Lotus Domino/Notes @ UIC   What is Lotus Notes? Benefits of Lotus Notes Deploying Notes Notes Accounts Passwords Support Training Software available Status of Lotus Notes at UIC Lotus Notes: Guidelines and Procedures, software and installation instructions Lotus Notes related links What is Lotus Notes? Notes is a database-driven groupware application that manages information for many users on the network, to communicate, collect and share database documents, following a client/server model. Benefits of Notes Replicas and Replication: Notes lets you keep multiple copies of a single database, called replicas, on multiple servers or workstations. This lets users on a variety of networks in a variety of locations access the same information. Replication is the process of exchanging modifications between replicas. Through replication, Notes makes all of the replicas essentially identical over time. For example, users in one office can make changes to a replica on their server at the same time that users in another office make changes to a replica of the same database on their server. When the servers replicate, each replica is updated with the information from the replica on the other server. Replication makes Notes easily scalable: as capacity needs needs grow, only additional replicating servers need to be added. Working offline: As an example, replication allows a mobile user to replicate a copy of their Notes email database to their laptop before leaving the office. They can work on the email database reading, responding or deleting to email messages offline. Once back at the office, they can replicate the email database on his laptop back to the server, deleting the mail that they had flagged for deletion, sending the replies and receiving new mail. Notes is very customizable. Every application can be customized in less time that it would take with most other applications. Security: Notes provides high level of security to protect your information. Databases have several levels of security that can be established for different users or groups. Certain areas of a form can be encrypted so that only those that have a key can see it. The same form can have multiple fields encrypted with different keys. Documents can have digital signatures. This allows the recipient of the document to verify that content of the document has not been altered and that the person that signed it is who he/she says he/she is. The Notes Administrator cannot change a user's password. To prevent users from obtaining a copy of the database by gaining physical access to the server, the entire databases can be encrypted. You can prevent sensitive information from being forwarded by the recipient to others (i.e. recipient of an email cannot pass it on). Work flow: Notes allows you to set up applications to make it easier to route the form to the appropriate person. For example, a user could fill out a Purchase Order, once submitted the form is automatically sent to the Business Manager. The Business Manager approves it and digitally signs the form. Now the form is sent to Purchasing who receives it and after processing it, the information in the database could automatically update accounting records, and fax the form to the vendor. Inheritance:The ability to have a document inherit values from another document. For example the response to a posting in a news group can inherit the information from the original document so you can information such as who posted the original, when it was posted, subject and so on. Document sharing: Notes makes it easy for several people to work on a document, review it and make comments. Modification Log : Notes makes it easy to log document modifications (who modified it when) Rich Text Documents: Any Notes Document, including email, can have graphics, video and sound along with regular text. Web Publishing: Almost all the benefits of Notes are now available from the Web. Notes databases are automatically converted to HTML, in real time making it possible for you to browse or edit information in the databases.  Deploying Notes Deployment of Notes should not be taken lightly. It is not as simple as installing a new standard application on a user's workstation. It entails a strong long term commitment from your department to learn and teach the use of Notes and any applications you develop or choose to use. Installation and maintenance of a departmental Notes server is an even more involved undertaking. If you will be developing your own application or setting up a Notes Server, you need to plan on seeking training for yourself; setting up training for your users on the use of Notes and your application; supporting your application (even though you are using Notes, the application that you are using in Notes may be unique to your department and therefore users will have to rely on you for support). If at all possible, use the Academic Computing and Communications Center's servers to publish your database. It is much easier than setting up and administering your own server. You still need to provide your users with support for your application. Databases cannot be created on the server by the client are created by the Notes administrators. Application security is defined in the database and therefore is not related to the server where it resides. The Academic Computing and Communications Center has been charged with the deployment of Notes at UIC (similar organizations have been identified for UIUC, UIS and AISS). If you plan to setup your own server, you will need to follow the appropriate campus guidelines and procedures (to guarantee communication, replication, mail delivery