VPN Essential Maintenance – Sat 23rd Oct 08:30 to 11:00

Information Services will be carrying out essential maintenance to the Virtual Private Network (VPN) service on the morning of Saturday 23rd October 2021. The service will be unavailable briefly between 8.30am and 9.00am (UK time) and should be considered “at risk” between 9.00am and 11.00am. The VPN services at the Dubai and Malaysia campuses will not be affected. This work is required to further enhance the security of our VPN service. Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Study with others in our Online Writing Retreats

Studying at home and finding it hard to concentrate? Writing retreats are used by writers, academics and students all over the world as they provide a supportive environment, accountability and protected time to focus on your work.

We are running two-hour retreats on 18, 19 and 21 October for any undergraduate or masters level student to join. The times are:

Dubai: 1pm – 3.10pm

Malaysia: 5pm – 7.10pm

UK: 10am – 12.10pm

Hosted by the Global Effective Learning Service, all you need to do is come prepared with some tasks you want to work on (and they don’t have to be focused on writing). We recommend trying to set SMART* goals for yourself, but the most important thing is to have an idea of what you want to achieve by the end of the retreat. This could relate to an assignment, revising for exams or another study goal. Some examples include:

  • Reading and making notes on x number of articles
  • Revising for an exam
  • Planning an assignment
  • Analysing results from an experiment
  • Working on maths problems
  • Writing a first draft of part of an assignment.
  • Editing your first draft

Book your place

Monday 18 October: https://hw.ac.libcal.com/event/3795788

Tuesday 19 October: https://hw.ac.libcal.com/event/3795789

Thursday 21 October: https://hw.ac.libcal.com/event/3795790

For more information on writing retreats and how to organise your own, visit the Skills Hub Guide.

*SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed.

Staff training workshops from Information Services – book your place now.

Information Services will be running a number of training workshops for staff in the coming months.
To view the full calendar and book your place on any of the sessions, visit https://bit.ly/infoservicestraining

Workshops topics include:

  •  Introduction to Collaborate Ultra
  • Stream – Managing your content
  • Teams – The latest updates
  • Video and podcast creation
  • An introduction to Padlet
  • An introduction to using Turning Point
  • SharePoint Hub administrator


We look forward to welcoming you to these sessions.

IS has also created a new SharePoint site which is packed with lots of useful guidance on Collaborate, Stream, E-books, Office 365 and much more.
Click here to access the IS Training site

Multi Factor Authentication for Staff

Setting up Multi-Factor Authentication

1. Download the Microsoft Authenticator App to your mobile phone.
You can get the Microsoft Authenticator App for Apple iPhones here https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-authenticator/id983156458
and for Android phones (e.g., Samsung/Google/Motorola/OnePlus/Huawei etc) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.azure.authenticator

2.  Multi-Factor Authentication has been enabled on your account.
You will be prompted to set up MFA next time you authenticate to any Office 365 services. On your PC or laptop device, once you’ve entered your username and password as usual, you’ll see the following screen:

Click ‘Next’ and the Additional security verification screen will appear. In the drop-down box, select ‘Mobile App’ and ‘Receive notifications for verification’ as in the image below.

Now click ‘Set up’ – you’ll see the next screen:

3. On your mobile phone, start the Microsoft Authenticator App.

Once in the App, you need to:

  • Click on the 3 dots in the top right-hand corner of the screen
  • Click ‘Add account’
  • Select ‘Work or school account’
  • Select ‘Scan a QR code’
  • Allow any permissions for your app to use the phone camera
  • Scan the QR code on your screen using your phone. The account is now linked to your App.

4. On your PC, click ‘Next’ and you should see a message indicating that the App has been set up. You can click Next again – at this point you will be asked to respond to a pop-up notification on your phone from the Authenticator App – this is how you will be prompted every time you access your account on an unknown device.

Once the setup is complete, you’ll be prompted to enter a phone number. Please provide this: it will help if, for some reason, you lose access through the App. The phone number will not be used for marketing purposes.

Click ‘Finish’.  Your account is secured with Microsoft Multi-Factor Authentication. Nobody can access your HWU account without being in possession of your username, password, and – most importantly – your unlocked mobile phone.

Collaborate Ultra update – how to run large scale sessions with more than 250 participants in Collaborate Ultra.

Collaborate Ultra has a limit of 250 attendees. Staff can increase this limit to 500 attendees by following these simple steps:

How to set up a large scale session:

1) Create the session as you normally would.

2) Click on the cog to enter the session settings menu.
3) Scroll down until the bottom of the page, where you will see the ‘Large scale session 250+’ option. Tick the box to enable 250+ attendees.

Please note: If a live session has more than 250 attendees in it, the option of breakout groups is unavailable.

For events larger than 500 attendees, Information Services recommends scheduling a Teams Live Event.

