File Sharing

Some work in the University is 'collaborative' and documents and files need to made available to more that one person. To facilitate 'file sharing', ISS make filestore available to departments.

Departmental filestore is located on:
\\lancs\depts\(faculty)\(department)

If your department does not have a folder, your department may apply to ISS for space.

Connecting 'Depts' Filestore

1. Start 'My Computer' or 'Windows Explorer'.
2. click on 'Tools' menu then 'Map Network Drive' option.
3. drop the 'Drive:' list and choose a drive letter - later in the alphabet is best.
4. into the 'Folder;' box type:
   \\lancs\depts\(faculty name)\(department name)
   e.g. for 'Management Development Division' type:
   \\lancs\depts\lums\mdd
5. click on the 'Finish' button - see folder open.

List of Faculty level folders:

• FAS - Faculty of Applied Sciences
• FSS - Faculty of Social Sciences
• HUMAN - Faculty of Arts & Humanities
• IENS - Institute of Environmental and Natural Sciences
• LUMS - Lancaster University Management School
• OTHER - Administration Departments.
• ISS - Information Systems Services

Using Depts Filestore

You can use Depts filestore in the following ways:

• make documents/files available for the whole department to read.
• make documents/files available for the whole department to update.
• make documents/files available for named users to read.
• make documents/files available for named users to update.
• share databases with named departmental users (with customised access privileges).
• create different folders for different tasks.

The filestore is secure:

• only those users who are specified will have access to it.
• the departmental filestore is backed-up nightly.

ISS recommends that you use your 'Depts' filestore for sharing data rather than sharing out folders on your local hard disk because:

• the automated backup service on the central servers.
• shared local folders can be exploited by virus to infect your PC.

Applying For Space On Depts Filestore

Groups of users who want to apply for space on 'Depts' filestore should:

1. get permission from their 'head of department' or 'head of section' for use of an existing folder or the creation of a new folder.
2. get the 'head of department' or 'section head' to send an email to the iss-service-desk at lancaster dot ac dot uk

The email asking for a change to existing folder or asking for an additional folder should contain the following information:

• the name of the folder, in the following form:
  \\lancs\depts\faculty\department\folder\
• a list of all 'groups' who need to have access to the folder. Groups can include the following:
  • all members of a faculty.
  • all members of a department.
  • all Staff in a department.
  • all Undergrads or Postgrads in a department.
  • other existing groups e.g. special interest groups.
• a list of the names & usernames of individuals who need to have access to the folder.
• the type of access to the folder required by each user or group i.e. 'read', 'modify' (also known as read/write) or 'none'*.

*Note - the 'none' type of access can be used to exclude a group member from access that has been granted to the whole group.

Some departments may have a complex file structures inside their 'depts' folder. For example the English department may keep examples of core texts in a structured manner e.g.
\\lancs\depts\english\texts\keats\
It may be advisable to consult before specifying the name and location of a proposed folder.

Examples

A simple example - a few named users, some 'read' and some with 'modify' rights:

\\lancs\depts\other\iss\clipart\
Jo Bloggs, bloggsj - read
Fred Bloggs, bloggsf - read
Jane Jet, jetj - modify
June Moon, moonj1 - modify

Complex requests should be listed in order of size - groups first followed by exceptions.

A whole department to 'read' plus a couple of named users to 'modify':

\\lancs\depts\iens\geog\riverdata\
All geography users - read
Bernard Bates, batesb - modify
Rachel Flint, flintr - modify

In this example, all members of Geography (Staff, Postgrads & Undergrads) have 'read' rights except Bernard and Rachel who will be allocated the extra right to 'modify' 'riverdata' files.

Specified sections of a department with exceptions:

\\lancs\depts\human\music\samples\
Music Staff - modify
Music Postgrads - read
Music Undergrads - read
George Washington, washingg - none
Wilma Groover, grooverw - none

In this example, George and Wilma are undergrads who are known 'music republishers' and will be excluded from any access to the departmental music samples.

All names and usernames used in the above examples are fictional.

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