August 20, 1998

Table of Contents

1. General Procedures
2. Virus Prevention and Disinfection
3. Laboratory Scheduling
4. Menu and Graphical Interface Standards
5. Printing Standards
6. Network Standards

1. In addition to admission and printing policies and procedures, managers post the following in each General Access Laboratory:
   1. Each laboratory provides access to computers on a "first come, first served" basis to individuals. When no available stations exist, the check-in program maintains a waiting list of new individuals. This list limits computer use to two hours per individual. Individuals may ask laboratory personnel to check availability of computers in other General Access Laboratories.
   2. Individuals must present their current university ID card or current fee receipt (with photographic ID) to the person behind the check-in desk. Laboratory personnel accept only these two items before admitting an individual into the laboratory -- they do not accept car keys, wallets, etc. The individual should wait for a computer number before entering a laboratory area. The person behind the check-in desk keeps the ID card while the individual uses the laboratory.
   3. If a "checked-in" individual leaves the laboratory for more than 10 minutes, then laboratory personnel check the individual out of the laboratory. Any remaining ID cards and personal materials will be considered abandoned.
   4. Items and materials left behind by "checked-out" individuals are considered abandoned. Lost or abandoned ID cards are taken to the ID Card Office in the Eagle Student Services Center and abandoned materials are taken to the appropriate lost and found. The University is not responsible for lost or abandoned materials.
   5. All laboratories provide a quiet, non-distracting atmosphere. The laboratories allow only one individual per station. Individual laboratory managers may permit group work at the manager's discretion.
   6. The managers do not permit loud talking, smoking, chewing tobacco, eating, or drinking in the laboratories.
   7. The laboratory personnel oversee all policies and procedures. They have authority to deny access to any uncooperative individuals.
   8. Individuals must solve problems by accessing the proper manuals and documentation for the given software. Additional help may come from instructors, tutors or consultants - not laboratory personnel.
   9. Laboratories provide supplemental handouts with basic information for commonly-used software.
   10. Laboratory personnel can assist individuals with the following:
       • Starting and exiting software
       • Printing and saving work
       • Explaining information in the supplemental laboratory handouts

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1. The laboratories scan all diskettes for viruses. Each laboratory may accomplish this by providing a stand-alone scanning station in the laboratory or scanning from the individual's machine. Laboratory managers must post this policy at each laboratory entrance.
2. All laboratory personnel know how to safely remove viruses from diskettes to prevent virus propagation.
3. The laboratory manager reports all disk infections to GALMAC members as soon as possible.
4. File server managers make virus scanning software available as a menu system option for individuals to scan their diskettes while working in the laboratory. Since individuals may use F- Prot, Disinfectant, and Gatekeeper for free, individuals may copy these anti-virus programs onto their diskettes to use on their personal computers.
5. Academic Computing Services acts as GALMAC's central point of contact for information concerning viruses. They test and make available the latest releases of F-Prot, Disinfectant, and Gatekeeper and distribute these programs to the laboratory managers. For more information, or if you need assistance with virus removal at home, contact the Computing Center support staff at 817-565-2324.

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1. Laboratory managers post regular operating hours, reservations, early closing notices, and other necessary information outside the laboratory.
2. Laboratory personnel announce the laboratory's closing 15 minutes before the official closing time.
3. Reservations
   1. Orientations, workshops, hands-on demonstrations
      • Managers accept reservation requests in writing or through electronic mail. Requests must include:
        • Date(s) and begin/end time(s)
        • Name of requester
        • Requester's office phone number
        • Software required
        • Number of attendees
        • Course name and number
        • Type of computer (for example, Macintosh, PC)
        • Any special computer equipment
      • Laboratory managers provide reservation confirmations in writing or through electronic mail.
      • Individuals must submit a laboratory reservation request no later than 10 a.m. on Wednesday the week before the reservation in needed.
      • Laboratory managers post the laboratory schedule, noting any reservations, outside the laboratory by 4 p.m., on Thursday before the reservation week.
      • The laboratory manager may not honor reservations not shown on the laboratory schedule. Responsibility lies with the person making the reservation to make sure it appears on the schedule.
      • The person reserving the laboratory must submit requests for additional software (that is, software not currently on the server) two weeks before the official reservation time. Responsibility lies with the person reserving the laboratory to provide proof of adequate software licenses. The software should install and run correctly on the network. When installing software, managers must conform to the UNT Computer Security Policies and Standards document.
      • Laboratory managers honor reservation requests on a "first come, first served" basis.
      • Laboratory reservations may not exceed 15% (for 100% of the computers) of the total time the laboratory is open per week.
        
