Internet Troubleshooting

[Marc Davis]

Here's a bit of an off-the-wall inquiry.

I've been "recruited" (well, let's be honest and call it "coerced") into
doing a presentation for a state library group on the following topic
area:

"When you can't get access to online resources, is the problem your
computer, your connection, the Internet, or your online vendor?  And what
do those error messages you see on the screen mean anyway?"

So, it's basically a course in "network/internet troubleshooting 101".  My
questions for the list are:

(a) as system administrators or technical persons, what information would
you like to get from your on-floor staff concerning database connection
problems or other internet related problems?  I'm sure we've all had the
"ABI-Inform doesn't work!" call that tells us nothing.  What basic
information would you like to get?  How much troubleshooting/diagnosis do
you think staff should/could/would be capable of doing?

(b) what are the most confusing/troublesome error conditions that your
staff encounter?  Here, it would have to be occasional corruption of the
local DNS server . . . producing all sorts of fun.

(c) if you were assigned the above topic, either as presenter or auditor, 
what would be key items that you would want to cover/learn about?

Thanks for any thoughts on this.  They will be much appreciated.

Marc
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Marc Davis         University Library        UNOmaha
     6001 Dodge Street     Omaha, NE, 68182-0237
  	(402) 554-4949  |  Fax (402) 554-3215
	     davis at revelation.unomaha.edu
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