Beyond Student Housing: Computer and Network Resources
UC Davis provides a variety of computer resources (in addition to what Student Housing provides) to support students during their academic careers.
In addition, many free and for-pay services are available on the Internet. Remember: learn as much about the service, users' responsibilities, and services' privacy policies. Always exercise caution and prudence when utilitizing any service: lack of knowledge or understanding is not an accepted legal defense.
UC Davis Internet Tools
Students should begin by acquiring a copy of UC Davis Internet Tools, available online free of charge from IT Express. Internet Tools includes several tools including anti-virus software to get students up and running online and on the campus network.
Campus Computing Resources
Campus computer resources, including campus network information and computer policies, may be found at the following sites:
- Campus Computer Labs (IET-operated)
- Campus Computer Use Policy
- Campus Software Website
- Information Educational Technology (IET)
- IT Express - Computing Services Help Desk
- Student Computing Guide
- UC Davis Computing Account Services
- Wireless Networking: Campus Coverage Maps
Search Engines
Because of its dynamic nature, one of the best ways to locate information on the Internet is to utilize one of the many search engines available. Various search engines use different methods of cataloging information, so it is worthwhile to conduct your searches using more than one search engine.
The following is a list of some of the more widely known search engines:
Metasearch engines send search requests to several search engines simultaneiously, then aggregate the results into a single results listing for the user. This is useful as the user effectively utilizes several search engines at the same time.
The following are metasearch engines:
For a more comprehensive, frequently-revised list of search engines, check out Wikipedia's 'list of search engines' webpage
VoIP (Internet Telephony)
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a general term that describes the transmission of voice communications over IP networks such as the Internet.
To learn more about VoIP, refer to the websites listed below, or use one of the Internet search engines to find out more about what is available. But before downloading tools off the web, make sure it is both legal and safe. Downloading or illegally possessing copyrighted material from the web can jeopardize one’s academic career and may lead to prosecution.
- Overview on Wikipedia
- Skype - Internet Calling
- UC Davis IRC - Internet Relay Chat - How To Guide
Usenet
Usenet is a collection of newsgroups compiled on the UC Davis news server. Similar to both a mailing list and a bulletin board, newsgroups are discussion groups or forums where articles pertaining to a given topic are stored on a server for a period of time, and users must subscribe to the news group to receive notifications for new articles. Individuals can post a message for the entire group to read, and anyone can respond similarly. Several topics might occur simultaneously, or the entire group may focus on a single subject.
Usenet newsgroups are divided by subject areas within broader categories. For example, alt.rec.cars would be a newsgroup targeted toward individuals interested in cars as a recreational hobby. UC Davis uses UseNet to distribute class information and for class discussion groups, as well as for sharing department and campus information.