and so forth). Also, be sure that the Notes applications you are interested in are available for your desired server and client platforms. To use Notes, all clients will need an account. When a Notes account is created a Notes ID will be issued by the Academic Computing and Communications Center following the same guidelines that we use for all of our systems. It is a file that contains information specific to this user. The file resides on the user's workstation and you'll need it to complete the installation of the client. You cannot edit or look at the file. We can only give accounts to current students, staff and faculty of UIC. Notes IDs are valid for one year from the date it was issued. IDs will be renewed if the user is still affiliated with UIC. For renewal instructions, please click here The Notes ID is assigned an initial password that should be changed immediately after setting up the Notes client. Please remember that the Notes Administrator (the Academic Computing and Communications Center) cannot change user's passwords. If a client forgets a password, all the administrator can do is to provide the client with a copy of the original Notes ID file and initial password. Since encryption keys are stored in the Notes ID files, any encryption keys that the client may have had in the Notes ID will be lost as will access to documents that had been encrypted with that encryption key. To access Notes applications from the Web, clients will need the Notes userid name and a password. The Web password is set to the initial password, but it is separate from the Notes ID password. You can change your Web password (but remember that this password is not related to the password that you use when you use your Lotus Notes client). Notes servers being setup by other departments also need a Notes Server ID that is supplied by the ACCC. During the experimental phase, Notes User IDs or Server IDs are free and can be requested at notesadmin@uic.edu. Please note that this email address is only for administrative type requests for the Academic Computing and Communications Center main Notes server. Notes clients at UIC are subscribed to a list called notes@uic.edu We will send announcements to this list. You can use it to post questions for other Notes users at UIC.   Support The Academic Computing and Communications Center can only provide minimal application development support. If you are considering developing applications using Lotus Notes, you will need to send a staff member for application development training, same with setting up and maintaining Domino/Notes Servers. The Academic Computing and Communications Center will not be able to develop or support applications for or developed by other Departments. Training  For a list of authorized training centers, please visit this Lotus Web site. That page and subsequent ones have all the training center in the US. Although we have not had experience with any of them for Lotus training, Productivity Point International and TeKnowlodgy have been mentioned to us as good places to go.  Software The software is available for Unix (HP-UX, AIX & Solaris) and for Netware, OS/2, Win3.1, Win95, NT and Mac. The software can be obtained for free from the FTP site (see below) or CDs can be obtained for $30/set. Application development manuals are available for $80/set. The administration set of manuals is also available for $80/set.. The Lotus Users Guide is also $80, but it is a very small manual which we do not feel is worth the $80. We recommend 10 Minute Guide to Lotus Notes 4.5 by Sue Plumley, published be QUE, ISBN 0789709457, cost should be around $15 (this book can be purchased from stores such as Book and Bytes or amazon.com) For the Lotus books and software, please allow three weeks from the time you order as we do not keep them in stock. Send a miscellaneous voucher to: Cynthia Rodriguez Academic Computing and Communications Center M/C 135 for the appropriate amount.  Status of Lotus Notes AT UIC The CC is currently evaluating notes, and during this phase we will make it available to interested faculty/staff for their own evaluations. The point of the evaluations is to determine if the Notes functions are worth the cost. If you want to participate, your goal should be to experiment enough with notes so you can tell us: Would you like to use it in production? If so, what application? Would you use canned applications, or develop your own? Do you see any alternatives for you application? How much support from the CC do you envision needing? During the evaluation period, we are not able to supply much support, so only normally self-sufficient computer users should ask.  Lotus Notes Guidelines and Procedures To use the licensed software you must agree to the following: 1) Users are created by the Academic Computing and Communications Center in the UIC Name and Address phonebook. Each user will have to be renewed on an annual basis, based on their status as an employee/student of the University. 2) You may not obtain and install the client or the servers through the University site license without participating in the University of Illinois tree. 3) If you are setting up your own server, you agree to make all reasonable changes or accomodations to ensure the integrity of the Notes Network at UIC. Please click I agree to continue, for software, installation and setup instructions. Lotus Notes related links http://www.lotus.com http://domino.lotus.com http://www.notes.net http://www.net.lotus.com http://www.support.lotus.com For mote information about the licensing or Notes @ UIC, please send us an email. Last updated: September 8, 1998 – CER