Register your address in E-Mail Directory

By MARA McGINNIS
News Services Editorial Assistant

Formally linked to the UB Web site last spring, the E-directory is a searchable, online directory of faculty, staff and students. The directory can be accessed through UBWings, the UB homepage or directly at ldap.buffalo.edu. It allows individuals to register their preferred e-mail address and to update their entry data at anytime.

"The E-directory provides the most up-to-date information available to those trying to contact members of the university community," explained Gary Pacer, associate director of administrative computing who coordinates the data files for the E-directory. "Since the paper directory used by employees can take 4-6 months to produce, it is not always timely and accurate.

"Each night, the E-directory information from the university's data sources is automatically updated by adding new students, faculty and staff and removing the entries of individuals who have left the university," added Pacer.

The E-directory provides name, title, office address and office phone number for faculty and staff members. Students are listed with their department or school if they have declared a major. It is the individual's responsibility to go online and register his or her own e-mail address.

Jim Gerland, associate director of academic services in CIT, explains that the E-directory does not automatically list e-mail addresses because many faculty, staff and students use other e-mail accounts rather than their UB UNIX account to receive their mail, such as departmental servers or personal accounts that they may access off campus.

"The E-directory has the potential to offer UB a valuable and convenient online resource, but we need everyone to cooperate by registering their preferred e-mail address," said Gerland. "We get a lot of inquires from people who can't find what or who they're looking for in the E-directory. We're encouraging everyone at UB to register to make it easier for those on or off campus trying to contact them."

Faculty and staff must know their UNIX username and password, even if they never use it, to update or register on the E-directory. According to Gerland, many faculty and staff members use departmental mail servers like Microsoft (MS) mail or Quickmail and never use their UNIX account.

Gerland notes that all UB employees and students are automatically assigned a UB UNIX e-mail account when they join the university. If an individual would like to easily find out their username, also referred to as login name or user ID, they can swipe their UB (SUNY) card at one of the public computing sites on campus.

Passwords consist of a formula. For students, it is: the 2 digits of their birth month, the 2 digits of their birth day, the last six digits of their UB Card ID number. For faculty and staff, it is: the last four digits of their social security number followed by the last six digits of their UB Card ID number. The password stays in effect until the user logs in and changes it. It is recommended for privacy purposes that users change their password as soon as possible.

E-mail users also have the option to set their address to a new, easier and shorter e-mail address which replaces their mail server with the alias: @buffalo.edu.

"We are strongly encouraging everyone to set their published address to @buffalo.edu, not only because it is shorter and easy to remember, but because it allows you one e-mail address that you never have to change," explained Gerland. "It (@buffalo.edu) is an alias that is an alternative to your current e-mail address. You can list your published address as @buffalo.edu and have it forwarded to whatever e-mail account you use most often without changing your username or current mail server."

To register your e-mail address on the UB E-directory, go to www.cit.buffalo.edu/mail/. For additional assistance, e-mail CIT at consult@buffalo.edu or call the CIT Help Desk at 645-3542.