Wonderful Gmail Labs, pt. 1: Nested Labels

Here is Part 1 of a series of posts I plan to do, in which I share about the latest and (in my opinion) greatest features available in Gmail through Gmail Labs.

(Image borrowed from the Gmail blog post about Nested Labels, linked in the body of this post)

To all the Gmail users on campus…

Ever wish you could organize your thousands of archived emails into folders, like most other email clients allow? Well, now you can. Or, at least, you can do the equivalent, with a new Gmail Lab called Nested Labels.

Nested Labels allows you to create custom labels and sub-labels (which can even be color-coded), where the parent label, as viewed by default to the left of your inbox, can be expanded and collapsed to reveal (or hide) the sub-labels within that parent label.

I find this incredibly useful, since it allows me to categorize my huge archive, thus making older emails easier to find. It takes a little bit of time to set up, since you’ll need to go back and categorize all of your old emails from the past, assigning custom labels to the emails you want easy access to. But, if this is something you’ve wished Gmail had (or if you’ve been using the folders4gmail browser extension as a work-around, like I was), check out the Gmail blog post, linked above, for instructions on how to get started with Nested Labels.

Systems Down in AM, Saturday 11/14

We were just notified that a number of University systems will be down this Saturday, 11/14, from 7-10 am. This is due to some needed electrical upgrades which will be made to the University’s main data center.

The systems that will be down for the upgrade include Library services that require authentication (i.e. logging into My.Scranton) including the article databases, ANGEL, and university email.

If all goes well, these systems will be back up and running by 10 am that morning. Thank you, library users, for your understanding and patience! Please plan accordingly!

Fall Break Upgrade Postponed!!

The Technology Support Center just announced that the software upgrades intended for this weekend have been postponed.  This means that email, Angel, and my.scranton will be available over Fall Break.  Library online resources (databases, catalog, interlibrary loan, course reserves) will all be accessible as usual, though the building will still be closed over the weekend.

Here’s the official notice from the Support Center:

The hardware and software upgrades scheduled for October 9 – 12 have been postponed. These upgrades will be rescheduled at a later date. University enterprise computer systems will be available as normally scheduled. As always, information technology questions or problems can be directed to the Technology Support Center can be reached at x4357 or techsupport@scranton.edu

Also, the Library building will be closed from 4:30 pm on Friday 10/9, and will reopen at 8:30 am on Tuesday 10/13 for Fall break. The 24 hour Pro Deo room will be open this weekend. Have a great break!

Fall Break Library Resource Access

The University’s Information Resources department has announced an important outage of critical University services over Fall Break.

Due to a needed upgrade, both email (RoyalMail) and my.scranton.edu will not be available from 4:30pm on Friday, October 9 through 8:30 am on Tuesday, October 13.

Angel and Library services (including our catalog and research databases) will be available during the service outage but must be accessed using the URL www.scranton.edu/myScranton.  You can log in using your usual my.scranton username and login.

Other Library services such as Electronic Reserves (ERes), PALCI E-Z Borrow, Ask-a-Librarian, and Interlibrary Loan will be available during the service outage as well and can be accessed from the Library’s homepage.  Please note, however, that Interlibrary Loan requests are received by the Library via email – so to be sure that your ILL request is processed, it would be best to send it before 4:30pm on Friday or after 8:30am next Tuesday.  PALCI E-Z Borrow requests will not be affected by the unavailability of email.

Last but not least, don’t forget that the Library will be closed over Fall Break.  Our hours for the weekend will be:

Friday, October 9: 8:00am – 4:30pm

Saturday, October 10: CLOSED

Sunday, October 11: CLOSED

Monday, October 12: CLOSED

Tuesday, October 13: 8:00am – 11:30pm

Students, be sure to plan ahead if you are thinking of doing research or homework over fall break.  If you have any questions about the availability of Library services this weekend, contact  the Library’s Associate Director, Bonnie Strohl, at strohlb1 (at) scranton (dot) edu or 570-941-4006.  For information about the service outage in general, contact the Technology Support Center.

Update: Tech Support center just announced on Wednesday (10/7/09) that the planned software upgrades will be postponed.