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Essential Information for New and Existing Staff

Account Creation

Creation of Computer Access and E-mail Accounts

Novell Accounts

To login to a computer, and access e-mail, staff members require a Curtin ID, and will need a Novell Account. See your area administrator to complete the Novell account application form - http://systems.curtin.edu.au/procedures/novellacc.pdf. Once application forms are completed they can be faxed to extension 4536, or brought to the CITS - Humanities office for an IT Officer to process. A Novell account can be processed immediately, however e-mail can take a day or sometimes two to setup. E-mail can be accessed via Outlook (on a PC), Entourage (on a Mac), or through Web Mail (using an Internet browser).

Associate Accounts

Longer term visiting lecturers and non Curtin staff with business at Curtin can be granted special Associate Accounts. Heads of areas are required to approve Associate Accounts. See your area administrator to complete the necessary forms. Associate account users have access Curtin networked computers; can login into the Curtin wireless network; and by default have limited network access and no e-mail account. It is best to organise such accounts before the visitors arrival as it can take a number of days to allocate an Associate Staff ID - This will mean sending the application form to the prospective Associate and have them complete and return the form prior to their attendance at Curtin. As for Novell Accounts: above application forms are faxed to extension 4536, or brought to the CITS - Humanities office for an IT Officer to process.

Special Access Accounts

These accounts can, in special circumstances, be given to non Curtin staff with business at Curtin so they can have very limited access to the Curtin Network computers and to the wireless network at Curtin Heads of areas are required to approve the use of special access accounts. As for Novell Accounts: above application forms are faxed to extension 4536, or brought to the CITS - Humanities office for an IT Officer to process.

E-mail Information

Setting up your E-mail

Windows PC Users: On campus, PC users connect to their mail using Microsoft Outlook. (NOTE: Not to be confused with Outlook Express; this is not used at Curtin.) Outlook should open up on your desktop, already configured for your use, when you log in to a Curtin machine with your Novell account. There should be an Outlook icon on your desktop, but if not- go to Start/Programs/Microsoft Office/Outlook. If you have any difficulty with accessing your mail or you would like some help- please contact the helpdesk on extension 7237.

Mac OS Users: Mac users can use Entourage to access their Curtin e-mail account. As a technician will need to set up your Mac with a log in account, mail can usually be configured at the same time. If you are having any problems with this, please telephone the helpdesk on extension 7237.

Managing E-mail

Account Limits: All e-mail boxes have quota limits because there is a limit to the amount of space available to store e-mail for all users. It is important that you manage your e-mail so that personal and unnecessary e-mails and attachments do not take up your quota. Take particular care with large attachments as a 5 MB attachment is equivalent to 5000 simple text e-mails.

Suggestions for Tidying E-Mail

Deleting items from your Deleted Items folder is a good start
Search through the Search Folders\Large Mail folder for large mail and delete these if they are unnecessary. If you want to keep the e-mail but remove the attachment it is possible to open an e-mail, delete an attachment and even edit the e-mail to indicate what the attachment was and when it was removed.
Check to see if there are other way of distributing regularly sent documentation that when sent via e-mail takes up significant quota.
If Your Account is Over Limit, or You Receive a Warning: There are three stages of warnings that occur when your account is near to reaching its limit. Firstly you will receive a Notification only warning that your account is close to reaching its limit. If your account continues to increase in size your will receive a second warning, and your account will be blocked from sending any e-mails. Once your account has exceeded its limit you will receive a final warning, and you will not be able to send or receive e-mail. You will need to clear your mailbox immediately. There will be a delay of up to 2 hours before you will be able to send or receive e-mail again. This is an issue related with the mail servers. There are a number of mail servers and it takes time for each server filter through the changes you have made. To avoid this problem regularly maintain your account and it is necessary ask for more e-mail quota.
Check Before You Send: Before you send large attachments please consider the following:
Not everybody in the world has a broadband connection. Very large e-mails can take a long time to download on slower internet connections, which can be very frustrating!
Most e-mail servers have a limit to the maximum size of an e-mail. If the e-mail you send is over the maximum limit of the receiver it will bounce back.
Please consider carefully before sending large e-mails. It may be possible to use other alternatives to transferring large files such as FTP. Please contact us for more information about transferring large files using FTP.
Cautionary Note: *If your account is close to its limit, a large attachment may cause your account to immediately reject incoming mail. You will not get the warning message that your account is close to its limit.

