17 December 2002

Disposal of Assets

The University rules for Disposal of assets apply to all University property including, for example, computers bought through research or consultancy funds. Even if the computers are quite old they need to go through the formal asset disposal process. Here is a summary of the policy.

Disposal of University Assets

The University's Assets Policy [link updated] includes procedures for the disposal of University equipment.

The Division must follow the procedures in this policy whenever disposing of equipment, including equipment purchased from research funds and other University accounts.

Equipment purchased from any Divisional cost centre, including research funds, remains the property of the University and must be returned to the Division:

  • if the equipment is to be replaced or upgraded;
  • if the equipment is no longer useful; or
  • if the project for which the equipment was purchased comes to an end.

The Division will then organise to reallocate the equipment, or organise its disposal appropriately. If you are purchasing replacement equipment, ask the supplier whether you can trade in the existing equipment to reduce the price of the new purchase. Check with the Deputy Director that this is acceptable.

Any income from the disposal of assets will go into general Divisional revenue, not back to the cost centre from which the equipment was originally bought.

If you have any equipment that is no longer being used, contact the comedu helpdeskand the helpdesk will arrange for the equipment to be removed.

[2/3/2004] See also the University's Administrative Procedural Guidelines for Externally Funded Research [link updated] for further details on the University's policy on the ownership of assets purchased from alternate funding sources (particularly sections 1.4 and 3.1).

[8/3/2004] See Asset management for further details on managing University property in the Division.

17 July 2002

Public Documents

UPDATE: dcenas is no longer operational: Public Documents have been moved to the Web CMS and the DFS (Distributed File System). Contact ICT Services for information].

Divisional Executive at its meeting of 19 July 2002 requested that the Division's public documents (meeting agendas, minutes, policy documents, forms and so on) be made available to the Division's staff electronically through a shared drive.

A trial system is now in place: on the Division's Network Attached Storage device (DCENAS), there is a public_documents directory that everyone in the Division can access, to read or download the Division's public documents. Instructions for getting access to the share are included in detail below, for Windows and Macintosh users. You can also access the system using a Web browser [how?]. Please note that the system is still under development, and these instructions are subject to change as we trial the system.

If you aren't already logged on to UCSTAFF domain (if you are using a Macintosh, for example), you will need your staff ID (including the 's') and your proxy password (the domain is UCSTAFF).

If you have a UCSTAFF log on and password, you will be able to read documents from any directory or folder within the share. You can only add documents to directories or folders where you have permission: set depending on your location and job in the Division. All staff should be able to transfer documents to their School's directory and the general directory within the School's directory, but not to the hos directory: only Heads of School and their Administrative Assistants can write to the hos directory.

What files?

Documents in the Public documents drive can be read by anyone in the Division: therefore only documents that are appropriate for this audience should be put on the drive. Any draft or working documents should be clearly labelled as such on each page of the document.

Documents can be in any format you like: Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, Acrobat files, even html documents. Just make sure you follow the file naming conventions for the shared drive.

Using the drive

Put documents (like the minutes of meetings) in the appropriate folder or directory on the shared drive. Create additional folders or directories (if you have permission) to organise your documents logically. Try to keep directory names short but clear. Don't use spaces or strange characters in directory names: use the underscore character ("_", SHIFT-hyphen) instead of spaces. Once the document is in place, email the people who would normally get the document, telling them that the document is there.

You can include a link to the document in your email [how?]. People who receive the email and want to read the document can click the link in your email and either open the document from the shared drive, or download it to their own computer. This means that the document is not sent as an attachment to the email: reducing load on the network, and potentially reducing the amount of space used to store multiple copies of the same document on computers throughout the Division.

File naming conventions

There are a number of different computing platforms in use across the Division. While there is a high degree of interoperability between the platforms, some conventions have to be observed to ensure documents shared on the drive are accessible easily to all the staff in the Division.

For example, PC users need the ".doc" file extension on the end of a Word document file name so that their computer recognises the file as a Microsoft Word document. Macintosh users need file names no longer than 28 characters (not including the file extension). Spaces and other unusual characters in file names should be avoided because they aren't well supported when a web browser is used to access the document.

So, a few rules for file names for files stored on the shared drive:

  1. File names should have the proper DOS extension on the end (for example, ".doc" for Word files, ".xls" for Excel files, ".pdf" for Acrobat files). Most applications append these DOS extensions automatically, although you may need to set you computer up for the system to work properly. Contact the Help Desk for advice if you are unsure of the correct procedure.
  2. Use only alphabetical characters and numbers. Use the underscore character ("_", or SHIFT-hyphen) in place of spaces in file names.
  3. Limit filenames to 28 characters at most, or 32 including the file extension (for example .doc, .xls, .pdf).

