IT Maintenance, Winter 2022

Berkeley Lab will be closed for the annual winter break starting on Friday, December 23, 2022, and will reopen on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. To help conserve energy over the holidays, remember to power off computers, monitors, peripherals, power strips, and any non-essential equipment.

Be aware that IT services will be operating on a modified schedule during the closure period. If you run into computer issues, please direct questions to the Help Desk.

The IT Networking (LBLnet) group has also planned maintenance tasks in almost all buildings from December 27-29, 2022, 8:00 AM until 10:00 PM each day. Network devices will receive updated software, which may disrupt wired and wireless network services within buildings for periods of up to 1 hour. Some of our services will lose redundancy as we upgrade devices, increasing the risk of a larger outage. 

Research Library Status

Building 54 at Berkeley Lab permanently closed in November 2022 in order to start work on the Seismic Safety and Modernization project. The Research Library and Reading Lounge, formerly housed in a room located underneath the cafeteria, will be closed until the new building is completed. Learn how to access library books and services while the project is underway. Reading time: 5 minutes

Google Workspace Updates

Check out the new ‘Follow’ feature in Google Slides to simplify real-time collaboration. Try adding user-friendly dropdown chips in Google Sheets to format statuses and data validation rules in spreadsheets. We also take a peek at what’s coming ahead to shared Google Drive permissions in early 2023. Reading time: 5 minutes

Staff recently experienced issues with the Zoom Scheduler browser plug-in. IT's Audio Visual Services worked with Zoom support to keep the Lab community informed until the issue was resolved. Visit Zoom @ Berkeley Lab for information on current video conferencing services and support. Additional resources are highlighted below:

• Zoom documentation is available in the IT FAQ.
• Looking for meeting space? Get an overview of Lab conference rooms.
• Visit the Video Library to watch recordings of past Lab events.