Information Technology Steering Committee
Minutes of the Meeting of Monday, January 10, 2002
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m., 817 CL

ATTENDING: T. Carbo, A. Connolly, J. Cooper, D. Davis, T. Deliyannides, G. Dick, C. Friedman, G. Gruver, G. Klinzing, J. Maher (Chair), W. McGahey, R. Miller, A. Ramicone, S. Sereika, J. Walton.

1. Approval of the Minutes

The minutes of the October 25, 2001 meeting were accepted.

2. Report From The Chair

Maher opened the meeting with general remarks on the progress of the Information Technology Plan. The plan is progressing ahead of schedule. Permanent budget modifications called for in the plan have been made in two years rather than three, and the majority of one-time funds required for the plan have been secured. At this point the focus of the Committee should be on monitoring progress on the plan and making necessary corrections. Maher proposed that the frequency of meetings be reduced in the near future. It was agreed the February 7 and the April 4 meetings would be cancelled.

Maher expressed concern regarding the University's budget for FY2003 in light of the anticipated State funding levels. It may be necessary to reapportion funds if third year funding of one-time costs in the plan is not secured.

3. CSSD Update

Walton reported on the progress of CSSD projects. The opening of the new Productivity Lab in the Masonic Temple will be held on January 28, 2002 in B-43 Masonic Temple. This lab will house 30 PC's and 20 Linux machines running Red Hat 7.2. The Help Desk has been relocated to the Masonic Temple where the additional space can better accommodate the adjusted staffing levels. The volume of Help Desk calls has been very high.

Walton reported that Web-based access to the IMAP server will be implemented to allow greater flexibility for access to University e-mail. A Web interface has been implemented for access to University phone bills. Soon, University departments will be able to track University software licenses online. CSSD is now offering software distribution to faculty desktops on the Pitt network. A later phase of implementation will allow online billing for purchased software and remote software distribution for users off the Pitt network.

Walton reported on current network projects. Additional T1 lines connecting the Bradford and Johnstown campuses have been installed. Several pilot projects using wireless networking are currently in progress, including installations for departmental use in the Chemistry and Biology departments, and for student use in the William Pitt Union.

Network security has been targeted as an area of focus. CSSD will be reviewing all aspects of network security from physical security of wiring closets to virus protection, to securing the perimeters of the network. Procedures are being put in place to lock down security for production servers. Walton remarked that the incidence of hacking is on the rise. A user awareness program intended for departmental system administrators is planned through the Expert Partners Program. The program will focus on server security procedures, installation of security patches, and system recovery issues.

4. ULS Update

Miller reported on recent progress in the University Library System. During the past year, the ULS has aggressively increased its collections of electronic library resources, which now include over 6,000 electronic journals, 230,000 e-books, and over 450 online databases licensed to the University of Pittsburgh. In 2001, the University of Pittsburgh participated in the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Pilot E-Metric Project, aimed at measuring the use of electronic library resources among major academic libraries. The results of this study showed that 54% of the users of ULS libraries are remote users.

Miller reported on recent ULS electronic publishing initiatives. The ULS Digital Research Library (DRL) has expanded its Historic Pittsburgh project to include a full-text collection of over 300 books, and over 600 plat maps. The DRL is collaborating with the Allegheny Observatory library to digitize and provide unique access to a multi-volume set of historical astronomical data. Future projects include the digitization of the Stephen C. Foster sketchbook and related resources, and a joint project to preserve and provide digital access to a collection of Chinese texts in the East Asian Library.

The ULS has implemented the PhilSci Archive, a global electronic archive for preprints in the philosophy of science, co-sponsored by the Philosophy of Science Association, the Center for Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh, and the University Library System. The archive now contains 185 articles and is growing rapidly, with over 100 papers now in workspace, prepared for release soon. Since its inception, the site has been visited by over 18,000 unique users.

Miller reported that the ULS has implemented a system to facilitate submission, approval, storage, and access to Electronic Theses and Dissertations. The project is sponsored by the ETD Working Group, an ad hoc committee of the University Council on Graduate Study. The ETD's will be accessible through PittCat, the University's online catalog.

In December, 2001, the ULS implemented user authentication at public computing devices in all Pittsburgh campus libraries. Users are now required to sign on using their University of Pittsburgh Computer Account, and may then access all databases licensed to the University of Pittsburgh. User authentication will be extended to library desktops in the regional campus libraries during the summer of 2002.

Miller reported that during the Spring Term, many of the technical units in the ULS will move from Hillman Library, UPARC, and the ULS Archives Service Center on Lexington Ave. to a renovated facility at 7500 Thomas Blvd. in the North Point Breeze section of Pittsburgh. In addition to staff offices, the site will house a new high density library storage facility with a capacity of 2.5 million volumes. The Voyager system will be enhanced to allow University students and faculty to request the retrieval of materials from the storage facility online through the PittCat library catalog. The ULS Information Systems Dept. will move to the new site, which will have an improved operational environment for the ULS production servers. Transition of the production server environment will be carefully planned to minimize downtime for networked library information services.

5. Blackboard 5.5 Upgrade

Walton and Davis reported on the upgrade to Blackboard 5.5. Blackboard was implemented as a pilot in 1998 and growth in the use of the service has been rapid and dramatic. During the winter break, the system was upgraded from v.5.02 to v.5.5. Davis reported that during the Fall Term, Blackboard was used in over 1100 courses, crossing all schools and departments. The system has been widely accepted by faculty and is used for various functions from posting instructional materials and tracking grades to full-blown distance education. Blackboard 5.5 has many new features such as better faculty control of individual items posted in the system and the ability to allow users outside of Pitt to look at courses in the system. Information about the new features of v.5.5 has been posted online and basic training for new users will continue to be offered. In conjunction with the upgrade, system hardware was scaled up to handle the high volume of use. A more frequent backup schedule has been implemented.

6. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 11:35 a.m.

Future Meetings:

Thursday, May 2, 2002 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 817 CL
Thursday, June 6, 2002 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 817 CL