2004 IT Projects

Major projects funded in 2004 include:

New and replacement computers
245 new and replacement computers were purchased for the Division, including staff desktop, portable and student lab machines, covering replacement for three student labs; replacement of all the existing computers in the ILTC plus 20 new ones; portable computers for loan from the CRC and ILTC. Also 10 new servers were purchased: 7 new ones for the video recording and reticulation system, and 3 replacements for older servers.

Staff desktops for all full-time academic staff in the School of Languages and International Education, and some desktops used by part-time staff in the School, are being refreshed with new computers all capable of receiving, recording, editing and saving to DVD or streaming server, analogue television services from the RF reticulation system (the services available include foreign language services in Spanish, Japanese and Chinese, as well as the local analogue free-to-air channels, SBS World News, and a number of English-language news programs).

Data projection
Seven new data projectors were installed around the Division.

SmartBoards
As required by the NILL group, four SmartBoards have been fitted around the Division, and anotherone installed in one of the teaching labs.

Mini Disc recorders
With the change in format of the mini disc recorders during the year, the Division purchased a number of the older format. The older format is compatible with other Divisional equipment, whereas the newer, HD format is not compatible. High maintenance costs with older recorders meant replacing them was sometimes more expensive than purchasing new ones, where stock of the older format was still available.

Digital SLR still camera
The Division's photographic service is now fully digital, with Alan Nicol purchasing a Nikon D70 camera and parts for taking marketing photos and documenting Divisional activities. No more waiting for processing, scanning images and managing bits of film and paper photos: the results are available immediately for print or electronic delivery. Also no more film processingreduces ongoing costs.

Microteaching upgrades
The Microteaching rooms can now be used to videotape presentations, lectures, demonstrations, counselling interviews and a range of other activities using 2 cameras, a computer, and/or the SmartBoard. VHS and miniDV formats for recording and playback to monitor or video projector are both supported; the sound quality has been greatly improved; and lighting will be renewed soon. It is even possible, with some additional hardware (and expertise), to stream the live activities in the rooms over the Internet.

eMeeting Videoconferencing
The hardware and software required to allow videoconferencing between desktop computers has been purchased and will be installed for testing in January. A one-year trial licence of Marratech eMeeting will be available in calendar 2005 to see whether the Division (or the University) can use this approach to teaching.

The limited twelve-month licence we have purchased will allow for one unlimited "auditorium" session at a time, where any number of participants can join in, and 20 "mix-and-match" seats that can be used in any combination to provide say two concurrent 10-seat tutorials, or four 5-seat tutorials, or any other combination up to twenty concurrent participants.

A perpetual licence will cost around $70,000 for the same capacity, with an annual maintenance charge of $12,000 ($82,000 in the first year including the maintenance charge, then $12,000 per year after that for software maintenance and support), should the University wish to continue with the service after 2005.

Participants will be able to video and/or audio conference (if they have a video camera and microphone), text chat, and share a whiteboard or screen shots of applications and presentations with the whole group. While the licence for the server software that allows all this to happen is expensive, the end-user's client is free and can be downloaded from the Internet for Macintosh, UNIX or Windows computers.

Satellite reticulation and recording
The ongoing saga of the satellite system continues, but huge progress has been made: six terrestrial and 11 satellite television services, and three local and four satellite radio services are now available on the RF networks in Buildings 1, 5, 9 and 20, and linked to the CIT. A Video on Demand Server with 10 TB of storage (that should be enough for over 3,000 hours of high quality video, including backup and working files) is installed and being commissioned, and as a trial the First Test between Australia and New Zealand was available streaming live over the University network in full digital splendour if you knew where to look.

MacWorld San Francisco 2005

IT & Media Services Manager is off to San Francisco.

The Apple University Consortium has awarded Manager, IT & Media Services a scholarship for the January 2005 MacWorld Conference and Expo in San Francisco. Eight scholarships were awarded to people from Universities throughout Australia, including UNSW, Monash, Curtin, Newcastle, UWA, UQ and ECU. See the Apple University Consortium website for more information.

Callista for Macintosh computers

The new student management system doesn’t necessarily run well on all platforms used on campus...

