[WEB4LIB] Internet Troubleshooting

[Dan Lester]

At 11:24 AM 4/26/99 -0700, Marc Davis wrote:
>"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?"

Most mean exactly what they say.  When Proquest server says "server down, 
up at 200 pm",  I never understand why colleagues call and ask me what it 
means.  Well, duuuuhhh....it means it is down, they know it is down, and NO 
I won't call and complain, since they're already VERY well aware of it.

>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?

They should be able to tell me what is happening.  Is the problem on just 
one machine?  Maybe you should reboot it if so.  If the problem is on all 
machines (or multiples, don't require they check all), then let me know 
what the problem is.  What error message do you get?  Does it say "unable 
to locate umi.com" or similar?  Does it give a consistent error 
message?  Can you reach other remote sites?  The more you can tell me, the 
more likely I can solve it.

>(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?

I'd ask that staff, even if they don't care about "techie stuff", to make 
some reasonable attempt to pay attention, remember what they did when the 
same thing happened last week, etc.  I don't expect them to become 
geeks....but to use a bit of memory and common sense, just like they do 
when they deal with patron reference questions.

cheers

dan

--
Good, Fast, and Cheap: Which two of the three would you like?
Dan Lester, 3577 East Pecan, Boise, ID 83716 USA 208-383-0165
dan at 84.com   http://www.84.com/  http://www.idaholibraries.org/
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