Managing resources within Oracle Calendar
Oracle Calendar has the concept of Resources, which are agendas used in a few different ways at the University:
- Departmental meeting room (or laptop)
- Annual leave calendar
- Team calendar
- Booking system
Viewing a resource's agenda
The resource has its own agenda. Depending on how the resource is set up, either everyone can view the resource's agenda, or only a nominated group of people can do so.
To look at a resource's agenda:
- Go to File -> Open -> Agenda
- Click the magnifying glass icon on the right *
- Click the Resources tab
- Click 'Search by Resource' and enter the first few letters of the resource's name (eg. "BUCS")
- Select the correct resource and click OK
If you have no viewing rights you will see a blank Agenda (the other possibility is that there are no meetings in that resource's agenda!).
* Tip: A quicker way to open the resource's agenda is to type r: and the first few letters of the resource's name. When you hit Enter, it will bring up a list of all resources matching the letters you entered. If there is only one match the agenda for that resource is opened directly.
Booking a resource
Depending on how the resource has been set up, either everyone can book and view the resource's agenda, or a nominated group of people can do so. Maintaining the list of authorised users involves additional work, so people generally opt for the 'all access' approach.
If the resource can only be booked by certain people, it has probably been set up so that only designates can book the resource.
You can see if you are a designate of the resource by:
- Going to File -> Open as Designate -> Agenda
- You will be shown the list of Agendas that you are the Designate for
- If you are only a designate for one resource, it will open that Agenda without showing you the list
The advantage of booking a resource as its designate is that other resource designates can update and delete bookings. This is critical if you are using it as a booking system and one person is away.
Deleting a meeting from a resource's agenda
Only the owner of the meeting can un-invite attendees, including resources. If the meeting has been created by one of the resource's designates, then any of the other resource designates can change or delete the meeting.
Double-booking a resource
By default, you cannot double book a resource. The Calendar Administrator can set the resource to allow double bookings. However, all meetings appear as tentative in the resource's agenda until a Resource Designate has confirmed the meeting.
Having all meetings marked as tentative is not a problem in itself as long as everyone using the resource knows what to expect.
Booking policy
You need to define a policy so that anyone booking the resource knows the rules, for instance:
- If the resource is set to allow double bookings, all bookings are marked as tentative. do you want a resource designate to confirm the meeting so it is considered 'booked', or is it acceptable to consider it booked as long as the meeting is there?
- Who can resolve conflicts (who are the Resource Designates?)
- If only certain people can book the resource, who maintains that list?
Creating a resource
Email calendarmaster@bath.ac.uk with the following details:
- Name of the resource - the University-allocated room number will be used if it is for a meeting room
- If applicable, who should be able to view the resource (BUCS usernames please)
- If applicable, who should be able to book the resource (BUCS usernames please)
- Whether to allow double bookings
You should think carefully before restricting who can view a resource, or even book the resource. Given that only University staff have access to calendar, there is no likelihood of abuse, and maintaining a list of people is a tedious task.
You should only consider doing this if:
- Meetings in the resource contain confidential data like students' names, or
- You are charging money for the use of the Resource.
Logging in as a resource
To add further people you need the resource's password, which can be supplied to you by the Calendar Administrator.
To log into Calendar as the Resource:
- At the login prompt select the magnifying glass on the right
- Click the Resources tab
- Search by Resource and type the name of your resource
If a team of people are taking responsibility for the booking of a Resource, it is recommended they have the following access rights:
- Designate: Full designate rights
- Viewing: Full viewing rights
- Scheduling: Same as default
Changing a resource's password
If you have been supplied with a resource password, you are advised to change the password and share it with anyone you need to. You must not set it to your BUCS password.
To change the password, log in as the resource and go to Tools -> Change Password.