While the latest release of Callista is now Macintosh compatible, the University has decided not to support it for Macintosh computers because of security concerns. The Technical Services Unit has therefore implemented an alternative, interim, solution where Macintosh users in the Division are provided with secure network access to PCs running Callista so they can do their jobs effectively.

Admin rights on staff desktop computers

One of the issues to come out of the discussions currently underway on the development of a Common Operating Environment (COE) on staff desktop computers is administrative rights to the computer.

In the Division of Communication and Education our practice has been to give staff administrative access to their computers. While the computers are all installed with the same basic image, giving the user administrative access means they can change settings, install software, manage updates and a number of other functions to adapt their computing environments to better suit their needs.

With a broad range of IT skills and experience in the Division, and the differing requirements between staff, this means there are over 300 machines that can all be configured differently around the Division: complicating maintenance and support.

In other organizations, and elsewhere in the University, IT units control the desktop much more tightly so that users must contact their support staff in order to install software, change settings or install updates. While this reduces the opportunity for end users to render their machines inoperable, and therefore reduces the needs for IT support, it also means end users are restricted by the IT staff in what they can and cannot do on their computers.

One option currently under discussion is to tie the level and type of support an end user gets to an agreement with the user about administrative access to their computer: a higher level of support would be available to users who forgo administrative access to their computers than would be available to users who want to retain their administrative rights.

In order to manage which end users have administrative rights and which don't, each end user would be required to declare their preference when they apply for access to the University network. A draft agreement might look something like the following:

DRAFT Client Agreement: desktop computing facilities

I understand that the University will supply me with a computer of standard hardware and software configuration as determined from time to time by the University.

I accept that, as a condition of using the computer, I will abide by the University's Network Access and Use - Responsibilities and Obligations statement.

I can elect to have either:

• Administrative access to the computer: I can install software, drivers, applications; alter settings and other configurations of the computer, within the limits set by the University's Network Access and Use - Responsibilities and Obligations statement. I understand that if I choose to have administrative access to the computer, I will not expect the support of the University to look after the computer. If support is required, I understand the University has, at its discretion, the option of returning the computer to its standard configuration before providing support. Support for my computer will receive no priority over support for users who have elected not to have Administrative access to their computers. I acknowledge that the University has the right to keep the computer's virus protection and operating system patches up to date as it sees fit, and will in no way prevent the University’s ability to access the computer through its own administrative account.

or

• User access only to the computer: I do not have administrative access to the computer and will rely on [technical staff] to keep my computer up to date and operating under the standard hardware and software configuration. The only files I expect to retain are those saved on my University-supported network drive.

By signing this form I agree to abide by the University's Network Access and Use - Responsibilities and Obligations statement. I acknowledge that my use of the University's facilities is a privilege, not a right, and that if I break the terms of this agreement the University may issue me with a warning, deny me access to computing resources, refer for prosecution, or administer other penalties, depending on the nature of the infringement.

Signed

Dated

Why we use Flat Panel Displays

The issue of why the Division of Communication at the University of Canberra uses flat panel displays rather that cathode ray tube computer monitors has been raised recently.

For the past three years the Division has purchased flat panel displays exclusively for desktop computers for staff and student labs. They are more expensive (more than twice the cost of the traditional cathode ray tube, or CRT, monitor), unproven in terms of longevity compared with CRTs, don't reproduce colours as well at the high-end graphics CRTs, and lower end flat panel displays can smear video so that it doesn't look as clear as video displayed on a CRT.

Flat panel displays (not to be confused with flat screens, which are flat CRTs) are also called Thin Film Transistor (TFT) displays or more commonly these days Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs).

So why do we buy them? An article by Professor Alan Hedge from Cornell University (Ergonomic Considerations of LCD versus CRT Displays) summarises the arguments for use of the devices by citing research from a number of sources.

As members of the Division's administrative staff will attest, the displays are easier on the eyes and better to use. There is no image flicker, the displays are brighter and sharper, and the image more uniform, than CRTs. Flat panel displays take up less desk space, are lighter, can be positioned more easily and with greater flexibility, use less power and produce no radiation and far less heat (replacing old, large CRTs in Building 9 New Media and Journalism video editing labs has removed the need to provide an additional air conditioning plant to serve the Media lab area).

While the initial investment has been higher, over time the cost to the Division is less, and staff and student satisfaction higher, using flat panel displays rather than CRTs.