Marvin is a service that is available at no extra cost to all Heritage users who have a current Annual Maintenance Agreement. The name 'Marvin' comes from the novel, radio and television series 'The Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy' (hence the lift icon, above).
A list server is an e-mail forum where members can send e-mails that all other members on the same list receive. Other members can then reply to the message either via the list or directly to the original sender.
If you already use e-mail, then you can use Marvin. Some useful discussions, or 'threads' as they are known, can develop and it is a good way to learn about the latest developments and pick up ideas from other users. You will not be swamped with messages - the current average is in the range 10-20 messages per day.
How do I Join?
Simply send an e-mail to support@isoxford.com and ask to join Marvin. You should also include your Heritage serial number in the text part of the message. The Support Services team will confirm your membership of the list and you should begin seeing messages posted to the list from that point onwards. Remember that, when these messages arrive, they are not specifically addressed to you, but you are free to reply either to the list or to the relevant individuals.
If you would prefer to receive Marvin messages in the form of a weekly digest, rather than individually in 'real time', then make this known to the Support Services team. This applies to both new and existing members.
Can I look at previous 'Threads' before I decide whether or not to Join?
Yes, the following is a little out of date now, but covers questions that are still current whilst also giving a good idea of the kind of questions and answers that appear on Marvin.
The archive will then open in PDF format in a new browser window. If you prefer to save it for viewing on your own machine, right click on the link and choose the option 'Save Target As...'.
How can I tell which are Marvin messages and which are not?
In the subject column of your e-mail application you will always see the word 'Marvin' in brackets. Please look at the Marvin etiquette information below to familiarise yourself with the associated protocol.
Marvin List Server Etiquette
Marvin is a service provided by IS Oxford, but we do see it as an independent tool to be used by customers without intervention from ourselves. To this end, we have generally refrained from any attempt to censure what appears on it, or to join into debates to correct what we may consider to be unreasonable or even untrue comments. However, we will, and often do, reply to specific technical queries.
The following rules were designed to keep the list focused on Heritage-related matters and were put together with feedback from current members:
- E-mails should (in general) relate to aspects of running a Heritage site.
- The default reply address will usually be set to that of the group as a whole rather than to that of the individual who sent it. This is because, in general, replies to messages are usually intended for the group, whilst replies to the individual are the exception rather than the rule. Users should be aware of this so that they avoid the embarrassing and annoying situation where a private reply is sent to the whole group. This will mean that, if you do want to send a reply to an individual, you must change the reply address from Marvin to the address of the individual.
- No attachments should be sent to the list as this can cause problems with server space for the recipients. If you have attachments, such as a Word document, tell the list that you will supply it to interested parties 'off-line' (i.e. individually upon request).
- General e-mails should not be in HTML.These can cause some e-mail software problems for some members, and they inevitably create adidtional 'traffic'.
- Technical questions should be in a form that other group members are likely to be able to answer. There is clearly no simple rule that can be applied - not least because you probably need to know a lot about Heritage before you can judge whether a question is too narrow. However, it is suggested that technical questions should be in the 'How do I?' format rather than the 'It has stopped working' format. Also, do not be afraid to ask what are apparently simple questions.
- Discussions about future functionality are entirely appropriate, although it must be remembered that Marvin is only one of several sources of input that IS Oxford will consider when drawing up specifications for future versions of Heritage.
- The 'Subject' field should always be used when sending a message to Marvin - this is to give a clear indication of what the message is about. It is usually preferable to send several different messages than encompass a range of loosely related subjects in one message.
- For Heritage-related postings, please include the version of Heritage that you are using, e.g. 'H4.1.12 Loan periods' or 'H4.1.32 Reports'. The input from IS Oxford has to date been largely informal. We do not propose to respond to every message and may just respond to the originator. Thus, the lack of a response to Marvin members as a whole should not be taken as no response at all.
- Marvin is provided by IS Oxford and we therefore feel it reasonable to suggest that it should not be used to advertise rival products and services.
- When replying to a message, it is good practice only to include or quote the section to which you are replying, rather than the whole of the message. This makes it easier for others to work out which bits of the message are yours and which belong to the original.
- Please be careful to check your facts before posting messages. It is to be expected that a robust but inaccurate message may receive an equally robust reply.
