Last changed 13 Feb 2018 ............... Length about 5,000 words (41,000 bytes).
(Document started on 1 Oct 2005.) This is a WWW document maintained by Steve Draper, installed at http://www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/wsearch/studentsearch.html. You may copy it. How to refer to it.

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Ways to search for a student

By Steve Draper,   School of Psychology,   University of Glasgow.

This page collects and compares ways to search for a student's details, given some of them. (Someone else's list of search facilities: link)

First it discusses a set of alternative facilities with some details of what they do and how to use them. Then a list of possible user tasks with brief statements of which facility to use for that task. Then other notes including where to find (online) lists of codes etc.

(One of the roles supported here is that of Adviser of Studies. To see notes on how to use Doodle to arrange appointments with Advisees, see here.)

Facilities (operating)


Facilities (notes)

  1. Studentbase

    Current students only, data 24 hours old. Bigger pics. Wild cards for name searches, course searches; but exact matric only.
    Registration: Apply to Elizabeth McAlavey

    It is generally quicker than Mycampus, and no login timeouts; but only shows currently registered students, and their current enrolments. However it does do individual and class rosters; does do picture gallery printouts of a class, or of any hand-assembled collections of matrics. Has handy network set of links: so you put in one student ID; get their list of classes, click on the link for each class to see the roster of that class, etc. Quick download of Spreadsheet of data for a class/roster, without pics.

  2. Mass student email

    Description of new CLASS email systems

    Examples

  3. Websurf

    (Websurf home page)
    Websurf direct
    Old students as well as currently registered?
    Registration: goes through humans, takes days.
    Exact matric, or partial names (but gives no info on what the wild card chars are). Wild cards for name searches; but exact matric only, exact course codes. Searches all past students as well as current ones. Nice, but ...

  4. Old lists of student email addresses   wstudaddr

    (The link goes to UoG web pages, slow access (probably only slow with IE5); script wstudaddr is faster and can search all pages (whole alphabet) at once.)

    The data: This is the only place it is possible to look up a student email address. Because of marriage, and error in Registry records, a few students do not have an email that can be predicted from their matric and surname. Current students only: in fact only students with an email: this lingers after they leave for some months, but level 1 students don't get one for a while.

    It is also the only place you can search by a partial matric number (even though there is naturally a high number of typos due to poorly hand-written matric numbers).

    The web pages: Gives you the email, given the surname. Can take a long time to load (this bug may only be IE5 parsing simple tables). Requires a close knowledge of surname and even then you may not be able to tell which one from initials and faculty and matric, because it shows only surname (not first name) and matric.

    My unix script 'wstudaddr': is superior because:


    The script is indifferent to case. Examples:
    Use 'wstudaddr name' for whole or the start of a surname, get fast search.
    Use 'wstudaddr -sub lean' for part of name (slower, but get McLean, Maclean, Lean, etc.)
    Use 'wstudaddr 3455' for all students with matrics containing this: typically 2-4 only, in fact.
    Use 'wstudaddr 20.752' to express a single unknown digit i.e. wildcard. I.e. RE syntax is passed through, and no quotes needed unless shell reacts.

  5. Script 'course': searching on course names

    My unix script 'course' searches a list of course names (titles, codes, departments; case indifferent), and presents the hits on a web page.

    Examples:

Tasks: Searches a user might want to do

Find a student and/or their details from:

  • Whole matric number: studentbase -> all details and photo
  • Partial matric number: wstudaddr -> surname, matric, email
  • Whole surname: studentbase -> all details and photo
  • Partial surname, or first name: studentbase -> all details and photo
    GQL
    script "namematcher"

    Find a whole,exact matric number from only part of it

    See above: to find a student's matric number given part of it (but perhaps an illegible digit), use "wstudaddr" which allows wild cards and incomplete matrics.

    Find a course / code from:

    Find a student's email address

    To email a class

    To email all level 4 biologists (for example)

    To find a student given their first name: use studentbase and spec * for the last name, and give their first name.

    Search notes

    Wild cards

    Case insensitive (! esp. useful for course codes)
    In studentbase, get text (not picture) default by doing first search
    like that.
    

    Online lists of codes

    Advice sources

  • Linsay Black Mycampus expert, query provider x7182
  • Dawn Mckenzie Mycampus expert, query provider x7181
  • Anna Phelan PIP/catalogue interface x5374

  • Joanne McFadden ext.7406 Fraser bldg. Contact of Lynda's; expert MC query writer. now retired

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