Accessing the Shared Drive

Windows

  1. From the Start menu, choose "Run...".
  2. Enter "\\dcenas\", without the quotes, in the Open: field.

If you are logged on to the SLIE-DOMAIN, a directory listing should appear containing the shares on the Division's Network Attached Storage device that you have access to. If you are prompted to log on:

  • If there are two fields in the prompt:
    • your username should be in the form ucstaff\s123456. Note the backslash.
  • If there are three fields in the prompt:
    • your username is s123456
    • the domain is UCSTAFF

where 123456 is your staff id. Note the 's'.

Your password is your proxy password.

Public documents are contained in the public_documents directory.

You can map the public_documents directory as a network drive that is available every time you log on to UCSTAFF.

  1. Right-click the public_documents directory
  2. Choose Map Network Drive....
  3. Click Finish in the resulting dialogue box to complete the mapping.

Macintosh

OS 9

  1. Select Chooser from the Apple menu.
  2. Click the AppleShare icon in the Chooser's left-hand pane.
  3. Select Building20 in the list of AppleTalk zones on the bottom left.
  4. Double click dcenas in the right hand list under Select a file server:.
  5. A dialogue box prompting you for a user name and password appears. Enter your user name in the Name: field, and your password in the Password: field.
  6. A list of shares on dcenas appears. Double click public_documents in the list of items you want to use.

Once it appears on the Desktop, you can create an alias to the share by clicking its icon once to select it, then choosing Make Alias from the Finder's File menu.

OS X

  1. Choose Connect to Server from the Finder's Go menu.
  2. Type "dcenas" [without the quotes] in the Address field.
  3. Double click public_documents from the list of shares that appears.

You can make an alias to the share:

  1. control-click the public_documents icon on the Desktop [hold down the Control key on the keyboard while clicking the public_documents icon].
  2. Choose Make Alias from the pop-up menu.

Accessing Public Documents from the Internet

Authenticated users can access the documents using a web browser from anywhere on the Internet. Go to http://dcenas.canberra.edu.au/public_documents/

You may be prompted for a username, password and domain. Use your UCSTAFF id (with the 's') and proxy password. UCSTAFF is the domain. If there isn't a field to enter a domain separately, enter ucstaff\s123456 [where 123456 is your user name] in the user name field. See Logging on to secured services - Staff for more detailed instructions.

The interface is a bit primitive, but click the links until you find what you want. Depending on your platform and browser, you should be able to view or download the documents fairly easily. Contact the comedu helpdesk if you need assistance with viewing documents from the system.

What the abbreviations mean

Abbreviations have been used to shorten the links needed to link users to the documents via email messages.

Abbreviation Meaning
cc School of Creative Communication
dec Divisional Education Committee
div-exec Divisional Executive Committee
imt School of Information Management and Tourism
itic Information Technology and Infrastructure Committee
marketing Marketing Committee
pace School of Professional and Community Education
pc School of Professional Communication
slie School of Languages and International Education
sted School of Teacher Education
tsu Technical Services Unit
hos Head of School

Emailing links to documents to other users

If you have a valid user name and password, the documents in public_documents can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet using a browser. The address of the service is http://dcenas.canberra.edu.au/public_documents/.

Each document has its own address, for example the minutes of the IT and Infrastructure Committee held on 11 June 2002 can be viewed or downloaded (depending on your browser) at http://dcenas.canberra.edu.au/public_documents/executive/itic/Minutes_11_June_2002.doc.

To copy a link to an email message:

  1. Locate the link to the document via the Web (http://dcenas.canberra.edu.au/public_documents/).
  2. Copy the link to your email. How you do this varies depending on your computer and browser. Try these techniques:
    1. In Windows, right-click the link, and choose Copy shortcut from the menu that appears.
    2. On a Macintosh, hold down the Control key and click the link. Choose Copy link to clipboard from the menu that appears.
  3. Go to the body of the email message you wish to send out, and paste the link into the email. the link should appear in the form http://dcenas.canberra.edu.au/public_documents/executive/itic/Minutes_11_June_2002.doc. If the link does not appear in this form, contact cehelpdesk and we will show you a way that works properly for your computer and browser.

Contact the cehelpdesk to organise a demonstration if you are not sure what to do.

10 July 2002

Satellite radio and television services

The Division is currently investigating the possibility of installing a satellite reception and distribution system that would allow us to provide staff and students with access to selected free-to-air radio and television services.

There are a number of services potentially available to us through satellites: a list of the available services appears below.

We are now seeking expressions of interest from staff on what radio and television services they would like to see available through the system.

Please list, IN PRIORITY ORDER, any of the services that you would like to see us provide access to through the system for learning, teaching and/or research purposes. Include your priority ranking, the name of the satellite, the name of the service, and the language. A short justification, no longer than a sentence or two at the most, should accompany each service request.