Archiving E-Mail

CITS - Humanities does not recommend archiving e-mail for electronic storage as once the mail has been removed from the corporate servers we cannot guarantee the reliability of any back-ups you have made. If there is a situation where it is necessary to create an archive of your mail, please contact CITS - Humanities and we will do what we can to assist you with the process.

How To: Access e-mail away from Curtin

Go to the Curtin homepage at http://www.curtin.edu.au, then click on the grey box to the left labeled Curtin Staff. When the staff page loads, look to the right in the green box, click on Outlook Web Access. Alternately, you can type in the URL https://email.curtin.edu.au to go directly to the Outlook Web Access page. Type in your Staff ID number and password and hit Log On, this should bring up your mail box.
Don't forget to Log Off at the end of your session!

How to: E-mail Signatures

In Outlook click on Tools, then Options, to bring up the E-mail Options window. Click on the Mail Format tab and then the Signatures button at the bottom. This will open the Create Signature pane- click on new. Type in a name for your new signature, and leave the default options, then click Next. Now type in your desired e-mail signature, and click on Finish. When you return to the Options window, make sure you select the signature you have just created as the option for 'Signature for new messages'. Your new messages will have the signature tagged on to the bottom of the e-mail.

You can also create e-mail signatures in Outlook Web Access. To do this, click on Options in the left panel of the Outlook Web window. Under Messaging Options tick 'Automatically include my signature on outgoing messages,' and then click the Edit Signature button. This will bring up a separate window where you can type in what you would like to appear as your signature. Once you are happy with what you have, click 'Save and Close' to save your signature and close the window. Now your signature will appear on all new messages made using Outlook Web. Note that if you have set up a signature using Outlook standard, it will not show up in Outlook Web, and vice versa.

How To: Out of Office Messages

Out of office is a great way to let people know that you are currently out of the office and will not be able to reply their e-mails. The downside is that people who send junk e-mail will also get the reply. By sending them a message you are confirming your e-mail address and will probably get more junk mail. You can set up an out of the office message using either Outlook Web Access or Microsoft Outlook 2003.

1. Outlook Web (If you are a Mac user, please use this option.)

Go to https://email.curtin.edu.au/ and log in.

In the left panel click on Options.
Select the "I'm currently out of the office" option.
In the text box below type in something meaningful. Please do not type in personal information such as "please contact me on my home number..." as this e-mail will be sent to everyone who e-mails you including junk e-mail senders.
At the top of the page click on "Save and Close".
To turn it off repeat the same procedure but select the option "I'm currently in the office" and click on Save and Close.

2. Microsoft Outlook 2003

In Outlook click on Tools and then select Out of Office Assistant.
Select the "I'm currently out of the office" option.
In the text box below type in something meaningful. Please do not type in personal information such as "please contact me on my home number..." as this e-mail will be sent to everyone who e-mails you including junk e-mail senders.
Click on OK.
To add a more advance rule click on Rule. To find out more information in Outlook press F1 and type in "Out of Office".

Shared Mailboxes and Mailing Lists

Please see our How To [.pdf] for instructions on how to share mailboxes and use mailing lists.

Internet Access

Logging on to the Internet

Curtin uses the Jet portal system to monitor staff member's internet usage. When trying to access a web page that is external to the Curtin network, you will be asked to log in to the Jet system. To do this, simply enter your staff ID number and password, then click logon. Usually, a pop-up window will appear informing you that have been logged on, and after a small delay you will be automatically directed to the webpage you were trying to access.

