Yes, BuckeyeBox is Going Away (Eventually)
That’s correct – OSU will move away from Box as of June 30, 2022. (ASCTech has a Knowledge Base article providing some background and migration windows for ASC.)
Where Do I Put My Personal Work Files/Files for My Lab/Research Group/Collaborators/My Course?
Microsoft OneDrive and Microsoft Teams
Think of Teams, along with your OneDrive, as a group of collaboration tools – MS Teams is significantly more than just the file management tools I’m highlighting here. It’s worth your time to cover MSTeams basics, and think about your processes for transitioning both your personal files and those belonging to your collaborations and working groups.
Getting Started with Teams
You are already licensed for MSTeams through Ohio State, with your name.n; there’s nothing you “have to” install locally. You have the option of using Teams from a web portal, or from installed (local) apps.
The best place to start with OSU resources on teams is on the MSTeams section of the Administrative Resource site. You’ll find quick-start guides, job aids and more in this area.
And, Microsoft has its own documentation, with a good Teams overview, on its site.
We also recommend looking over the best-practices Etiquette-in-Teams-eBook we posted for the Physics Department (you can also view it on the website from which the document came)
Prefer a video tutorial? OCIO has published a Best Practice Basics and Beyond video, as a starter.
The OCIO Migration
Start thinking about what you and your group have (as well as how it’s organized and structured) _now_, rather than waiting for the last minute. Also, this is the time to clean out any files that aren’t needed anymore – less to move makes migrations go much better.
The best place to start learning about Teams and the migration process is from the OCIO Admin Resources site.
Top-level items to know at this point:
- What WILL be migrated:
- File versions
- Collaborations
- Box Notes (these would be converted to MS Word [.docx] documents)
- What will NOT be migrated:
- Box comments (if you want to keep any of these, you will need to capture them manually)
- Pending collaborations – if a user hasn’t accepted a collaboration request, they will not be migrated
- Non-OSU shares you are a member of – if it’s not an OSU Box area, it’s owned by that entity/institution, and wouldn’t be affected
- How will the migration happen?
- OCIO is utilizing SkySync, a tool to move Box files into a OneDrive folder called from BuckeyeBox.
- Co-owned files will move into the file of the actual owner.
- OCIO will send an email summary of the move, after completion.
Major Differences in How Files on Teams Will Work:
- There is NO Uploader permission on OneDrive – OCIO will migrate that permission as read/write.
Questions You Might Have About the File Migration:
- If I move or copy files from Box to OneDrive myself, are the file creation dates preserved?
- Answer (9/24/20): The SkySync tool being used by OCIO to migrate files will preserve these (so, if you wait to have OCIO do your file migration, creation dates will be kept). However, if you do your own file moves, they will NOT be preserved.
- I have a weird use case in my group/research lab/my course(s) – what do I do?
- Answer (9/24/20): The OCIO team managing this migration definitely wants to understand complex use cases across campus. We can share an appropriate email address by which you can contact the team and provide that information.