Requests can be emailed to me, by 2 August 2002.

Note when developing your requests that it is more cost-effective for us to take several services from the one satellite rather than one each from a number of satellites, limiting the number of dishes that must be installed to receive all the required services all the time.

At this stage, no subscription, or pay, services are contemplated. Staff requiring access to pay services will need to develop a substantial case for the provision of the service, and it is unlikely that we would be able to afford distribution of any pay services throughout the Division.

Our plan at the moment is to include the local free-to-air television services (ABC, SBS, Prime, WIN and TEN) in the system.

TV and Radio services listed by satellite


NOTE: All TV services are MPEG2 PAL unless annotated otherwise in the "Comments" column.

Thaicom 3

TV ServiceLanguageComments
ATN TV BangalaBengali
MRTV MyanmarBurmese
TVK CambodiaCambodian
Gujari TV GujaratGujarati
Aastha TV Hindi
Korean Central TV (North)KoreanMPEG2 NTSC
Lashkara TV PunjabPunjabi
ETC TV PunjabPunjabi
Thai TV Global NetThai
TRT InternationalTurkish
VTV4 VietnemVietnamese

Insat 2 E

TV ServiceLanguageComments
AsianetMalayalamAnalogue PAL
AsianetMalayalam
KairaliMalayalam
DD NationalHindiAnalogue PAL
DD NationalHindi
DD MetroHindiAnalogue PAL
DD MetroHindi
Eenadu bouquetTelegu, Bengali, Marathi, Kannada, Urdu, Gujarati, Oriya

Asiasat 2

TV Service Language Comments
Saudi TV Arabic
Kuwait TV Arabic
Dubai TV Arabic
Dubai TV Business Arabic
Dubai TV Sports Arabic
Guangdong Cantonese
TV5 French
Deutsche Welle German
RAI Italian
Anhui Mandarin Most of the
Fujian Mandarin following Mandarin
Guangxi Mandarin TV services also
Hei Long Jiang Mandarin carry a radio service
Henan TV Mandarin
Hunan Mandarin
Hubei Mandarin
Jiangsu Mandarin
Jilin Mandarin
Liaoning Mandarin
Mongolia Mandarin
Qinghai Mandarin
Shaanxi Mandarin
TVP Portuguese
TVE Spanish

Asiasat 3S

TV Service Language Comments
Macau TV Bengali
Ekushey English
Now English
Bloomberg TV Asia English & Mandarin Analogue NTSC
Star Sports Hindi
SABe Hindi Analogue PAL
Sahara Korean
Arrirang TV World 1 Mandarin Analogue PAL
Asia Plus TV Mandarin Analogue PAL
CETV Mandarin Analogue NTSC
Phoenix TV Mandarin
Channel V Mandarin
Sun TV Mandarin
CCTV 4 Mandarin
CCTV 9 Urdu
Indus Urdu Analogue PAL
PTV World Urdu Analogue PAL
PTV 2 Urdu

Palapa C2

TV Service Language Comments
Myawardy Burmese
Channel News Asia English
TV5 French Analogue PAL
RFI Radio French Radio Analogue
Bali TV Indonesian
RCTI Indonesian
TVRI Indonesian Analogue PAL
MTV Indonesia Indonesian Analogue PAL
Metro Indonesian
Swara Indonesian
Metro Indonesian
Anteve Indonesian
News Radio 68H Jakarta Indonesian Radio MPEG
RRI Pro 2 Radio Indonesian Radio MPEG
TV Brunei Malay

OPTUS B1

TV Service Language Comments
ABC services & feeds English
Imparja English
Commercial feeds English

OPTUS B3

TV Service Language Comments
Austar/Foxtel group English Pay Services
Optus Aurora English
Globecast bouquet English, Mandarin, Hindi, Turkish

Panamsat 8

TV Service Language Comments
TARBS bouquet Mandarin Arabic Chinese Filipino Greek Iranian Italian Korean Macedonian Polish Portuguese Russian Serbian Spanish Turkish Pay services
ABC Asia Pacific English
CNBC English
EWTN (USA Catholic) English MPEG NTSC
NHK Japanese
NHK World Premium Japanese Pay service
CCTV 4 Mandarin
CCTV 9 Mandarin
Power Mandarin
Hai Hua Mandarin

Panamsat 2

TV Service Language Comments
Much

Era News

BBC World English MPEG2 NTSC
ABC Asia Pacific English
Fox News English
RAI Italian
YTN Korean
TVBS Taiwan (3 channels) more

Intelsat 701

TV Service Language Comments
French Caledonie * French & English Pay service
French LBF ** French Pay Service




