NIH Directory FAQ

1) "Is there a User's Guide to the NIH Directory?"

Yes, the NIH Directory User's Guide can be accessed on the Web at

http://helix.nih.gov/docs/online/email/email.html

2) "How do I change the information in my NIH Directory entry?"

Users may change their NIH Directory Service entry either via the web

or via email.

To change via the web:

i. Send a blank email to getpass@nih.gov to get your password and

alias (unique id). (This step only needs to be done if you do not

know your current alias and/or password)

ii. Using a browser capable of making a secure connection (Netscape 3.0

and newer or Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and newer), go to the

web site http://directory.nih.gov/, click on "Change", and then enter

your alias and password. Click on "Enter" and your current Directory

Service entry will be displayed which you may then edit. Finally,

click on "Change Item" to update your Directory entry.

To change via email:

Send a blank email to change@nih.gov. Neither subject or body are needed

in the message. Follow the directions included with the form that is

returned to you.

3) "Why am I getting an error when I try to get my password and alias?"

The getpass function only works when the email message is sent to

getpass@nih.gov from an email address of which the NIH Directory

has knowledge. In other words, the message needs to be sent from either

the address that is currently listed in the user's entry or from an

account that is reported as being active by a system administrator.

Users may contact phadmin@nih.gov if they still can not access this

information after following these instructions.

4) "How do I change my alias? I want my alias to be johndoe@nih.gov"

A user's alias (which is the user's initials followed by a number and

then a letter) is automatically generated by the NIH Directory database

system when a user is added to the system and can not be changed. If a

user would like to use a nickname, such as johndoe@nih.gov, an entry

can be added in the nickname field of the user's entry which will allow

for this to work. However, nicknames must be used with caution as

they are NOT guaranteed to be unique nor are they guaranteed to REMAIN

unique (nothing prevents two or more users from selecting the same

nickname). For more information, see the NIH Directory User's Guide at

http://helix.nih.gov/docs/online/email/email.html

5) "My name is listed incorrectly (or has changed due to marriage/divorce,

etc) in the Directory and I can't change it - why not?"

A user is allowed to change all fields in a listing except the name and

lastname fields. To have name information modified, please send mail to

phadmin@nih.gov

6) "My name is not in the NIH Directory - can you please add it?"

Users appear in the NIH E-mail Directory as a result of information

provided on their behalf by LAN or system administrators. If you are

not in the Directory, it is because either:

-- your local e-mail administrator is not participating in the

Directory, or

-- your local e-mail administrator is participating, but hasn't

sent us an update recently.

-- your account is a new one, and hasn't been added to the

Directory yet. New accounts can take up to 3-4 days to

appear in the Directory.

Please ask your e-mail administrator to contact us at phadmin@nih.gov.

7) "I got an error message when I tried to update my listing - why?"

If a user gets an error message while attempting to update his listing,

the most likely cause is that the database is currently locked for

updating, especially if the problem is occurring on a Tuesday or Friday

morning. If the problem persists, please contact phadmin@nih.gov with

a copy of the message being received.

8) "How should I advertise my email address?"

The NIH Directory assigns an alias, such as gm13v@nih.gov, when a user's

name is initially entered into the system. This alias is guaranteed to

always remain unique and is the recommended method of advertising one's

email address. Mail sent to this address will be automatically forwarded

to the email address listed in the NIH Directory.

Users may advertise their e-mail address as Firstname_Last@nih.gov

(or any combination of your name and/or selected nickname) as long as that

address is unique within the NIH Directory. If the user's name or selected

nickname is unique within the NIH Directory, then mail sent to that address

will be automatically forwarded to the e-mail address listed in the NIH

Directory. However, only the assigned alias is guaranteed to remain

unique. Neither nicknames nor a possible combination of first and last

names (such as mark_smith@nih.gov) are guaranteed to be unique nor to remain

unique and users should carefully consider the consequences of using this

method to advertise their email address. Entries in the NIH Directory change

daily, and a name or nickname combination that is unique one day may not be

unique the next. When that happens, email will be returned to the sender

as undeliverable.

9) "I have been using a nickname or my name as my advertised email address

and now it no longer works – why? Can I get that email address 'grandfathered
in' since I was using it first?"

The use of nicknames or a combination of your first and last names as

your advertised email address is not guaranteed to be unique NOR to remain

unique once you have started using either. We advise users to use these

with extreme caution when using either of these as a means of advertising

their email addresses, especially persons who might have a common name.

It is possible that either someone might decide to enter the same nickname

in his NIH Directory entry or a new employee with the same name might start

working at NIH that would result in a conflict and prevent email from being

delivered as the uniqueness of the email address would be lost.

There is no way for us to preserve or protect a selected email address once

a user has advertised it for use. Even though someone may have used an address

for many years, there is no way for us to ensure, preserve or restore its

uniqueness. The ONLY guaranteed unique @nih.gov email address for each

employee is the use of the assigned NIH Directory alias. For this reason,

the recommended method of advertising one’s email address is via the alias,

like gm13v@nih.gov, because it is guaranteed to be unique whereas

mark_smith@nih.gov has no such guarantee.

10) "What does 'verified_by_user' mean?"

An entry is considered verified if the user has made changes to his/her

listing or acknowledged that the information currently listed is correct.