   2. Specialized individual computers
      • Each check-in desk holds a list showing particular machines available for reservation.
      • An individual may make a reservation in person or over the telephone. The individual intending to use the equipment should submit the request.
      • Laboratory personnel may cancel reservations after five minutes if the person reserving the computer does not appear in the laboratory.
      • Individuals failing to appear for a reservation without notifying the laboratory manager in advance lose all reservation privileges for the remainder of the semester.

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The default menu for General Access Laboratory DOS should conform to the following:

1. Top level menu:
2. All laboratories display the following menu items in this order. If the laboratory does not own software in a given class, then the menu item leads to a proper message (for example, "We do not own any software in this category. Please talk to Jo Doe to make a software suggestion.").

   a. Word Processors
   b. Spreadsheets
   c. Databases
   d. Statistics
   e. Graphics and Desktop Publishing
   f. Communications
   g. Programming Languages
   h. Help
   i. Information Resources
   j. Utilities
   k. Other (Specialized Software)
   l. Logout
   

   The top level menu should also show how the individual may exit to the operating system.

3. Communications sub-menu:

   a. Connect to VAX
   b. Connect to Ponder
   c. Connect to Solbourne
   d. Connect to CMS or MUSIC
   e. Connect to other computer
   f. Connect to Library On-Line Catalog
   g. Connect to Sytek Network
   

These systems must appear on the menu. Other systems may appear at the bottom of this list.

1. The 'Information Resources' sub-menu includes 'Connect to Library's CD-ROM databases.'
2. Managers construct graphics-based interfaces (for example, Macintosh, Windows) to reflect this convention's groupings and services as closely as possible.

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1. Laboratory personnel may cancel print jobs that cause serious problems (for example, wrong print driver, duplicate print jobs).
2. During busy periods, long print jobs create a backlog of print jobs. To provide fair access to the printer during these periods, laboratory personnel may cancel print jobs that tie up the printer for more than 10 minutes.
3. Laboratory personnel should help individuals discover methods for printing long documents (for example, dividing large print jobs into smaller portions, printing during off-peak hours).
4. Individuals should choose draft-quality printers whenever possible (for example, database search results, output from statistics software, program listings, class notes).
5. Laboratory personnel suspecting an individual of printing non-academic material should remind the person of the printing policy and may confiscate the print-outs.
6. Laboratory personnel may delete print jobs from the print queue if the individual leaves the laboratory for more than 10 minutes.

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1. The following items improve network security, interface consistency, intra-campus server operations, equipment life and reduce liability. Managers strive for network consistency between the General Access Laboratories to help individuals accomplish their work and migrate between laboratories.
   1. The General Access Laboratories follow all standards in the Information Resources Security Policy document.
   2. Managers consider the following when installing software:
      • When possible, install using default options.
      • Prevent multiple-access accounts from making permanent changes to the program's environment.
      • When possible, implement automatic backup and original document backup files.
   3. When possible, the General Access Laboratories use software metering to protect all software licenses and to gather usage statistics.
   4. Managers should provide as much security as possible for the respective operating system:
      • When possible, managers set directory/folder and file attributes to prevent individuals from changing software.
      • When possible, managers set directory/folder and file attributes to prevent software theft.
      • Managers must take special precautions with a multiple- access account:
        • Managers can correspond a station number or ethernet hardware address with an individual's name.
        • The individual cannot communicate anonymously on the network.
        • The manager regularly deletes any files in multiple- access account directories.
   5. Each General Access Laboratory file server restricts the available disk space for each account.
   6. Operating systems using DOS' drive naming convention should conform to the following default drives on Novell NetWare file servers:
      • Drive H: maps to a home directory.
      • Drive F: maps to SYS:LOGIN.
      • Drive K: maps to DOS-based software. Managers map search drives with this drive letter.
      • The logout batch file returns the individual to F:\LOGIN.
   7. Computers without local printers automatically attach a network printer to the default printing device.
   8. Printer names should include the building name, room number and printer type (or an intuitive abbreviation).
   9. Individuals may expect the following on all machines with a command line interface:
      • Entering menu or the file server's name runs the menu system.
      • Entering news displays information about the file server.
   10. Directory/folder naming conventions follow the menu naming conventions as closely as possible.

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