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OCApps...

... applications powered by Google Apps for Education

GENERAL INFORMATION, TERMS OF USE, POLICIES AND GUIDELINES

[This information is subject to change at any time. Use of OCApps constitutes agreement with these plocies, terms, and guidelines.]

DETAILED INFO AVAILABLE ON CIT WIKI! CIT Wiki gif
> OCMail - e-mail

> OCCal - online calendar

> OCTalk - instant messaging capability

> OCSites - website & Wiki builder

> OCDocs - documents that can be shared

General Information:

OCApps provides a suite of web-based applications that includes e-mail (OCMail), calendar functionality (OCCal), instant messaging (OCTalk), a website and Wiki builder (OCSites), and collaborative document sharing (OCDocs). Detailed information on the use of each of these applications is available on the CIT Wiki.

TERMS OF USE:

OCApps is powered by Google. All Oberlin data resides on off-site servers, which are not owned by Oberlin College. The data is not backed-up and is not recoverable. Oberlin College/CIT cannot be held responsible for data that is not under its direct control. Be aware that errors and missteps can occur. Note that when an account is deleted, by design or in error, all data owned by that account is deleted and IS NOT recoverable, including calendars, sites, documents, etc.. Please plan accordingly. We recommend that you do not consider your online OCApps account to be your primary storage and retention location for critical data. Please retain a backup of critical/important data in another location. You can export your calendar data, save documents to your hard drive or other media, etc.

Before beginning to use these applications, please read and understand the important OCApps Policies and Guidelines listed below in order to avoid difficulties and ensure compliance with established security practices. Also, use of OCApps must comply with the established Oberlin College Policy for the Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources.

For your further information, Google's Privacy Policy is accessible online.

OCApps POLICIES AND GUIDELINES:

Confidential/Sensitive/Private Data:

Data used within OCApps - entered in an email message, a text document, spreadsheet, calendar, website, or instant message, etc. - will reside on an off-site (not at Oberlin College) server, since OCApps is powered by Google. Thus, it is extremely important that you NOT include any confidential/sensitive/private data, such as that listed below, when using any OCApps. [Note: This list is not intended to be all inclusive. Please use care when posting data; if you believe the data could cause damage to the institution or its constituents if available to the general public, DO NOT include it.]

  • passwords
  • Social Security Numbers
  • credit card numbers
  • grades
  • negotiation information
  • confidential/sensitive contract information
  • confidential/sensitive budget information
  • personnel information (salaries, disciplinary actions, tenure information, performance appraisals, etc.)
  • health/medical information
  • housing information
OCMail (http://ocmail.oberlin.edu)
OCMail is Oberlin's e-mail service, powered by Google Apps for Education. It is similar to Google's Gmail product, but has been customized for Oberlin. [Note: This document focuses on OCApps web-based applications. Oberlin account holders may also use a desktop client to access their e-mail, such as Thunderbird and Mac Mail. Desktop client setup information is provided on the CIT Wiki.]
 
OCCal (http://occal.oberlin.edu)
OCCal is a contact and time-management web application. It allows users to synchronize their OCMail contacts with a web-based calendar. You can set up multiple calendars for different aspects of your life, such as one for your classes or work and one for your extra-curricular or home events. You can view shared calendars right alongside your own and you can automatically add holidays. You can invite other people to any event on your calendar simply by adding their e-mail addresses in the Guests section of the event.
Default Settings: By default, calendars are not shared outside our domain ( oberlin.edu). However, users can elect to share all their calendar information with outsiders, even allowing outsiders to change their calendars, or can elect to hide all information, including free/busy time.
  Within our domain (oberlin.edu), the default setting is set to show only free/busy information, not the details of events. Again, users can elect to share complete information with others.
Naming Convention: Calendars should not be made with the name Oberlin College or OC. Those names should be reserved for official College calendars. In this way, community members will be able to easily identify "official" calendars. Department and organization names should be reserved for use by those departments and organizations.
Organization Calendars: Do not create calendars for organizations that already exist. If an organization already has an ObieID, then an individual should not create a calendar for that organization. Rather, someone should log in as the organization and share the calendar with the relevant individuals. In this way, calendars will not be lost when individuals depart the institution. This applies to departmental accounts as well as student organizations.
Group Calendars: Group account calendars can be made discoverable. Please make sure they stay up to date and, if not being used, are not searchable within the domain (oberlin.edu). Also, events that are targeted at a broad audience should, in addition, be entered into the official online events calendar found at http://www.oberlin.edu/events
 
OCTalk (accessible from within OCMail)
OCTalk is an online instant messaging system. When you log in to your OCMail account, along the left-hand side you'll see a small box labeled "Chat". You can add your Oberlin contacts by clicking on Add Contacts in the bottom right and type in their e-mail addresses. When you're logged in to your OCMail account, you'll automatically see whether any of these Oberlin contacts are also logged in. Then, you may simply double click on the name of one of your contacts to send an instant message. Any chat application for Macintosh or Windows that can use the Jabber protocol can connect to OCTalk, i.e., Adium, iChat, Digsby, Pidgin.
Default Settings: Chat is set to warn users when they are chatting outside our domain (oberlin.edu).
 
OCSites (http://ocsites.oberlin.edu)
OCSites is a website and Wiki builder. With OCSites, you can quickly put a variety of information in one place -- including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and text -- and easily share it for viewing or editing with a small group or the entire organization. With OCSites, you can: customize your site's interface to resemble your group or project's look and feel, create a new sub-page with the click of a button, choose from a growing list of page types (webpage, announcements, file cabinet), centralize shared information: embed rich content (video, Google Docs documents, spreadsheets, presentations, Picasa photo slide shows, iGoogle gadgets) into any page, and upload file attachments, and manage permissions settings to keep your site as private or widely editable and viewable as you'd like.
Default Settings: Sites are set to allow users to share outside our domain (oberlin.edu) and to receive a warning each time they do so. Users are allowed to make their Sites public.
Space: Space for Sites is limited. Please try to keep your website to no more than 350MB.
Usage: Sites are intended to host Oberlin College information or College constituent's (faculty, staff, students) general/biographic information. They are not intended, and may not be used for, posting of commercial information or activity, such as information relating to a private business or enterprise.
 
OCDocs (http://ocdocs.oberlin.edu)
OCDocs provides online storage for documents: Word documents, OpenOffice, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF documents. OCDocs also allows you to share those documents with colleagues, create new documents, and edit documents that you've already uploaded, all from the web. Be sure to be follow the policies and guidelines noted above with respect to Confidential/Sensitive/Private data when using OCDocs!
Default Settings: Docs are set so users can share documents outside the Oberlin domain (oberlin.edu) and receive a warning each time they do so. Also, by default, newly created documents are only visible to the author.
 
OCApps Start Page (http://ocapps.oberlin.edu)
All OCApps are selectable, in addition to the specific URLs noted above for each application, from a user-customizable Start Page. By default, the Start Page contains access to OCApps, Google News, Weather, and the Dictionary Word of the Day. You may also select each individual application from within OCMail by using the links at the upper right of the OCMail web page.