Michelle M. Hawks and Craig Wissler
An institutional approach for the management of the Esri site license
and user needs was developed at The University of Arizona. Implementation
of the approach is done through The University of Arizona ArcInfo User
Group (UAAIUG) and administrative staff at the Advanced Resource Technology
Group (ART). Issues addressed by this approach included: (1) software tracking,
(2) user tracking and (3) user services. UAAIUG is used to increase communication
amongst the users on campus and involve them in decisions regarding the
site license. The Site License administrative staff, implement the methods
developed in the approach to track software and users. A series of forms
were developed to track software distribution and loading. These forms
populate a database used to track information about users on campus. A
digital on-line request form for software is available to users through
the UAAIUG web site. Communication to the distributed user community is
done through a listserve and web page (the UAAIUG web page). The approach
taken by ART has been effective at addressing the challenges of administering
an Esri site license in the distributed environment of a university.
The University of Arizona, Esri University Site License is administered
through the Advanced Resource Technology Group, in the School of Renewable
Natural Resources. This academic unit, like many other departments on campus,
uses GIS for education, research, and training. The other Esri software
users reside in various departments dispersed across campus. ART does not
administer any other site licenses, and prior to the administration of
the Esri site license there were no methods in place to handle site license
administration of any kind. Methods had to be created and implemented to
address such issues as tracking software distribution and retrieval. Currently,
the University does not contribute to the site license renewal, instead
individual departments that use Esri software contribute to the yearly
site license renewal costs. A device must be in place to formulate a suggested
contribution towards the site license fee through tracking Esri software
users, and what products they use. Also, channels of communication must
exist between license administrators and users in order to insure user
access to help and advice. It is important that the users are: made aware
of the availability of new software versions, cognizant of other GIS activities
on campus, and able to access GIS technical support. Also, to make sure
that the software is being used in compliance with the site license agreement,
users must be fully informed of the site license stipulations.
There has been an increase in interest and demand for Esri software
on campus over the past year, and without well organized and established
methods for handling administration, the site license administrator would
not be able to effectively fulfill the agreement with the vendor or the
obligations to the user community. Methods have been developed at The University
of Arizona to help overcome these complications. These methods are implemented
through administrative staff at ART and The University of Arizona ArcInfo
User Group (UAAIUG).
Since, software is requested by various departments across campus, there
are times when either new software has arrived or increased awareness of
the site license existence causes a large number of concurrent requests
for software installation. It is during these periods that it is very important
to have some method implemented for handling software distribution. Software
is loaned out to one or two departments at a time depending on how many
copies of software installation kits have been sent by the vendor. The
installation media and documentation is included in an installation kit.
With software leaving the hands of the administrator to go to other departments certain questions arise about tracking the software: (1) How will the administrator remember who has taken out software? (2) What if a disk becomes defective, how will the administrator know who had the installation kit last? (3) When there is high demand for software, how will the administrator keep track or determine who is next in line for software? (4) How does the administrator verify contents of the installation kit, and update tracking data? These problems have been solved through a series of forms used by the administrator.
Potential users learn about the Esri site license, either through word
of mouth, by taking a GIS course offered at the university, or through
the UAAIUG web page. Many users first contact the administrator, interested
in installing software and the details about the site license. Anyone from
the university interested in installing software is first referred to an
on-line software request form available at the UAAIUG web site. The request form records information
about the user, there department, and the software they would like to request.
A CGI script then creates or appends the information given by the requester
to a file that stores; (1) the order of requests, (2) who made the request
and (3) what was requested (Figure 2). Requests are then handled in the
sequence that they appear in the file. Once an order has be filled that
entry in the text file is deleted. This gives the administrator a methodology
for the sequence in which the software requests are handled.
Name: Mary Smith
Department: SRNR
College: Agriculture
Phone: 520-999-9999
Email: msmith@uofa.edu
Date of Request: 01/29/1997
PC ARC/INFO Num:
ArcView for Win Num: 2
Spatial Analyst Num: 2
Network Analyst Num:
MapObjects Num:
ArcCAD Num:
ArcInfo (NT) Num:
Host ArcInfo Num:
HOST ArcView Num:
ArcView for Mac Num:
PC ARC/INFO Per:
ArcView for Win Per: 4
Spatial Analyst Per: 4
Network Analyst Per:
MapObjects Per:
ArcCAD Per:
ArcInfo (NT) Per
Host ArcInfo Num Per:
HOST ArcView Num Per:
ArcView for Mac Per:
Research Percentage: 100
Instruction Percentage:
Management Percentage:
Estimated Grants: XXXXXX
Figure 2. Resulting file from an entry in the on-line software request form.
