If you are getting email from people besides the DNA Sequencing Core, your basic
email system is working. Go on to the next section.
Your ability to receive email may depend on three separate components:
(click on any of the following for definitions)
If you have not received email from someone (anyone) within the last day or so, you
may want to have your departmental computer experts check on these components for
you. You may be able to check a few things yourself:
Does the Sequencing Core have your correct email address?
Sequencing results are sent to the email address of the person who submitted the samples,
not the lab's PI. Check the email address entered under your name. Make sure it's correct.
We highly recommend that you give us your email address as 'uniquename@umich.edu',
and NOT your full email address (see below for term definitions).
If you ever change your email address, you will probably forget to change your entry in the
SeqCore's computer. However, it's more likely you'll remember to change your X.500
entry.
Everything looks OK up to this point? Call the Core's director (Dr. Robert Lyons, 764-8531)
and let him know about the problem.
Explanations and definitions:
Email server
Your incoming email is saved on a computer known as your email server. This is usually
*not* your desktop system, but instead is usually operated by your department or perhaps
by U of M itself (eg. the "IMAP" email servers). Your server is always turned on and
always connected to the network, unlike your desktop system. When you you want to read
your incoming email, you start up client software on your desktop computer:
Email client
To read your email, you start up an 'email client' on your desktop system. There are
far too many client programs to ennumerate here, but they usually do the following:
- They need to know your login name or unique name (may be saved in a file).
- They need to know the address of your email server (also may be saved).
The address is something.long.ending.in.umich.edu typically.
- They ask for your password (may be saved - not recommended).
- Clients then ask your server for all your email and allow you to see headers
and read selected email messages one at a time.
Your full email address
Your "real" email address is name@something.long.ending.in.umich.edu where 'name' is
probably your uniquename (assigned by the University) and the something.long... is the
full address of your email server. Most people have trouble remembering such long
email names, so the University instituted the X.500 system ...
X.500 system
Since people will usually forget your "real" email address, the University provides a
very useful service called X.500, where they take responsibility for remembering your
full email address, and anyone sending you email merely has to send it to umich.edu
(for example name@umich.edu). A central computer receives your email, looks up your
real email address and sends the message to your email server. A few key points:
- The name has to be recognized by the X.500 system as yours. 'Uniquenames'
where developed so each person has a name clearly assigned to them for
this purpose.
- The X.500 system can often figure out who you are if the name is something
like john.q.smith@umich.edu (note the periods instead of spaces). If there's
only one Margaret Larsen at the U, then email sent to 'margaret.larsen@umich.edu'
will be forwarded to her.
- The X.500 system is great for simplifying email addresses, but you must make
sure your X.500 record has your real email address in it. Your departmental
computer consultant can help you with this.
- You should always give people your simplified email address, such as
uniquename@umich.edu instead of your full email address. If you should ever
change to a different email server, you need only change your X.500 entry
and you'll still receive all your email. No need to tell dozens of people
about address changes ever again.
If you have any questions of comments, please contact Dr. Robert Lyons,
Director of the DNA Sequencing Core.