How Internet access is charged and monitored

Areas are charged for their staff member's internet usage. Download costs vary greatly depending on which web sites are visited and what type of data is downloaded. Streaming video and audio, for example, can be very costly. (i.e. use a radio instead of listening to one online). As of July 2004 all users authenticate to the internet using their Novell username and password and their internet activity is logged to them. Although a small amount of personal use is acceptable internet access is provided for Curtin business purposes.
Staff quota is set at 250 megs per week before throttling is imposed.

Wireless Networking at Curtin

Curtin has set in place a large-scale wireless network for use by staff and students with personal laptop computers. For information regarding how to set up and use Curtin's wireless network on your computer, please see the Wireless Networking Homepage. Please note that support for and wireless network availability isn't guaranteed. This is why production ICT equipment comes with wired network connections.

Audio-Visual Equipment

Short term loan equipment

A small amount of equipment for loan is kept in the CITS - Humanities office for staff to collect and borrow for a short amount of time. This includes remote controls for TV/DVD players in classrooms, and iPods for recording lectures. All short term loan equipment must be signed out of and in to the Short Term Loans book held at the CITS - Humanities Helpdesk. No Humanities owned equipment may be taken off campus at any time.

Booking AV gear for classes and meetings

All Audio-Visual equipment bookings to be set up in a class or boardroom MUST be made at least 24 hours in advance, via e-mail to HUM-AV Bookings. AV bookings can only be made for recognised Faculty teaching spaces and boardrooms within buildings: 201, 202, 208, 209, 211, 212, and 501 - please do not try to book gear for your office or any other non-teaching space. At this time AV bookings can only be made for permanent staff members; if you are sessional staff, please get your course coordinator to e-mail the necessary booking on your behalf. For more information on how to make an AV Booking, what gear is available, and more, please visit the Humanities Audio Visual website.

Your Data

Saving and Backing up Your Information - Back Up Information for Faculty Staff Print [.pdf]

What data should I back up?
All staff are responsible for ensuring that all records are appropriately created, captured, maintained and either archived or disposed of in compliance with University Policy and Procedures and any other guide or manual provided by the Records and Archives Office or their directives. For further information please visit the Records and Archives Office website.
If you require assistance with backing up or archiving your data, please contact the CITS - Humanities Helpdesk.

How much data can I save on the Corporate Server?
Currently you can store 800 megabytes (800mb) of data on the corporate file server (your I drive). Mac users can access this drive through a Netware Share. Network drives are only available for storing Curtin related information. Fifty megabytes can store approximately 6.25 million characters (a lot of typing!) or only one high definition image. For this reason, what you store on network drives is an issue. Special cases can be made for the provision of extra network data storage space. Space for large project work is available if extra data storage has been negotiated. This would mean buying storage space on the corporate server.

Why can't I save onto the C Drive?
You can save onto your C drive, but remember to back up your work. In the event of a hard drive failure it is usually NOT POSSIBLE to recover the data. It is much safer to save to either the network drive or onto a disk.

How do I save to my I:\ drive?
If you have just created a new file, to save it to the i:\ drive just follow these instructions:

Go to the File menu and press save, or use the save button on the toolbar.
The Save As dialogue box will appear.
Click on the down arrow to the right of the Save in: dialogue box.
From the list, select the drive that has your username on Redsfsp4. Eg: 222129F on Redsfsp4\Dhs\Users...
If you wish to save to a folder already contained in your I:\ drive, double-click on the appropriate folder to open it.
Press Save.
If you have any problems moving files or folders off your C:\ drive, please contact the CITS - Humanities Helpdesk on extension 7237.

