The New Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC)
The Computer Services Centre (CSC) and the nformation Technology Service Unit (ITSU) have been merged and renamed the Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC), effective from July 1 2000. Although our services remain largely unchanged after the merger, we need to modify our web pages, server names, and documents etc. to reflect the new name. For now onwards, we suggest you to use the new names if you want to access the ITSC web pages or remotely access our computer systems, although the old names will remain valid during a transition period. Please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/about/rename for the summary of changes and a list of the old and the corresponding new names of our servers and web sites.

Starting from this issue, CSC/ITSU Digest has been renamed the ITSC Digest. We will keep you informed about the latest developments of the Centre through this channel as part of our continuing commitment to provide high quality information technology services on campus.

Academic Site License - SSH Secure Shell

SSH Secure Shell is the de facto standard for remote logins which replaces older insecure remote login programs such as rlogin or rsh. SSH is useful for the remote management of networks hosts over the Internet. All transmitted confidential data, including passwords, binary files, and administrative commands, is encrypted before being sent over the network, and is thus protected from hackers. Typical applications include remote system administration, file transfers, and access to corporate resources over the Internet.

University staff and students can now use SSH Secure Shell under an academic site license. The program can be downloaded from the web at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/ssh. In visiting this page, you will be prompted to enter your Campus-wide E-mail System (Mailserv) account and password for authentication.

More Internet Access Points (ClassNet) Available in Chung Chi College
ClassNet is now further extended to Chung Chi Tang at Chung Chi College. Once you have registered the Ethernet Address of your network card, you should be able to access the Internet and the Campus Network from Chung Chi Tang in the same way as from other classrooms or buildings.

While using the network, you should observe the rules and regulations which are stated in the "Campus Network - Policies and Guidelines on Access and Usage". Please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/network/classnet for network card registration and other details.

CUHK Directory Service
CUHK Directory Service has been operational since June 26. It provides a centralized database that contains basic information about University staff and students including their

name
department
e-mail address
maildrop destination

You can also update your personal data using CUHK Directory Service. If you do not want Internet users to access your personal information through this service, you can hide your record via On-line Directory.

Please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/directory for operation details. On updating or hiding your personal information, the system will prompt you to enter your Campus-wide E-mail System (Mailserv) account and password for authentication.

Decommission of Webboard
Webboard has been used as a web-based conferencing tool on campus since 1998. However, many teachers faced problems in managing the accounts in their boards and it is difficult to customize and integrate user accounts into the current user account system provided by the Information Technology Services Centre. Teachers also found that the package lacked tools for tracking student activities. Hence, many teachers have already switched to use WebCT (a web-based course tool) to facilitate their teaching. The Information Technology Services Centre has therefore decided to terminate the use of Webboard starting from September 30, 2000.

For any enquiries, please contact the ITSC consultant at learning-help@cuhk.edu.hk

CU Forum - A New Web-based Conferencing Tool
The Information Technology Services Centre is now developing a web-based conferencing tool called CU Forum (http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cuforum) which enables hosting discussion forums online and allows sharing of files and URL links among the group members.

CU Forum will help teachers to extend their class discussions beyond the classroom and can also help departments/student organizations to communicate with their members. From August, staff and students will be able to access CU Forum using any popular web browser such as Netscape Navigator or MS Internet Explorer. In the meantime, you may visit the demonstration page at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cuforum to find out how CU Forum works.

Training Seminars on Learning Technology
A series of seminars has been arranged between August-October to familiarize our teaching staff with the Learning Technology services provided by the Information Technology Services Centre.

If you want to enhance your students' learning via a web-based conferencing tool, you should not miss the seminar session, "CU Forum - A New Web-based Conferencing Tools". Our speaker will brief you on how this tool works and how you can implement class or group discussion forums.

In addition, WebCT (a web-based course tool) will be upgraded to version 2.1 this August. We have designed two different workshops for current and new WebCT users. Please visit http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/itsc/training for registration and the course details.