When software is taken out, there must be a method to track who has
the software and how to contact that person. When software is checked out,
a property control form is filled out (Figure 3). It lists the various
software packages available. The software package taken out by the user
is marked on the list, the user signs and dates the form, and it is placed
on a clipboard. These forms are a quick way to check if software is taken
out, and to check how long someone has had software out. Once the software
is returned, the date is recorded on the form, the administrator signs
the form, and files it. The older forms allow tracking of who had software
last in case problems occur with the software or items are missing from
the installation kit.
Esri University Site License Agreement
Property Control Form
This form has been developed as a part of the University Site License
Agreement administration for the purposes of tracking the location and
contents of circulating software installation sets.
I have checked out the following software installation sets for authorized
use.
PC ARC/INFO ___
ArcView for Windows ___
Spatial Analyst for Windows ___
Network Analyst for Windows ___
ArcView for Mac ___
MapObjects ___
ArcCAD ___
ArcInfo (for NT) ___
HOST ArcInfo ___
HOST ArcView ___
I have reviewed the contents list included with the installation set.
I understand that the return of the installation sets be accompanied by
a completed License Agreement Acknowledgment form.
Received by: ____________________ Date: _______________
License Agreement Acknowledgment form ___
Materials returned ___________________, received by ___________________
Figure 3. Example of a Property Control Form used for software tracking.
The university has approximately ten different software packages in
circulation from the site license. Each installation kit includes installation
media and documentation, and it is difficult for the administrator to keep
track of all the items present in the installation kits. To help keep tabs
on the contents, packing lists (Figure 4) are made for each new software
kit that is received by the university. When the software is returned the
packing list is compared with the contents of the installation kit to make
sure nothing was left behind.
MapObjects 1.0 for Windows Installation Set
Packing List
Description Quantity
Getting Started with MapObjects 1
Building Applications with MapObjects 1
MapObjects Programmer's Reference 1
MapObjects Installation Guide 1
MapObjects installation CD-ROM 1
MapObjects sample data CD-ROM 1
Please return these materials to:
Figure 4. Example of a packing list, used to track the contents of installation
kits.
The property control form also tracks whether a site license agreement
acknowledgment form has been signed (Figure 5). When a user checks out
software for the first time, they must be made aware of the Esri site license
agreement, and it's stipulations. A copy of the site license contract for
The University of Arizona is given to the user to read. Along with the
contract, a form is attached for the user to sign, stating that the user
has read and understands the stipulations of the site license agreement.
It is the administrator's job to make sure the site license agreement is
adhered to. If the users are not told what the site license agreement involves
they will not be able to adhere to its guidelines.
Esri University Site License Agreement
Site License Agreement Acknowledgment Form
In order to ensure that installed software and related products are
managed within the spirit of the site license agreement, we must delegate
local responsibility for applicable sections of the agreement. The University
Site License Administrator requires that this information be read and acknowledged
by active University faculty or staff.
I have read the attached Scope of License, Limitations, and University's
Responsibilities sections of the Site License Agreement, and as a faculty
or staff member of The University of Arizona will uphold those sections
to the best of my ability.
Signature: ____________________________________ Date: _______
Title: ________________________________________
This Form was obtained by: ______________________ on ___________
Figure 5. Site license agreement Acknowledgment for, which must be signed
every department using Esri software.
When there are a lot of users requesting software at one time, the order
is handled in the sequence that it appears in the file created by the request
form. The request form records contact information, such as an email address,
phone number etc. If there is going to be a wait for software, users are
contacted and informed of there position on the list via email. They are
then contacted when their name comes to the top of the list. All users
are encouraged to install the software as timely as possible especially
when demand for a particular software product is high.
User Tracking:
Data from the software request forms are used for various purposes,
including information to contact users for annual site license renewal
contribution, and to track GIS use on campus. Information about what software
is being run by whom, helps the administrator calculate what a department
should contribute for annual site license renewal. With increasing numbers
of users, it is somewhat disorganized to track users information through
lose paper files. Therefore, the data is now entered into a database so
the administrator can track users in a more organized manner. The database
was created in Microsoft ACCESS, and forms were created to aid in data
entry. The database allows the administrator to make queries and summarize
data about users and software being run.
The database was designed to track information from the request forms and
make it easy to calculate the annual contribution from the various departments.
There are a series of five related database tables (Figure
6). The contact information table holds information on contacts: email,
phone number, department etc. The form for the contact information is the
initial form that is opened. It has links to all the other data entry forms
used in the database. (Figure 7). The software
table holds information about which departments are running which software.
The entry form has a pick list that makes entry faster and keeps data normalized.
(Figure 8). When software is upgraded, new license
files must be obtained. When a request is sent to Esri, a text file is
created with information about all the systems running host ArcInfo on
campus. The information to create this file is stored in the license file
table. (Figure 9). The information can then be
queried to create the text file that is sent to Esri. The contribution
table stores information from consecutive site license renewals (Figure
10). Information about account numbers and contribution amounts are
stored in the table, for future reference by the administrator. The last
table in the database stores information about how the software is used
(Figure 11). This information allows the administrator
to know whether the software is used for research, instruction or management.