Accessing Network drives from home
It is possible to access your network drives (i:\ and j:\) remotely - either from home or overseas - via an FTP client. CITS - Humanities recommends using the free program CoreFTP LE version 2.0 or later. To access your network drives remotely with CoreFTP LE, please download and install a copy of CoreFTP LE then follow the steps below:

To Connect to Your Shared (J:\) Drive:

First, open CoreFTP and click on File, then Connect. This will bring up a Site Manager window.
In the box below Site Name, type in "Shared Drive" or whatever you would like to title this connection.
Note: What you type in this box is for your reference only.
Under Host / IP / URL type: nwftp.curtin.edu.au
Under Username type: .[your staff ID].[your area].dhs.perth.curtin (Replace [your staff ID] with your actual staff number, and [your area] with your area's abbreviation eg: bead, felssw, msc, etc. The leading period is essential!)
Under Password enter your normal Novell login password.
Now click on Advanced, then Directory/Folder in the list to the left. Beneath Remote Start Folder type /../../../shared/[your area] (Again with [your area] being the abbreviation.) Click OK.

When back on the main Site Manager screen, look to the lower left under SSL Options, and ensure that AUTH SSL, SSL Listings, SSL Transfers, and Open SSL are the only boxes ticked.
Click Connect, and after a few seconds you should see your shared drive folders appear on the right side of the CoreFTP main screen.

To Connect to your I:\ Drive:

Follow the same steps as above with the exclusion of entering the Remote Start Folder - leave that part blank.
Please remember to name your i:\ drive and j:\ drive connections differently so that they do not get mixed up.

Printers

How to install network printers

Network printers are available to almost all staff members. To be able to install and print to a networked printer you must be logged into a computer via your Novell account. Once you are logged on to a computer, please use the following steps to install a network printer.

Click on the NAL Window in your task bar to activate it, then select Printers from the list of folders down the left side.
Double-click on the folder to the right that corresponds with the building you are located in.
The printers are listed with their building and room number beneath - choose the printer that is located closest to your office.
Double-click on the printer you want to install it. A black window will appear for a short moment and then the printer will be installed and set as your default.
If you want to select a different default printer you may do this by going to Start -> Settings -> Printers and Faxes, then right clicking on the printer you want to be set as default, and choose Set as Default Printer.
If you are using a Mac, your printer access will need to be manually set up by a CITS - Humanities IT Officer.

Local printer procurement and installation

Local printers (a printer that connects directly to your computer) are not encouraged due to their high overheads and high support costs. If you need to purchase a local printer, please have your Department Head or Faculty Admin sanction the purchase, and send an e-mail to Hum-IT Procurement with your printing requirements. Once your new printer arrives, it will be given a CITS-Humanities ID number and then delivered to your office and set-up by one of our IT Officers.

Please note: In order to comply with WorkSafe regulations, local printers not purchased through this procedure will not be installed or supported by CITS - Humanities.

Assistance with printer problems
If you need any further assistance with printer problems, please contact us.

Software

Use of Licensed software

All requests for the acquisition and installation of licensed software onto Curtin purchased and leased equipment need to be approved by your area Administrator. If approved, the Area Administrator will place an order with the CITS - Humanities Procurement Officer so the purchase details can be recorded by the Faculty's Software Registrar. Once recorded, CITS-Humanities can organise the installation of your software. Staff also need to have personally purchased software, that is to be installed onto Curtin-owned equipment, recorded by the Faculty's Software Registrar.

Use of Freeware, Shareware, and Other Non-licensed Software

To ensure that software is legal and safe to use all freeware, shareware and non licensed software requests for Curtin purchase or leased computers should be sent through the CITS - Humanities Helpdesk. This includes programs like instant messengers, telephony programs, 30-day trials, etc. Putting your request through the Helpdesk will help us ensure that all software on your computer is legal, safe, and non-infectious; as well as giving us the opportunity to centrally update programs for everyone at once, and ensure that we don't already have a program available to suit your needs.

Conditions for the Use of Software

Conditions for use apply to all software installed on Curtin owned or leased computers, and Curtin supplied software installed on personal computers. Students, staff and associates are responsible for using such software legally (i.e. knowing who can use the software and how can it be used). Most Curtin software agreements have very strict clauses in relation to commercial use or for-profit research etc.
Note: Microsoft is reasonably flexible in this regard and commercial or for profit use of their software is not stated as a condition of use. Please contact us if you have any queries regards the conditions of use of software.