* Cine Cinemas, S, latest movies TCM, E/F, Movies 20- to 80s RTL9, S, Series etc Disney Channel, S, Kids Eurosport, Sports live Cartoon Network, in french MCM, RFM TV Music 80s to todate Planete, similar to DISCOVERY, Euronews, E/F, Tele Nouvelle Caledonie, RFO1 local programming Tempo RFO2 from Paris RFO SAT, Programs of RFO Stations Worldwide XXLS Sex Channel, 2 Movies a night from 11 PM Sydney time CANAL Caledonie, local UHF channel, direct from France 1 Radio Channel Europe 1 Some channels may be time sharing, total transponder space is 13 channels
**LBF is a lower cost subset of the Caledonie TV services

20 March 2002

Macromedia Licence Agreement

The University has entered into a two-year Agreement with Macromedia to site license Macromedia applications on every computer the University owns, rents or leases.

The Agreement covers Dreamweaver UltraDev, Fireworks, Flash, Freehand, Director Studio and Authorware. Except for Authorware, which runs only on the PC, both Macintosh and PC versions of the software are available.

The software can only be used for educational purposes. Staff or students involved in commercial activities must purchase full copies of any applications they use for consultancies or to fulfil non-educational contracts. We have the option of granting limited Work at Home Use Rights to faculty and staff members. These rights permit the use of the Macromedia products on a personally owned computer for University work-related purposes only. Contact the helpdesk for further information.

TSU will install the applications in labs and staff machines as time and resources allow. Staff who have an urgent need for any of the applications should email the comedu HelpDesk with their request.

12 March 2002

Rollout of desktop computers

TSU rollout of staff desktop computers is complete. Any requests for new or updated computers should be directed through heads of school or unit to the comedu helpdesk, and will be considered in the light of available resources.

Electrical safety testing of equipment

An inspection and testing regime for the Division's electrical equipment must be put in place to satisfy our duty of care under, among other things, occupational health and safety legislation. A proposal has been put to PVC, and the issue is with VCAC.

Transition to UCSTAFF

What we're doing

Changing all staff from SLIE-DOMAIN to UCSTAFF.

Why we're doing it

Increase access and security for users.

When it will happen

Over the next three to six months.

What you have to do

Nothing. Technical Service Unit (TSU) staff will contact users individually to organise a smooth migration.

Tell me more

Over the next few months the Division will be moving progressively to the University's UCSTAFF domain, and away from SLIE-DOMAIN. Once in UCSTAFF domain, staff will have greater access to network services from any machine in the UCSTAFF domain, which includes computers in Category A teaching spaces and laboratories.

In conjunction with this move, the My Documents folder on all computers using Windows 2000 will be transferred to the Division's Network Attached Storage device (the NAS). All work in the My Documents folder will subsequently be stored on a central server away from your local machine, and will be backed up regularly both on the Division's server itself and in Building 10.

PCs using Windows 95, 98 or NT are being progressively updated to Windows 2000 and the transition to network storage and backup will coincide with the upgrade to Windows 2000. In some cases a new computer may be required and these are being rolled out progressively as resources permit. If you believe your computer needs to be upgraded please ask your head of school or unit to contact the Comedu help desk with the request.

Macintosh computer users will be able to connect to the NAS and store their work in much the same way as Windows users do.

Access to these individual workspaces will be possible (with appropriate permissions) from either Macintosh or Windows 2000 computers. Files can therefore be exchanged between platforms as long as file names conform to the Windows file naming conventions (files should have an extension, like .doc for Word documents, .xls for Excel, .pdf for Acrobat files, so that the files can be associated with their correct application on the Windows side).

Quotas limiting the space available for individual users will not be enforced initially. Storage will be limited only by the space available on the NAS. Usage will be monitored (down to an individual user's storage usage). If necessary quotas may be enforced later, or the NAS expanded if resources permit and requirements demand. We do expect the NAS to fill quickly, so be prepared for changes to policy on network storage.

Apart from investigations sanctioned under the University's policy on network access, an individual's own folder will normally only be able to be seen and written to by that individual. TSU supervisors will have access for technical management purposes and are bound by the University's network access policy.

There will be shared folders for each School, Centre or other administrative unit. These folders can only be seen by others in that School, Centre or administrative unit. There will be a folder that all staff of the Division will be able to see, but no-one outside the Division will have access to. Permission to write to these folders will be granted by the head of the School, Centre or administrative unit.

You will be given a new username and password to access the UCSTAFF domain. Eventually you will be able to use the same username and password you use currently to access the University's proxy and other central services, but it won't be possible to implement this until later this year at the earliest. It was decided not to wait until this service was available in order to facilitate staff access and increase security as soon as possible. Once the Division's organisational structure is mapped to the UCSTAFF domain, TSU staff will contact users individually to organise their changeover from SLIE-DOMAIN to UC staff.

If you have any questions, concerns or comments about this matter please email the comedu helpdesk.