GIF - Policies

These guidelines for lab usage are intended to supplement any existing campus-wide protocols with respect to proper use of computing resources for the College of Natural Resources. These policies are subject to change without notice.

1. Access to the computers or computer-related equipment in the GIF is reserved for registered users. Those with disabilities will be given priority in terms of lab accommodations and usage.

2. Computers are available only during hours of operation and when no room reservations are scheduled. Worskhops held in the Facility will take precedence over individual work and research. See the GIF calendar and workshop schedule for specific times of workshops and events. Although GIF personnel will make every attempt to give advance notice of closures, GIF personnel reserve the right to fully or partially close the Facility due to workshops and events without advanced notice. When the GIF workspace is open, computers are available on a first come first serve basis.

3. Food and drinks are permitted only in the Resource Room/Kitchen area (115 Mulford) and in the 111 Conference Room away from computer and GPS equipment.

4. Typical users do not have the ability or permission to alter hardware or software settings (including web-browser plug-ins). Computers can be configured by GIF personnel on a case-by-case basis. Users who have suggestions/requests for such changes should contact the GIF Geospatial/IT Specialist.

5. Each account is assigned to a single individual, who is responsible for all computer usage under that account. Sharing user accounts is not permitted.

6. You may NOT use the Facility for any personal or business practice; all Facility use must be related to a UC project, or a GIF partner-related project.

7. All computer lab users must log off after they have finished with the computer. This is to protect your account. To respect the privacy of other users; log off any user who fails to do so before using a particular workstation.

8. Users are to clean up the area around the computer they used as they leave. This includes returning your chair to the proper workstation.

9. All equipment in the GIF is not to be removed, modified, relocated, or disassembled.

10. Please refrain from: using lab phone to make or receive personal calls, viewing offensive content (including explicit emails), or distracting others in any way.

11. Please report any problems with computer lab equipment to GIF personnel immediately.

12. Printer maintenance/assistance should be left to GIF personnel. Request help when needed.

13. Reproduction of any copyrighted material (eg. software, music, video, books, photographs, etc) is prohibited.

Users who fail to comply may have their accounts disabled temporarily.

As a GIF user, you can store data in the following locations on the computers in 111 Mulford:

D:\Users\!username
- You can create your own “!username” folder under D:\Users at each workstation for local processing
My Documents
Desktop

Data stored on workstation is not private, and can potentially be deleted by other users accidentally. In addition, the GIF periodically deletes all user data from every workstation in 111 and 124 Mulford. For this reason, the GIF is NOT responsible for any data stored on the workstations. It is highly recommended that all users back up their data onto USB flash drives or external hard drives.

Users may also store up to 1 GB of data on the shared network drive, Z:\GIIF\!username. GIF staff will establish your user folder upon creating a new account. Do not work directly from the data stored on the Z:\ drive; please only use the Z:\ drive to store and retrieve data. Processing data is much slower over the network. Your files stored on the Z:\ drive are private and cannot be read or modified by other users; however, GIF personnel reserves the right to access, view, or scan any file or software stored on individual workstations and/or the server.

Printing on both the HP LaserJet4650dn and the HP 4000 large-format plotter is possible with prior arrangement with GIF personnel. Users will need print credits in order to send a print job to the HP LaserJet 4650dn printer. To obtain print credits, contact CRS. Users can check their 'print balance' by double clicking the $ symbol in the system tray. The 42" plotter can only be accessed by CRS. See our printing page for further info.

All computers in the lab are joined to Calnet Active Directory domain. All GIF users will have a username which they will use to login to the CAMPUS domain. All GIF users will have a username which they will use to login to the CAMPUS domain. The option for the CAMPUS is selected via the drop down menu captioned 'log on to:' Your username will start with an exclamation mark (!), giving you a distinguished username for CalNet’s Active Directory. For example, user John Doe may be !jdoe.

As a courtesy, we greatly appreciate acknowledgement of our services (training, advising, equipment, and work space usage), in any publications that have benefited from the GIF. We suggest: This research benefited from the support and services of UC Berkeley's Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF), gif.berkeley.edu.

Temporary workspace in Mulford 115 may be granted to any student or staff that are directly collaborating on GIF funded projects. Visiting researcher accommodations will be considered on a case by case basis, providing available equipment and office space. The GIF Facility Manager is responsible for overseeing all visiting researchers, please direct any requests and inquiry to the GIF Manager.