovations in the Medical Library.
Improvements over the past two years have included a new 24/7 student study area, a large collaboration and small group study rooms, and a refurbished computer lab. Very recently the men's restroom was improved, a video-editing office was created, and walls in the sunken reading room were freshly painted.
Now the pace of construction is picking up again. Changes to public and staff areas in the front area of the Medical Library will include:
- Creation of a permanent Cornell Store with WCMC-branded merchandise to your right as you enter the Library
- Expansion of the Library Computer Commons
- Incorporation of the reference desk and creation of consultation stations to provide single-point SMARTDesk services
- Installation of a new swipe security system for library entrance and exit
- Reconfiguration of staff office and consultation space across from the Collaboration Room
- Overhaul of office space to the rear of the SMARTDesk to accommodate more staff
Although the timing of renovations has been planned to minimize inconvenience to our users, it is inevitable that there will be some disruption. This will include a temporary period when the usual lobby entrance to the Library will not be available.
If construction noise becomes an issue, please ask at the SMARTDesk for a set of disposable earplugs or check out
some headphones.
top
Download the new WCMC Events App
Take Weill Cornell's event calendar wherever you go with our new WCMC Events app! This free iOS app provides the latest information on lectures, grand rounds, training and information sessions, and other events around campus. Interested in attending an event? Just add it to your calendar with a tap of your screen.
Downloading the app is easy; simply tap your Apps@Work icon if you have an ITS-tagged smartphone with MobileIron, or download it for free at the Apple App Store.
The WCMC Events app is only available for iOS, but all mobile users can access the events calendar through their device's web browser for a mobile-optimized experience at events.weill.cornell.edu.
Don't forget - all WCMC users can log into the calendar and advertise their own events to the entire institution.
Visit the ITS
website to learn more or go to events.med.cornell.edu and try it out.
top
New initiatives make tech support more customer-focused
In the last few months, ITS has launched two Service Desk initiatives to provide more convenient service to all users.
SMARTDesk now open 7 days a week!
This month, ITS launched new Sunday hours at the SMARTDesk in the Wood Library. Now, you can take advantage of our walk-up tech support on Sundays from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. While the SMARTDesk can assist with virtually any IT-related issue, some of the top reasons to visit us are encrypting your laptop, tagging your device, resolving issues with your laptop or mobile device, and answering questions about ITS and library services.
For a complete listing of our SMARTDesk hours, visit the ITS website.
Use myHelpdesk for online support
myHelpdesk is our newest online self-service tool to assist you in placing IT-related service incidents, called "tickets." When visiting the myHelpdesk website, you can fill out a simple form to submit service requests and inquiries directly to the Service Desk, and track how your ticket is being fulfilled.
With several ways to contact the ITS Service Desk, how do you know when to use myHelpdesk? Here's a quick list of when you may want to consider using it:
- You have a non-urgent IT issue. If you have a question about one of our services or you've noticed a minor problem with your computer, myHelpdesk is the best route to contact our techs. More urgent requests, like a system going down or a compromised WCMC account, should be reported to the Service Desk immediately via phone or in person at the SMARTDesk.
- You need to track your tickets. If you track your own ITS requests or are the point person for your whole office, myHelpdesk offers an easy way to track all submitted tickets in one place. Just click "Ticket Status" on the myHelpdesk homepage and you will see a list of all your pending requests. You can even add information to your tickets after you've submitted them, and include colleagues on a watch list for updates if the issue you've reported also affects them.
- It's after our normal business hours. If you're working late and run into an issue, you can always visit myHelpdesk and submit a ticket 24 hours a day. Our techs will respond as soon as possible. If you don't have access to a computer, you can also easily email support@med.cornell.edu from your mobile device.
You can check out our myHelpdesk page on the ITS website
for details.
top
First Vendor Demo previews potential tech solutions for research administration at WCMC
Last month, ITS' Research Administrative Computing (RAC) group hosted four vendors and one university consortium to demonstrate their software. Between 70 and 100 participants, including faculty, departmental staff, research administrative staff, attended each demonstration and more watched video recordings of the sessions. These systems are being evaluated to enhance or replace the current research-oriented applications currently used at WCMC today. Weill Cornell's research community was able to see firsthand the technology they will rely on in the years to come.
The four commercial systems were Cayuse by Evisions, Click by Huron, Ideate by EnterpriseWeb, and InfoEd. Our colleagues from Cornell Ithaca demonstrated Kuali-Coeus as they are active members of that university software consortium. WCMC-Qatar uses Ideate and previously used InfoEd. We already use Click at WCMC for conflicts of interest.
Prior to this event, RAC submitted a Request for Proposals (RFP) inviting different vendors to propose new solutions to replace research systems that are currently out of date and in need of cross-system integration. With the demonstration complete, RAC just held a focus group that narrowed the top offerings. A Steering Committee lead by Dr. Katherine Hajjar will present the top two choices to the Dean in late July.
More on which systems will be selected for future development is coming soon. Expect more news from ITS in the coming
months!
top