August/September 2004 (Volume XI, No. 6)

Published: August 19, 2004 (Revised November 2004)

Rather than put a trademark symbol at every occurrence of trademark names, we state that we are using the names only in an editorial fashion with no intention of infringements of the trademark.

From the Editor: Changes coming in FY05

Another year is almost over, which means it is time to start thinking about how to publish this newsletter next year. For the last several years we have gradually scaled back the amount of printing done to compensate for rising printing costs, tighter budgets, and increased usage of the Web version.

After reviewing our options, we have decided to make the following changes for FY05:

1. The Information Times will have a new page on the UT Southwestern Web site. It will include the current year’s issues plus issues from the two previous years.
2. The abstract flyer will no longer be printed and distributed through campus mail to UT Southwestern faculty and staff. Instead, a description of available articles will be e-mailed to faculty and staff. The e-mail will refer recipients directly to the Information Times Web site for more detailed information.
3. A printable PDF version of each issue will be available to view and print from the Web site.

These changes bringing Information Times completely into the digital age will go into effect with next year’s first issue in October 2004. We promise to continue providing the same quality content as always.

Your comments and suggestions are more than welcome. If you have any ideas either on how to improve Information Times or for future articles, please e-mail me at jon.crossno@utsouthwestern.edu or call me at 214-648-2562.

Sophos may not be as familiar a name in anti-virus software because, unlike Norton Symantec and McAfee, Sophos markets its product only to corporate customers. It cannot be found installed on personal computers purchased retail.

Sophos has been in business for years, and its software is designed to work in large networked environments such as UT Southwestern Medical Center. The software uses a combination of virus-scanning techniques to minimize the number of times each file needs to be checked for viruses, thus minimizing the impact on computer and network performance.

The university has selected Sophos because it provides timely, reliable software updates. Such updates are important because viruses increase by approximately 1,000 each month and spread at high speed. Sophos’s virus labs operate 24 hours a day so updates become available quickly after a new virus has been detected.

In order to be effective anti-virus software should be regularly updated, or it will fail to protect against new viruses. No UT Southwestern computer workstation should be without Sophos protection.

How to update your software

The most common fallacy among PC users is thinking that installing new versions of anti-virus software is all the protection needed against nasty worms and viruses. Frequently, computer consultants find that:

1. Virus protection software is never updated.
2. Virus programs were not set to scan automatically.
3. The computer operating system may have been upgraded, but the virus protection was not.

There are three steps to protection from menacing computer viruses:

1. Get a good virus protection program. (Note: Sophos may be purchased at the student store.)
2. Install the software, set it to run in the background and keep it on.
3. Update the software on a regular basis.

All three of these steps must be followed to have a good virus protection program in place.

Step 1: Get Virus Protection

Purchasing a good virus protection program is the easiest part of this equation. You can purchase a program at almost any computer or electronics store. Many bookstores and department stores also carry the software. Some anti-virus programs can be downloaded directly from the Internet so you don't even have to leave home.

Step 2: Installation

When installing an anti-virus program, there are various options. Set the program to automatically scan all files. If the program is already installed, start it and check to make sure the program is set to scan automatically.

Step 3: Update Regularly

Unfortunately, most people stop after the first two steps. If a virus protection program is installed and set to run in the background so it constantly checks for viruses, it may give a certain amount of comfort. However, the third step is an essential one.

Virus protection programs must be updated on a regular basis. Most virus programs consist of two main parts:

• Heuristic scanning that searches for virus-type behavior
• A virus pattern database — sometimes called a virus signature file — that identifies specific, known viruses

The database is the part that needs updating. More than 1,000 new viruses are detected each month. Companies that manufacture anti-virus software incorporate the detection processes for the new viruses almost as quickly as they are detected. However, the anti-virus software on a computer will not detect or eliminate new viruses or variants until the new anti-virus update is downloaded.

How to update the anti-virus software depends on the type and version of the software. Start the anti-virus program. In Windows, click on the Start button, choose Programs and look for the anti-virus program. The two most common programs that come pre-installed on new computers are Norton Anti-Virus and McAfee Virus Scan. They are listed in the Program menu under Norton and McAfee, respectively.

Use Automatic Update

Most of the newer versions of these anti-virus programs have an automatic update feature. To use this feature, connect to the Internet, start the anti-virus program and click the Update button. The update process is completely automated. If the update doesn't work or there isn’t an automatic update feature, go to the manufacturer’s Web site to find the latest updates. For Norton Anti-Virus, go to http://www.symantec.com; for McAfee VirusScan, http://www.mcafee.com; and for Sophos, http://www.sophos.com. Find the latest update for the operating system being used and download it. After you download the update, install it by finding the file and double-clicking on it.

Kevin Coologhan, senior Information Resources (IR) manager, UT Southwestern Medical Center, has the arduous task of ensuring that all campus workstations are fully protected from computer viruses and worms. It is a goal of IR to make this process as user-friendly as possible. Not only will PCs be able to fight hourly wars against viruses, but soon they may be able to do it without your help. Mr. Coologhan tells us what campus users have to look forward to.

Remote Update

Remote update enables automatic or manual updating of Sophos via the Internet. These updates can be “pushed” to networked or remote workstations.