This indicator is VERY important for one reason: if a user's entry is

verified, the information in the listing (most importantly the email

address) will NOT be changed if a system administrator submits an update

with a new email account for that user. However if an entry is

unverified, any changes or new email account information submitted by

a system administrator will overwrite whatever is currently listed.

Thus, it is important that NIH personnel review and verify their

listings to ensure the most up-to-date information is listed.

11) "How often is the NIH Directory updated?"

The Helix Systems staff performs an update of the Directory twice a

week, normally early on Tuesday and Friday mornings. During these

times, update files that have been submitted by system administrators

are applied to the Directory database. Changes made by users on an

individual basis become effective immediately and are not processed

as part of the database updates.

12) "How can I find information about a specific employee?"

Information regarding NIH personnel may be obtained from the Web site at

http://directory.nih.gov/ by entering a name in the search box. You may

enter the first, last or full name of an individual, but please do not

include punctuation marks nor titles as part of the search entry. You

may use a "*" as a trailing wildcard on a name if you are not sure of the

spelling.

The NIH Directory Service does not contain complete information for every

person who works at NIH. It is possible that some employees may not be

listed as some Institutes do not fully participate in the directory

service. The Directory only contains information about individuals.

For information regarding offices, programs, etc., please contact the

NIH Office of Communications at nihinfo@nih.gov

13) "How can I do a search of the Directory and get a listing of all

employees in a specific Institute?"

The NIH Directory does not provide the capability to search on a

specific Institute.

14) "Can you provide me with the phone number, address or email address for

John Doe since it is not given as part of his listing?"

Users and their institutes are responsible for the content of employee

entries in the NIH Directory. If part of a user's entry is incomplete,

we have no way of being able to provide additional information regarding

that person.

15) "Why is my information in the Exchange Global Access List (GAL)

different than what is listed in the NIH Directory and can you please

change it for me?"

Changes that are made in the NIH Directory, with the exception of the

user's email address, are NOT reflected in the GAL. However, changes

made to a user's listing in the GAL do get reflected in the NIH

Directory if the user has NOT verified his/her listing.

Central Exchange Service email users whose address ends with

"@mail.nih.gov" or "@exchange.nih.gov" can modify their own personal

information at http://www.mail.nih.gov/ - click on the "Email and NIH

Domain Account Management" button on the left hand side and then

click on the "Modify how your information appears in the GAL...." link.

Other Exchange users should contact their local system administartors

or send email to postmaster@mail.nih.gov

16) "I have two entries in the GAL & people are sending mail to the wrong

address so I'd like to get the wrong one deleted. How do I do this?"

Microsoft Exchange users at NIH have entries added to the NIH E-mail

Directory. The Directory in turn is imported into the Exchange

Global Address List (GAL) on a daily basis.

Users who have their Exchange SMTP address set as the forwarding

address in their Directory entry will appear in the GAL once.

Users who have a non-Exchange email address set as the forwarding

address in their NIH Directory entry will appear in the GAL twice.

One GAL entry will be the Exchange address; the other will be the

preferred (NIH Directory) address. This is a "feature" of the NIH GAL.

The second entry in the GAL can be elimiated if users change the

preferred email address in their NIH listings to match their Exchange

email addresses. Once this change is complete, the second entry in the

GAL will disappear with the next overnight update of the GAL.

17) "I have two listings in the NIH Directory - how do I delete a duplicate

or incorrect entry?"

To get a duplicate entry deleted, please send email to phadmin@nih.gov

specifying the multiple entries and the alias of the entry that you wish

to keep. Multiple entries will be combined into a single entry and a

listing added to the nickname field with the duplicate aliases so that

any messages addressed to the deleted alias can still be successfully

delivered.

18) "Can you please delete my email account johndoe@systemname.nih.gov?"

Email accounts must be deleted by system administartors - this is NOT

a function of the NIH Directory administrators. To close CIT

accounts, including Helix, Wylbur and ALW, please contact the

CIT accounts at x43278.

19) "John Doe left NIH several years ago and still has a listing in the NIH

Directory - could you please delete it?"

Entries appear in the Directory based on the existence of one or more

valid NIH e-mail accounts. Users are removed from the Directory when

e-mail accounts are no longer reported for that user. Because of a

series of checks and balances within the database software, an entry

for a user can not be deleted from the NIH Directory when active e-mail

accounts for that user are still being reported to the Directory Service.

For assistance in deleting CIT e-mail accounts, including Helix,

Wylbur, ALW and POP accounts, please contact the CIT Help Desk at

301-594-3278.

20) "My listing in the DHHS Directory (Dept. of Health & Human Services) is

incorrect - could you please correct it or send DHHS an update?"

DHHS receives a complete update of the NIH Directory database on a

daily basis and they use it when they perform the updates of the DHHS

Directory. NIH Directory Service personnel have no control over the

frequency of DHHS Directory or how the NIH Directory database information

is applied to the DHHS Directory. For questions regarding your listing

in the DHHS Directory, please contact webmaster@psc.gov

21) "Can you send me information regarding XYZ disease or put me in touch

with someone who can assist me?"

For questions such as this, please please contact the NIH

Office of Communications at nihinfo@nih.gov

22) "Can you send me information regarding grant information or employment

opportunities?"

Questions regarding grants should be sent to grantsinfo@nih.gov

and questions regarding employment opportunities should be addressed

to the NIH Office of Communications at nihinfo@nih.gov

last updated 7/5/2001 by mmp