Thursday 23 October 2008

23 Oct: MasterMap Download Update

The MasterMap Download facility was restored at 12.30pm today. This facility is now fully functional.

If you were waiting to retrieve data which was ordered prior to the service outage, please collect it using the usual emailed link or code as soon as possible.

Wednesday 22 October 2008

22 Oct: MasterMap Download

MasterMap Download has today fallen foul of a hardware problem. This facility was temporarily unavailable and restored by late morning. Around 4pm the problem recurred and the MasterMap Download facility is again unavailable.

EDINA staff are working to rectify the problem. Further updates will be posted here and within the Digimap service when available. Apologies for the inconvenience caused.

Digimap Performance

If you have logged in to Digimap recently you will be aware that the service, particularly the Ordnance Survey Collection, is suffering from performance issues. The biggest factor in this is the sheer number of users accessing the service during core hours.

The beginning of the autumn term is the busiest period for Digimap, while new users register and new courses get underway. This year the number of users registering for Digimap is exceptionally high, in the light of the changes to access and authentication systems which occurred in August. This means that a significant proportion of returning users are required to re-register using their new login credentials.

While siginificant work is underway to improve the performance of Digimap, there is no immediate solution. If you are having trouble using Digimap, please try again at a time when the service is less busy. Quieter periods are early in the mornings and later in the evenings. The busiest time is usually during weekday afternoons.

How globes are made

Did you ever wonder how globes are made? If so, here is a YouTube film to enlighten you! Fascinating stuff...

Tuesday 21 October 2008

New Training Dates

EDINA are pleased to announce the following schedule of Digimap training courses, to take place in 2008-9. Courses are open to staff members (and postgraduates for the OS MasterMap courses) in UK higher and further education institutions, and cover the Ordnance Survey Collection, Historic Digimap, Marine Digimap and Geology Digimap.

Digimap Collections Training:


OS MasterMap for Users Training:
More details regarding course content and learning outcomes can be found with each course listing. You will find listings and booking forms (where booking is open) for these and all other EDINA training here.

We strongly encourage site representatives to attend an OS MasterMap course if they have not done so already. Other members of staff and postgraduate students from subscribing institutions are also welcome. However it is essential that all attendees be registered users of Digimap's Ordnance Survey Collection in order to participate in the OS MasterMap training.

All courses are subject to a sufficient level of interest. If you are uncertain about the relevance of a course for your needs, please contact EDINA for advice at edina-training@ed.ac.uk. All EDINA training courses are FREE OF CHARGE. Regretfully, however, owing to the rise in non-attendance, EDINA will make a charge of £25.00 for each day of absence from a course for which EDINA is not notified in advance. Lunch will be provided for all full-day attendees and refreshments will be available throughout the day.

Friday 17 October 2008

Logging Out

EDINA has identified a number of cases where one user has inadvertently registered with Digimap using another individual's login details. We believe that this may have occurred because the first user has finished using a public access machine but has left their web browser open. This means that the browser is still logged in to the UK Federation with that user's login credentials.

In order to log out of the UK Federation it is necessary to close ALL web browser windows. This is particularly important if the user is not required to log out of the machine they are using.

Site representatives and local support staff may wish to remind their local users of any local protocols for logging out of electronic systems.