It is installed on each workstation and does the following:

• Contacts the company Web server (antivirus.swmed.edu) that has the latest version of Sophos anti-virus.
• Compares the latest version of Sophos with the version on the local workstation.
• Downloads new or updated files from the server, if necessary.
• Updates Sophos.

Updates can also be done on demand or scheduled to be done on a regular basis.

Can it do the initial installation?

If Sophos has not been previously installed on the workstation or has been removed, Remote Update can do the initial installation the first time it connects to UT Southwestern’s server.

For existing Sophos users, Remote Update will locate the software and modify it so it can be updated by Remote Update in the future. The existing installation is not relocated and does not lose its configuration.

When a remote workstation connects to the UT Southwestern network again, it continues to update Sophos for whichever company server(s) it has been configured to contact.

Though no concrete date is set as to when the university will be able to use Remote Update, more information will be forthcoming.

Like every good library, the UT Southwestern library seeks to base its most important decisions on the needs of those who use it. A recently completed survey will help it to achieve that goal.

In February 2003, an independent consultant was commissioned to determine the library’s share in the indirect costs incurred by UT Southwestern faculty who conduct federally sponsored research. During the next 12 months the ensuing survey was periodically distributed to patrons who entered the library as well as to patrons of the virtual library who use electronic resources and services via the library’s Web site. In all, more than 11,000 electronic and 2,000 paper surveys were returned. The results of this survey will allow us to identify who uses the library and for what purposes.

The primary findings were that 39 percent of users of the virtual library used it for sponsored research and patrons of the physical library were more inclined to use it for instructional or education purposes. Other findings about the virtual library were that 30 percent used it for instruction or education and 11 percent for patient care; all other uses accounted for 20 percent. Also noteworthy was that more than half of the physical library patrons identified themselves as medical or graduate students.

These data confirm what we have long suspected — that the primary clientele of the physical library consists of students. However, use of the virtual library is substantially different. Also relevant is the relatively limited use of both the physical and virtual libraries for patient-care purposes.

The library staff is keenly interested in how electronic media and services change the information seeking behavior of its patrons. The results of this survey will enable library staff to better analyze physical and virtual use patterns at UT Southwestern and to customize resources and services accordingly.

Academic Computing Services (ACS) has become part of the new Center for Biostatistics and Clinical Science (CBCS). Milton Packer, M.D., has been named director of the new center. Joan Reisch, Ph.D., is the center’s assistant director.

All services formerly provided by ACS will remain the same as will phone and office numbers. However, the new mail code is 8822.

For more information on the CBCS’s mission and the training programs being offered, visit the CBCS Web site at http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/home/educ/CBSCS/index.html.

In July, Drug eFacts replaced MICROMEDEX as the library’s major online drug resource. Library staff evaluated the new product with MICROMEDEX and selected Drug eFacts as the superior product.

This drug resource includes the following features:

• Drug Facts and Comparisons — Drug evaluations and comparisons are organized by therapeutic drug classes. It also provides comprehensive index of generic and trade name drugs and a detailed outline for each therapeutic section.
• Drug Interaction Facts — This file includes more than 1,200 monographs with the interacting drugs, a five-point significance rating, and details about the onset, severity and documentation of each interaction. Descriptions of the effects, mechanism and management are included, as well as a brief review and assessment of the studies used to document the interaction. Primary references are cited and linked to PubMed.
• The Review of Natural Products — These are in-depth monographs based on scientific research, not just anecdotal information. It includes botany, history, chemistry, pharmacology, medicinal uses, toxicology, and patient information.
• Med Facts: Patient Information Handouts — Med Facts allows you to supplement verbal patient counseling with a printed patient information sheet.
• Herbal Interaction Facts — Organized by herbal product, this manual covers safety issues concerning possible drug-herb and drug-food interactions, such as significance, onset, severity, documentation, and mechanism.
• Nonprescription Drug Therapy — Organized in chapters on body systems, this guide covers conditions patients may choose to self-treat with the appropriate nonprescription pharmacotherapy. Each monograph contains information on etiology, symptoms, treatment, and patient information and counseling.
• Off-Label Drug Facts — This resource covers off-label drug uses in patient populations, indications, and routes of administration or doses that are not reflected in FDA-approved labeling. Significant and current off-label uses are described. In tabular format, all relevant placebo-controlled and non-controlled trials are summarized as well as historical cohort studies and case reports for each unlabeled use. For each study the indication, design, patient population, dosage and duration, results, safety, and author conclusions are presented.
• Cancer Chemotherapy Manual — CCM provides information on administration of chemotherapy, safe handling and extravasation of anti-neoplastic agents, and combination chemotherapy regimens. Drug monographs detail supportive and chemotherapy agents along with other drugs used for treatment. Three chapters include an extensive focus on patient care, general patient education and resources, specific medications and symptom management.

Locating Drug eFacts on the library's home page (http://www4.utsouthwestern.edu/library) is easy. Just look in the blue bar at the top of the page.

Annual static IP/server registration is necessary to update Information Resources (IR) with the latest information, clean DNS entries, re-claim unused addresses and easily identify registered users during crises. All technical administrators and/or primary contacts are responsible for re-registering their statically assigned machines by Sept. 1, 2004.

Registration has begun. Primary contacts have been sent a complete list of previously registered machines/servers. If there are any questions or concerns, contact the IRC Call Center at 214-648-7600 to open a ticket.