Software Audits

Software audits are the responsibility of the Faculties software registrar. A minimum of 20% of Curtin staff\post grad networked desktop computers and 100% of Lab computers are audited annually. Most software auditing is done via remote scans of network connected computers. CITS - Humanities attempt to audit 100% of desktop computers Curtin staff\post grad networked desktop computers to check that licensed software is accounted for and to ensure that any non standard software installed is appropriate, legal and safe to use.

Software at a Glance

For a quick-reference to what software is available with what licenses;
please see Software At A Glance [.pdf]

Home Licensed software

It is a university requirement that software installation media and license codes cannot be loaned out to staff or students. If you require the use of home licensed software, you will need to contact CITS - Humanities in order to arrange a time for you to bring in your computer and sign the necessary forms that go with each piece of software. You will also be asked to sign a general disclaimer, as CITS - Humanities can not take responsibility for anyone's personal equipment.

Corporate Applications and WebCT

Area Administrators\Managers approve and organise staff access to Corporate Applications. If required CITS - Humanities can assist by providing computer details required as part of the application process, or with setting up the software and printing for Corporate Applications. Information on how to use Corporate applications is provided by the staff supporting these applications. For general information about WebCT start at this link: http://is.curtin.edu.au/eot/elearn/. For WebCT enquiries specific to Humanities e-mail the Online Learning support person on: Hum-OTL@curtin.edu.au.

Access to Training

For information on pay-as-you-use ICT training courses at Curtin go to: http://computertraining.curtin.edu.au/ As well as this there are many online learning opportunities that can be found by using a simple Google search or try http://office.microsoft.com and http://lynda.com.

Assistance with Software Problems

If you are having problems with software errors or general issues with your desktop environment, please contact us.

Hardware

Hardware standards and approved brands

All ICT equipment leases and purchases need approval from your Administrator. ICT equipment that does not adhere to Humanities ICT hardware and approved brands standards and/or is not purchased through Humanities IT services will not be supported. For information about ICT hardware please contact the IT Procurement Officer

Assistance with hardware problems

If you are having trouble with your computer's hardware, such as monitor issues, failed drives, etc... please contact us.

Security and Conditions of Use

Best security practices

Do not leave computers running over night or if you are away from them for more than 4 hours. Ensure that a password protection screen comes on automatically after 30 minutes of non activity. Do not download or install software that is not approved by CITS - Humanities. Report any suspicious computer activity to CITS - Humanities on 7237.

Conditions of use for ICT equipment at Curtin

While at the University you must not use Curtin's or your own computer or Curtin's Internet link to:

Use another person's identity or authorisation code
Share accounts/passwords - without management authorisation
Store software and pre-purchased or rented video, audio tape, CD or DVD material on Curtin ICT facilities without the expressed permission of the copyright owner.
Hack into, meddle with or damage any other computer or service or use any hacker tool without written permission from the University
Harass or obstruct any person using ICT facilities and services
Do anything dishonest or illegal, including viewing, sending or giving access to material defined as prohibited or objectionable, or giving a person under 18 access to restricted material

Additionally use of the following activities should be demonstrably associated with current study, research programs or business activities:

Viewing and/or downloading of movie and video material, including trailers and sample clips
Accessing and/or downloading of music, including MP3's
Listening to music / radio through the internet
Watching online news broadcasts
Accessing and/or downloading adult content material, including pornography
Additionally, Curtin University has a policy of zero tolerance to the accessing and downloading of pornography, unless it can be clearly demonstrated that it is required for teaching, learning or research purposes.
Curtin policies relating to appropriate use of ICT can be found at:
http://policies.curtin.edu.au/documents/ICT_Manual.pdf

Swipe card access to computer labs and buildings

Staff cards are used to access electronic locks on many computer labs and building at Curtin. Your area administrator will be able to assist you with applying for and authorising the access you need. Access authorisation is applied centrally by Curtin security and when staff members swipe their cards through an electronic lock their staff details are referenced and access is given accordingly. Remember to consider the need for gaining access to computer labs, if you use them for teaching.