For more information on using Collaborate Ultra, visit
https://heriotwatt.sharepoint.com/sites/istraining/SitePages/Collaborate-Ultra.aspx

For more information on how to schedule a Teams Live Event visit
https://heriotwatt.sharepoint.com/sites/is-audiovisual/SitePages/User-Guides.aspx#microsoft-teams-live-events-user-guides

To book onto live training on Collaborate Ultra and other applications, please visit the IS Training Calendar
https://bit.ly/infoservicestraining

Using the Library – Edinburgh Campus – September 2021

We’re pleased to say that our Edinburgh Campus Library is now open for students and staff, every day, 7 days a week.
The study spaces are open on the basis of Scottish Government and University guidelines for 1m social distancing and the safe management of access to spaces and resources, maximum occupancy and face masks.

Study spaces
Study spaces must be booked in advance. Book a study space through the Student Portal or direct at Resource Booker. In Resource Booker, you can filter to locate a study space with a PC and can filter on available times.

Please confirm your booking at the Service Desk on arrival at the library – bookings are provisional until confirmed. Study spaces are clearly marked with green YES or red NO and are numbered.

There are over 300 bookable spaces and a small number of individual study rooms, We don’t have any group study spaces available at the moment. Please see the seating plans below.

ID cards
You must have your HWU ID card to access the Library.
You use your card to swipe in through the entry gates to the Library.
Unfortunately, we can’t allow you access to the Library without your card.
If you have lost your card, please contact the Student Service Centre through the student portal.

Face coverings
Face coverings are still essential at all times when you’re coming into the Library building, when you’re moving about the building and when you are sat at your seat studying.

Borrowing Books
The bookshelves are now open for browsing. Please select a book from the shelves and take it to the Self Service Kiosk near the Library Service Desk. We are no longer offering our Click and Collect service but you can Request and Reserve books that are out on loan to another student – check Discovery and look for the Request option.

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 8:30am – 8:30pm Saturday and Sunday 9:45am – 8:15pm

Please check the website and social media for opening hours and any last minute changes

Floor 1 Study Seats
Floor 2 Study Seats
Floor 3 Study Seats

Edinburgh Campus Library Study Space

There are approximately 350 study spaces available in the Library for use during Semester 1. The study desks and seats are distanced 1m apart. They are labelled with a seat number and with a green tick to show that they can be used.
You need to book a study space in advance before you come to the Library.
To book a study space, go to the myHWU app which will give you access to the Student Portal .
Select the Book A Room tile, then select the Edinburgh Campus Library Study Space tile or you can book direct at Resource Booker. In Resource Booker, you can filter to locate a study space with a PC and can filter on available times.

Confirm your booking at the Service Desk on arrival at the library – bookings are provisional until confirmed

Edinburgh Campus Library Study Space

Edinburgh Campus Library Opening Hours

The Library will be open the following hours:


Opening hours – August 23rd – September 12th

Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm
Closed Saturday and Sunday

September 13th onwards

Monday to Friday 8:30am – 8:30pm
Saturday and Sunday 9:45am -8:15pm

Please check the website and social media for opening hours and any last minute changes

Using the Library Edinburgh Campus – August 2021

The latest Scottish Government update means that some of the COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted during August. The University is working on plans for next semester and we are hoping that there will more details to follow soon.

Face coverings
Face coverings are still essential when you’re coming into the Library building and when you’re moving about the building. Once you are sat at your seat studying, then it is ok to remove your face covering.  

Study spaces
Please continue to Book a study space through the Student Portal or direct at Resource Booker. In Resource Booker, you can filter to locate a study space with a PC and can filter on available times. Confirm your booking at the Service Desk on arrival at the library – bookings are provisional until confirmed. Study spaces are clearly marked with green YES or red NO and are numbered – see floor plans

The booking of study spaces is likely to continue into next semester. We are looking at whether we can open up group spaces and study rooms, but at the moment it is still individual study only.


ID cards
You must have your HWU ID card to access the Library.
You use your card to swipe in through the entry gates to the Library.
We cannot allow you access to the Library without your card.
If you have lost your card, please contact the Student Service Centre through the student portal.

Opening hours
Opening hours – August 2nd to 13th    
Monday – Thursday 9:00am – 8:00pm Friday 9:00am – 5:00pm

Opening hours – August 16th to September 10th
Monday – Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm

Please check the website and social media for opening hours and any last minute changes

Improvement work to Library courtyard

The courtyard area to the front of the Edinburgh Campus Library is being revamped and improved. This will provide an exciting, new seating area for studying and socialising.

The construction work will start at on Monday September 20th and during this time, the main entrance to the Library will be out of use. Access to the Library will be from the east side around the back of the Library.
Please follow the path round the Library building and use the door near the museum and fire pond.
It will also be possible to access the Library via the Mary Burton building – please look out for signage.

Route around Library building
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