LITS Welcome Back Newsletter 2023

Top Resources for Students

  • New and returning students: get started with FREE Microsoft Office for your personal computer. Learn how to access a variety of software from the library, your dorm, and off-campus – and get info about wireless, printing, Moodle, and more!
  • The Assistive Technology App Database is now up and running on the Assistive Technology: Features and Resources page. Use the database to find resources on accessibility, productivity, note taking, time management, writing, and more.
  • Check out LinkedIn Learning for online courses and quick tutorials in software, business, and creative skills.

LITS News Highlights

Welcome New LITS Colleagues!

Janelle Rebel, Seymour Adelman Director of Special Collections

Cameron Bucher, Educational and Scholarly Technology Assistant

Upcoming Exhibition

Art image from Cecilia Paredes exhibit

Cecilia Paredes: Not At Home opens October 25th in Bryn Mawr’s main gallery space, the 1912 Gallery (formerly the Rare Book Room).

See our full calendar of events

Study Break!

Cozy up with a book in the newly named Nook! Visit the Students Shape the Shelves book display and other additions to the library collection in the Nook, located to your left just inside the front entrance of Canaday.

The Nook in Canaday Library with rows of books and posters on display

Librarians are always available for academic consultations…but sometimes you need something fun. This page collects some favorites. We also have access to many major newspapers!

Spotlight on Security

Reminders

Special Collections reading room entrance

  • The Special Collections Reading Room has new fall hours:

Mon-Fri: open 12pm – 4pm
and by appointment (SpecColl@brynmawr.edu)
Sat-Sun: closed

New Version of MacOS (Sonoma) Coming this Fall

This fall, the newest Apple operating system macOS Sonoma (version 14.0) will be released. Though we don’t know the exact release date, we’re busily testing a beta version of the macOS so that we can identify any quirks or peculiarities before it becomes publicly available.

Whenever Apple releases a new version of macOS, they also deprecate one of their older versions. This time, macOS Big Sur is the one that is scheduled to fall out of support. Once Apple stops supporting this version, they also stop releasing security updates for it and it becomes critical to update to a newer version as soon as possible.

You can easily use the steps on the Apple website to to find which version of Mac OS you’re using.

If you find that you’re running Big Sur (or something earlier!), you can find instructions from Apple support on performing an update on MacOS. Please make sure that all of your files are backed up before you start the update – though the process is usually straightforward, it’s always best to have a backup in case something goes wrong. This is particularly important if you are updating from a significantly older version of macOS (version 10.15 or older).

If you’d like assistance with checking the version of your OS or with updating or with backing up your files, please contact the Help Desk at 610-526-7440 or  help@brynmawr.edu.

RESOLVED: No Network access in GSSWSR, some wireless problems in Park

Update, 11:45am: Full internet access has been restored in both GSSWSR and Park. Thank you for your patience while we got everything sorted out. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.


Due to equipment issues, the wired and wireless networks at GSSWSR are currently unavailable.

Community members in Park may also experience some problems using the wireless network.

Thank you for your patience while we work to get everything back up and running.

Please reach out to the Help Desk with any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

Zoom Activity in Moodle Error Message

In order to fix an issue preventing some instructors from scheduling Zoom meetings through the Moodle Zoom activity, LITS was forced to recreate the Zoom-Moodle connection at around 10:30 am on September 5.

If you see an error message (OpenID Connect Initiation URI is invalid) when accessing a Zoom activity created before this date and time, please delete the activity and create a Zoom (new) activity to your course in its place.

We are very sorry for the inconvenience this causes.

If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk (help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7636).

RESOLVED: Network in New Dorm Unavailable, TODAY 11:30am

Update, 1:15pm: Wired and wireless internet access in New Dorm has been restored. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.


Due to equipment issues, the wired and wireless networks in New Dorm will be unavailable starting at 11:30am today while we perform some necessary maintenance. We will work to keep the downtime as brief as possible and thank you for your patience while we work to get everything back up and running.

Please reach out to the Help Desk with any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

RESOLVED: BIONIC Intermittently Unavailable

Updated 9/3 11:40am: issues are fully resolved.
___

Updated 9/3 11:20am: access to BIONIC is restored. LITS is still working on resolving underlying issues. Please repot any access issues to the Help Desk.
___

Some BiCo community members have reported that they are unable to log in to BIONIC. LITS is investigating the issue and will work to resolve it as quickly as possible. We will share more information here as we learn more.

Contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

Resolved: Moodle Currently Unavailable

Updated 9/1/23 at 9am: This issue is resolved. Please reach out right away if you’re unable to access Moodle.


Community members are reporting an error (“Database connection failed”) when trying to access Moodle. LITS is investigating now and will work to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We will share more information as we have it.

Contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440

RESOLVED:Campus Phone Service in Old Library Unavailable

Update, 9:50pm: Phone service in Old Library has been restored. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.


Due to equipment issues, campus telephone service in Old Library is currently unavailable. LITS team members are working to restore service as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience.

Please contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

Campus Internet and Services Unavailable 6-6:30pm TONIGHT 8/29

The vendor that provides our network equipment has let us know about a critical vulnerability that we are working to address as quickly as possible.

All services hosted at Bryn Mawr College (including Moodle), as well as internet access from campus will be unavailable for about 30 minutes beginning at 6pm tonight, August 29.

Thank you for your patience as we perform this urgent work.

Please contact the Help Desk with any questions: 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu

Warning: New Phishing Attempt 8/28/23

Please be aware of a recent attempt to gather login, password, and other secure personal or College data from Bryn Mawr College community members.

Be on the lookout for messages titled “Mailbox storage for [your email address] is almost full.” This is a fraudulent email.

Do not open attachments, click on links, or respond in any way. Delete the message or report it as Phishing in Outlook. If you believe you’ve given your information to a phisher, immediately change your password and contact the Help Desk: help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440.

Contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.

Inadvertent Moodle Email – 8/25

Dear Bryn Mawr community,

Please disregard the emails sent from Moodle around 2pm today (8/25). They were inadvertently sent as part of maintenance work that LITS was performing on Moodle.

The emails were titled “New sign in to your Bryn Mawr Moodle account” and advised Moodle users that they had logged into Moodle and that a password reset may be necessary. While we do not believe there has been any sort of account compromise, community members who are concerned can reset their password by visiting password.brynmawr.edu.

We apologize for the confusion and are monitoring the situation. Please contact the Help Desk at 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu with any questions.

Thank you!
Jennifer Spohrer  (Hear my name)
Director of Educational and Scholarly Technology
Library and Information Technology Services (LITS)
Carpenter A5