Tagged / collaborative tools

Blogs and wikis now available to BU staff

Guidance

The “Collaboration Tools for Academics” project has been looking into the variety of writing tools that BU currently provides to staff. A shared writing tool, also known as a blog or a wiki, is a system for posting, editing, and managing a collection of hypertext pages, generally pertaining to a certain topic or purpose.  A Blog is displayed as a set of pages in time order (like the BU Research Blog!), while a Wiki is displayed as a set of linked pages (such as Wikipedia).

There are currently a number of these technologies being used within the University and one of the key distinctions is between those that are internally facing and those that are external.

Internal blogs and wikis are currently available through myBU and externally available blogs which are best described as microsites are managed by M&C who have a responsibility for how BU appears to the outside world.

The project has helped develop sufficient tutorial guidance to allow staff to decide which kind of tool they require and they will now be able to request access to the service.

To access information about blogs and wikis at BU follow these steps:

  1.  Access SNOW via: https://bournemouth.service-now.com/navpage.do
  2. Click on: Raise a Request or Incident on the left menu
  3. Click on: Blogs, Wikis and Mircosites on the right menu
  4. To request one of these services log a job via the SNOW system

If you have any questions regarding the service then please use the contact details specified within the SNOW page you are directed to.

Please note that you can also gain access to the SNOW page through the Staff Intranet.

New service available to BU staff – Requesting a Virtual Server

Guidance

The “Collaboration Tools for Academics” project has been looking to deliver a useful set of services to the academic community. 

The requirements gathered identified the need for a service that would provide an academic the ability to quickly try out different software.

We are pleased to inform you that we now have a service in place, that will allow academics to request a virtual platform on which to install (or have installed) any server based software they wish to evaluate.

It is intended that that Windows 7 project will deliver a solution for desktop based applications at a later date.

This new service is available to all BU academic staff as of now and will continue to run as a pilot until Feb 2013.  Please note that there is no cost to the service user during the pilot period.

You are able to make requests for this service via the SNOW request form.

Further user guidance can be found HERE; alternatively you may call the IT Service Help Desk for further information on ext 65515 and ask for assistance on “virtual server requests”

Share files easily with the new BU Transfer service!

Guidance

As part of the Collaborative Tools for Academics project, we have been looking at ways of enhancing the support available to academics to share information both internally and externally. Feedback from colleagues indicated that the University’s file transfer service was not adequate and required improvement. I am delighted today to launch the new file transfer service – BU Transfer.

BU Transfer will enable you to quickly and easily share large files with colleagues internally and externally via a web browser.

You can access BU Transfer from the Staff Portal, the Research Blog and MyBU via this icon.

We are very interested in your feedback regarding the service. Please could you forward all comments to Amina Uddin.

Best wishes

Matthew

Using Skype to collaborate!

Guidance

Skype is a VoIP (voice over IP) application to enables users to collaborate via a computer interface by calling one another. To use Skype you need to download an install a client application which enables your PC to work as a telephone. You can then make free calls to other Skype users on the network via your PC, regardless of location.

The benefits for collaboration via Skype rather than conventional telephone calls are:

  • longer and more frequent interactions
  • free phone calls to other Skype users via computers
  • you can record and archive conversations and interview notes
  • you can engage in multiuser conversations
  • you can make podcasts to share research with others

For information on using Skype check out the Skype website.

If you have used Skype before, comment on this post to let others know about your experiences!