Help Page

Select from the following topics:

Password doesn't work

If you enter a password and get the message, "The code you entered was incorrect," it's probably because the codes are case-sensitive. The departmental course entry passcodes are all lower case. In most cases, the DUS codes contain uppercase letters and then three numbers. (If your DUS code does not contain any numbers, then it will be all uppercase letters).

Entering course descriptions

Entering your course description is simply a matter of following a set of links to the form for your course, then typing in the information in the appropriate fields.

You will be required to enter a passcode before you can proceed beyond the first stage of the process. Once you enter a correct passcode, you will be presented with a list of departments. Select your department by clicking on the department name.

Next, you will see a list of courses for your department. Select the course in the same manner as you did the department, and the entry form will appear on your browser.

You may fill out the form by typing at the keyboard, or you may cut and paste to pertinent fields from a word processor file. If you cut and paste, only the text will be recorded. All formats, such as underlinings or font changes, will be lost.

Making changes later

After you have entered the course description and submitted the form, you may go back to the course and change the information until the CoursePage has been approved. If you need to make a change after this time, your DUS can "unapprove" the CoursePage, after which it will again be available for you to modify.

Can course descriptions still be submitted on paper?

Course descriptions must be entered via these Web forms. Paper submissions will not be accepted.

The approval process

Course description must be approved by an appropriate representative of your department before they will become "public."

To make it easier to identify which courses have been approved and which ones have not, the approval status is listed beside the name of the course on the page that the lists of courses for your department. The primary department (the department that entered in a synopsis for a course) is listed also. If your department is not the primary department for a crosslisted class, you will not be able to edit or approve the synopsis.

If you are a DUS, the approval process can take place in the same forms that you might use to enter in the course synopsis information.

To approve a course, when you reach the synopsis page, simply click on the buttons next to the question "Approved by DUS?" and submit the form. You can approve multiple classes at a time by following the instructions on the page that lists the courses offered by your department.

Multiple sections of the same course

If you have the same information to enter for multiple sections of the same course, you don't have to fill in the form more than once.

Simply follow the links to the first section of the course you teach. After you have submitted the form, if your course has more than one section, you will be given a chance to "apply" that synopsis to the other sections of the course. You can then check off the checkboxes next to the different sections and submit your choices.

Please use caution in selecting this option so as to avoid overwriting someone else's course.

Working at Home

You don't have to input your course descriptions from your office. You can access the On-Line Course Synopsis input forms from any computer that has Netscape and a functioning Internet connection. This includes a SLIP or PPP connection over the telephone lines.

If you have a computer and modem and home, but are not currently dialing into the 'net, contact Duke's Office of Information Technology to acquire an account. You can get some hints about home software from DataCom's web site.

How is cross-listing handled?

How is cross-listing handled? As you may or may not know, there are two types of cross-listed courses:

  1. permanently cross-listed courses, which are courses cross-listed on a permanent basis in the course catalog, and
  2. one-time cross-listed courses, like special topics courses, which are cross-listed on a semester-by-semester basis.
These two types of cross-listed courses are handled differently by the course synopsis program, as outlined below.

  1. PERMANENTLY CROSS-LISTED COURSES
    Courses which are "permanently" cross-listed in the Duke University course catalog have a "primary listing" or "owning" department. Synopses for permanently cross-listed courses must be entered in and approved by "owning/primary listing" department. Once the synopsis is approved by the primary listing department, the approved synopsis is automatically transferred to all cross-listings as an approved synopsis, and is available for public view in all of its cross-listed departments/programs.
  2. ONE-TIME CROSS-LISTED COURSES
    One-time cross-listed courses, which include ALL cross-listed special topics courses are not permanently cross-listed in the course catalog, and have no official "primary listing department" in the class schedule files. Consequently, information that is entered in one department/subject must be entered separately in the cross-listed departments. If your password does not allow you access to the cross-listed department/program, you'll have to contact the relevant department/program to get their password. To make this multiple-entry process easier, there is a "shortcut" to importing an already-approved synopsis from another department, from a current or past term. On the input page, look for the link which reads "If you'd like to import a synopsis from a past semester, or an approved synopsis from another department scheduled for this current term, then click here." This will allow you, with a few keystrokes, to import an approved synopsis that has been entered and approved in another department in the current term, or in the past. Once you save your synopsis in a cross-listed department, you should contact the relevant DUS/DUS assistant to inform them that they should approve your submitted synopsis.

How to enter special formatting codes

It is possible to include HTML formatting codes in the information fields. For example, you can italicize the names of textbooks by inclosing the name of the text in the appropriate HTML tags, e.g.,:

<i>name of text</i>

will display as

name of text

Although other HTML tags may also be used, it is important to make certain all tags are closed as well as opened. If the information that displays back after you submit the form is not what you're expecting to see, you probably made a mistake with your HTML coding.

We request that you only use HTML tags if you are already well-acquainted with HTML programming.

How to list a course's web page

If you know how to write HTML code, you can include an active link to a web page (see special formatting codes for details).

We recommend you include the homepage listing in the "Course Homepage" field, without using HTML formatting.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you wish to include an active link to a course's home page, you must define the URL in its absolute form, including the web server and the complete path to the file.

Linking to your synopsis page

For Summer and Fall 2000 synopses, use this URL in your references:

http://www.aas.duke.edu/synopsis/view.cgi?term=your_term&subj=your_dept&course=your_course_number&s=your_section_number

your_term values:
2000 Summer Full0770
2000 Summer 10780
2000 Summer 20785
2000 Fall0800

So for example, if you want to link to the Fall 2000 synopsis for ECON 49S section 01, then you would make the following hypertext link:

<a href="http://www.aas.duke.edu/synopsis/view.cgi?term=0800&subj=ECON&course=049S&s=01"> My course synopsis</a>

Requesting further help

If you don't find your question answered here, send email to

synop@aas.duke.edu


synop@aas.duke.edu