Document Files in iCollege

You may have been asked to help students who cannot open files within their iCollege classes.  Because library computers have facilitating software installed (Word, PowerPoint, Adobe Reader), it might be more of a problem for students at home or on their own devices. This is a known problem being worked on by OIT.  In case you missed the email describing their most recent temporary solution, it is copied below.

Changes to Document Viewer to Better Handle Files

Over the past few days, the Document Viewer feature which allows you to view a .pdf, .docx, .ppt, and similar files without the need to download or have additonal software installed has not worked appropriately causing many of you to see a Loading message instead of seeing the contents of the file.
The University System of Georgia(USG) has worked with D2L to find a resolution to this problem.  They have attempted several solutions but have yet to find a permanent solution.  Therefore, the USG has disabled the Document Viewer feature temporarily.
Now when clicking on a content link and depending on the web browser, you will be presented automatically with the OPEN or SAVE AS option or the file will automatically download.  Depending on browser configurations, PDFs will likely render within the browser.   This action will eliminate the perpetual LOADING message.  

The USG will continue to work with D2L to find a solution to the Document Viewer issue.