Use of the CMLE

Professor John M. McCann
Fuqua School of Business
Duke University
Last update: March 5, 1996

This page describes the use of CMLE software in support of BA 491. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this page, please send them via email to mccann@mail.duke.edu.

Overview of the CMLE and BA 491

This course makes extensive use of the CMLE software services at Fuqua. In addition to electronic mail, gopher services, and the Fuqua bulletin boards, you will be directed to relevant material on the Duke University bulletin boards. This course also will make extensive use of the Netscape WWW browser from Netscape Communications, Inc. You will receive instructions on how to acquire this software and install it for home use. Netscape is also available for your use in the Fuqua computer labs.

Since all of the material for the course in on the WWW in HTML format, there will be very few handouts in the course. I have printed and will distribute the CyberTrends documents because they are large and an integral part of a major assignment.

If you do not yet have the CMLE software running at home, you are strongly encouraged to do so very early in this course. If you do not have the necessary hardware to run the CMLE software at home, you can find every resource you need in the Fuqua computer labs. However, you are likely to spend extended periods of time working on the Internet as well as constructing WWW documents to complete course assignments. Therefore, you will find it far more convenient to work from home if at all possible.

The BA 491 Bulletin Board

Bulletin boards are automatically created for each section of each course taught at the Fuqua School. And, when there are multiple sections of a course, a top-level board is also created. As there are two sections of BA 491, three bulletin boards have been created. For the purposes of this course, I will be using only one of these bulletin boards. From the point of view of electronic discussion, I will be managing the course as if there were only one board. A welcome message has been posted on each board, making it clear which board is being used for class postings. You should use the bulletin board labeled open.ba.491.Mktg_&_the_Internet for this course.

The bulletin board will be an integral component of this course. As such, its use is required by all students. All students are required to check the bulletin board at least once every 24 hours. Any announcements posted on the bulletin board will be considered distributed to all students 24 hours after the posting. I will also check the bulletin board at least once each 24 hours and will respond to student questions in that time frame.

Any student questions related directly to the course are to be posted on the bulletin board. Do not contact the instructor directly about any course-related issues. Instead, post any questions of this nature so the issue and response is available to all members of the class.

Past experience indicates that in a course of this type, there will be many questions of a technical nature. You are strongly encouraged to respond to these inquiries, or any others where you feel you can steer someone in the right direction, or contribute to the discussion. In this sense, the bulletin board is not intended as a place where students post questions and wait for instructors to provide responses. Instead, the bulletin board is a means for the class as a whole to raise issues, make suggestions, offer assistance, and generally conduct dialogs related to the course.

Duke University Bulletin Boards

In addition to the Fuqua bulletin boards, there are many bulletin boards maintained by Duke University that will be relevant to your course work. The page on WWW Authoring offers suggestions for several boards that are related to WWW development. Depending on your specific interests, you may find other public bulletin boards of interest to you as you complete assignments and pursue your interests. If you are not familiar with the Duke University bulletin boards, these are accessible via the WinVN software in the Fuqua computer labs, and via your home installation of CMLE. You are strongly encouraged to explore these resources.

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail will be important in this course. While the bulletin boards serve as a public forum for discussing course-related issues, electronic mail will be useful in several ways. You will be working in teams to complete assignments. As such, communicating with fellow team members in this format will prove to be an efficient means of sharing work and keeping synchronized.

In the submission of assignments, you will be directed to use electronic mail in specific ways. And, feedback from instructors on assignments will be provided via electronic mail. Students in this course are required to check their electronic mail at least once each 24 hours. Any information sent via electronic mail from the instructors or students will be considered distributed after a 24 hour period. The instructors will check their electronic mail at least once each 24 hours.

You are encouraged to use electronic mail to discuss any personal issues regarding the course with the instructors. Examples include any concerns regarding your individual grades, course attendance, personal emergencies, and so on. These are topics that are clearly not appropriate for posting on a bulletin board for review in a public forum. If you submit inquiries to instructors that are of a general, course-related nature, you will be asked to post these to the course bulletin boards instead of addressing them via electronic mail. The electronic mail addresses for the instructor is:

John McCann:

mccann@mail.duke.edu

The FSB Gopher

The Fuqua School provides gopher services for each course offered during a term. The instructor may use the Gopher services to distribute files related to this course. In these cases, announcements will be made via postings on the course bulletin board. If you are unfamiliar with the use of the Fuqua Gopher services, you are encouraged to spend some time exploring this resource.


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