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New group to focus on Mac users' needs by George Spain Center for Academic and Research Computing In an effort to extend more help to the more than 1,000 Macintosh users on campus, the Office of the CIO recently initiated a Mac Shared Interest Group (mac-sig). It was standing room only at the first monthly meeting held in the Library's Macintosh lab, room 440. The group is scheduled to meet on the third Thursday of every month at 3 p.m. in the Library's Mac lab.   A shared interest group is a designation by the chief information officer, Frank C. Clark, Ph.D., that acknowledges a broad-based interest in a special topic and attempts to get those interested parties together to share information and work out solutions to common problems.   Other sigs include a Web sig, clinical simulation sig, compliance and accessibility sig, and others.   In addition to the meetings, which will address such topics as training for the new Exchange e-mail system, wireless computing setup, software purchasing and site licensing, and demonstrations of the new operating system (Leopard) scheduled to be released at the end of October, there is a mailing list that interested Mac users can join called mac-sig@musc.edu. To join the list Send an e-mail to majordomo@musc.edu Leave the subject blank In the text of the message, write subscribe mac-sig (don't use quotes) Send the message You will get a Welcome to the Mac-sig mailing list! To date, 105 users have signed on to use the list. Whether you are a newbie or an old hand, you can ask a question to the list and get responses from the members, all of who are willing to help.   “No question is too silly or too basic,” said Evans Jenkins, who, along with W. Roger Poston II, Ph.D., is chairing the new sig. “We want everyone to feel free to ask any sort of question to our list. Nobody's going to make fun of a simple question and someone usually gives a good answer within minutes,” Jenkins said.   Other plans for the Mac-sig group include a Web page and training series. Jenkins said the group would probably announce scheduling two different kinds of meetings in the future. “One where techies get together and talk about complex problems connected with networking and such; and another where everyday users could get together and swap questions on basic techniques of the Mac.”   The next meeting will beheld at 3 p.m. Nov. 15 in Room 440 of the Education Center/Library Building. No agenda has yet been set.     Friday, Oct. 26, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.