There are many departments participating in the site license program
and they are distributed throughout campus making communication difficult.
Even with email, a lot of time would be spent contacting each individual
department to announce new software or software trainings, etc. To help
facilitate better communication channels UAAIUG was formed. Via the UAAIUG
listserve announcements about software or other GIS news take little time
to send out by administrative staff. Users can also announce things pertaining
to GIS to the rest of the user community, thus increasing information exchange
between users. The listserve is also used to post technical questions,
similar to the Esri-L. All users are encouraged to join the listserve when
they first contact the administrator. The listserve has been very effective
in getting important announcements out to the user community. When the
university received ArcView 3.0 for Windows, just one announcement was
to put on the listserve and by the next day there was a waiting list had
formed containing six people and was still growing.
A web page (Figure 12),
was also designed to help give the user community information about: (1)
what is available to them under the site license, (2) information about
the user group, and (3) information about the listserve. The goal of the
web page is to encourage communication amongst different campus departments
by exposing users to the GIS activities occurring on campus. The web page
consists of a number of linked pages with information for the user. The
opening page (Figure 12)
is a directory of the various types on information the web page provides.
There is an information page that explains what the user group is, where it is located and who
is involved. There is a page about the listserve, why it was created, how to subscribe and the rules of the listserve.
The UAAIUG services page lists the services that are available to users
on campus through UAAIUG. There is a list of software available, links to the on-line request
form and links to other sections of the web page. Information about other
GIS activities that are occurring on campus is in the GIS on Campus page.
There are links: data download sites, information about courses and majors
related to GIS, lists of projects the have been done on campus, and links
to other departments that are running Esri software. The news page announces
new software available and other news related to GIS, such as conferences
and GIS job listings. There is a hotlinks page that connects the user to information
about GIS occurring off campus. There is a comments page and email contact with the webmaster at the bottom of each page.
Although communication is not perfect, the formation of UAAIUG, the listserve,
and the web page have greatly helped administrator help the users.
Conclusion:
In summary, The University of Arizona Esri site license administration
is conducted through an academic unit, the ART group. Methods were developed
by the site license administration staff to effectively manage the site
license and user needs. Software tracking is done through the software
request form filled out by the department, the property control form and
packing lists are included within the software installation kit. The property
control form also tracks whether the site license agreement acknowledgment
form has been signed. User tracking is done through a database, which allows
the administrator to query it for information about users etc. Information
that is stored in the database includes: contact information, what software
is being run, what software is being used for, and annual contribution
information. Finally, the University of Arizona ArcInfo Users Group (UAAIUG)
was formed to encourage more communication and involvement by users with
the site license. UAAIUG has a listserve and web page run by site license
administrative staff.
The methods developed at the University of Arizona are one way of solving
problems that arise in a distributed user community, such as a university.
Initially, only a few departments were interested in obtaining an Esri
site license at The University of Arizona, and the university helped with
the initial start-up cost. The site license renewal costs are now currently
covered by the departments running the software. Site license administration
was not assumed by the information technology unit, instead the responsibilities
were assumed by ART.
Despite problems of smoothly implementing a site license, it seems that
administering the Esri site license from an academic unit has some advantages
to using the information technology unit. First, an approach streamlined
to specifically handle administering the Esri site license was developed
versus using a more generic approach the would have to cater to many different
site licenses being administered. Next, technical support can be done by
ART personnel who use Esri software for their GIS projects and are knowledgeable
about its application. The personnel at ART, will then be able to answer
a number of questions specific to the various Esri software products. In
contrast, the information technology unit on campus runs many site licenses
for other software used on campus. It would be hard for any unit such as
this, which is geared towards increasing access of software on campus,
to have staff that would have time to learn Esri software programs to the
extent that they could provide technical support for the rest of the campus.
At ART personnel work with Esri software products everyday, and have a
chance to acquire practical knowledge of Esri products. This makes them
better able to provide support to users concerning which products they
might need to accomplish a task, and how to go about that task.
Acknowledgments:
The authors of this paper would like to thank: the faculty, staff, and students of the Advanced Resource Technology Group, at The University of Arizona who have contributed to this project and this paper and a special thanks to Myles Flynn and Paul Braun.
Author Information:
Michelle M. Hawks: Michelle Hawks, is a recent graduate of The University
of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, with a MS in Wildlife and Fisheries Science.
She is currently employed at the Missouri Department of Conservation as
a GIS Analyst, in Columbia, MO. E-mail:
mhawks@ag.arizona.edu.
Craig Wissler: Craig Wissler is the GIS Coordinator at The University of Arizona, Advanced Resource Technology Group, Tucson, Arizona. E-mail: craig@nexus.srnr.arizona.edu.
