By: Ryan Johnson

Following up to a recent tech tip How to find out what email lists and listservs I’m on or manage, let’s talk more about Distribution lists.

Distribution lists (sometimes called distribution groups) are the solution for Outlook Web App users to communicate and collaborate with colleagues by creating a mailing list within the Office 365 outlook application.

Note: Distribution lists are NOT managed by Strat-Tech and to join a distribution list you would want to contact the owner.

The easiest way to know if a list is an Office 365 Distribution list is if the email is using the naming of @psu.edu instead of @lists.psu.edu.  @lists.psu.edu would signify a Penn State listserv or user managed group(UMG).

If you know the name of a library email list you want to join or know more about, simply add the name in the To: field in Outlook.  If it’s a distribution list, the name will appear or if you don’t know the entire name you can search as well.

In the example below, see how ul-ulibs appears but the name has @lists.psu.edu, this is NOT a distribution list, this is a listserv managed by Strat-Tech.  However, distribution lists do appear in the search, and the names are followed by @psu.edu.  These lists can be researched to see what manages them and who are the members by selecting the list:

After finding a distribution lists you want to join or find more information out about, you can let the name autocomplete and then expand the list:

To open the properties of the distribution list click on the name, a new window will appear with two tabs.  About and Members.

In this example I will click on the ul-ulibs-travel-request distribution list.

Note: if you click on the plus sign and not the name, the members of the list will appear only). 

travel listserv screenshot for tech tip (2)

If you select the Members tab, a list of owners along with the members will appear.  To join a list, simply request on of the owners to add you.

By: Ryan Johnson

Microsoft Teams recently introduced a new Meeting recap feature, allowing participants to get a quick overview of important information after the meeting is over.

After a meeting ends, you can find a summary of it in the chat group that’s automatically created for the meeting. In the left sidebar of the Teams app, click the Chat icon. In the second column, look for the title of the finished meeting and click it.

The recap window includes the chat text, notes taken, and files shared during the meeting, as well as a video recording and transcription if they were created. If you’re the organizer of the meeting, an attendance report will also be included; it can be downloaded as a .csv file.

However, there are some limitations to consider as well. Microsoft says that this update will not be enabled on channel meetings. Furthermore, meeting participants will need to turn on the meeting recordings and transcripts to include them in the recaps, with support available for English transcription only.

With the retirement of the University Library Listserv application a few years ago, it may be difficult to know what email lists and listservs you are a member of or may have created or manage yourself. Below is the process you should try to follow:

The first thing you can do is to check the Library Listservs page on the staff site.  This page lists all the lists currently managed by Library Strategic Technologies.  For any questions or changes to these Listservs, please fill out a helpdesk request. Please note, members of the lists are not available on the web page itself.

Next, you can check the Penn State Listserv page, which is managed centrally by Penn State IT. Click on Subscriber’s Corner to see your list subscriptions.  Please note the Library Listservs don’t appear here.

If you don’t see your email list as a listserv, the next place to check would be Penn State Account’s page accounts.psu.edu.

User Managed Groups (UMG’s) are another platform for email lists.  A UMG is a list of people created and managed by one or more students, faculty, or staff members to facilitate one or more of the following:

• Communication and collaboration with the individuals in the group,
• Granting or restricting access to files, folders, websites, or other resources, and/or
• Granting or restricting permissions related to those resources.

Select User Managed Groups icon on the accounts home page.  You can now view All My Groups or Groups I manage.

Finally, the email list you are looking for might be a Microsoft 365 Distribution list.  Distribution lists are accessible by clicking on your Settings icon in Outlook on the web.

Click on the search box under settings and type Distribution and click Distribution lists when it appears.

By: Ryan Johnson

To add a contact to Cisco Jabber, do the following:

1. Within Cisco Jabber, click File > New > Contact
2. Enter a person’s name or ULID in the box.
   • As you start typing, matches will appear.
   • If Cisco Jabber returns more than one match with the same name, you can verify you are adding the correct person by right-clicking on the contact name. Then click View profile. The person’s details will be displayed to you including “his or her job title, phone number, and email address.”
3. Once you have found someone you want to add as a contact, double-click the person’s name.
4. Select the group to which you want to add the contact or create a new group for the contact.
5. Click Add.

You have now added a contact to Cisco Jabber. Repeat these steps to add additional contacts.