Libraries and Information Technology Services (LITS) now offers Emory faculty, staff and students a secure version of Box, a popular cloud-based storage service that fosters document sharing and collaboration on desktop, tablet and mobile devices.

The service, Emory Box, is available at http://emory.box.com. Faculty, staff and students can log into the service using their Emory ID and password and create an account. Approximately 4,400 people at Emory have created accounts since the service began last December.

"Emory Box is our first enterprise-wide file sharing and collaboration solution, designed to be used across the University and Emory Healthcare," says Rich Mendola, enterprise CIO and senior vice provost for library services and digital scholarship.

"Because it meets all the requirements for storing protected health information, it will allow clinicians, investigators and students to easily and securely share information in support of Emory's mission,” Mendola says.

Typical uses of Emory Box include:

• Meetings: collaborate on documents simultaneously without needing a time-consuming document approval process
• Project Design: track a variety of projects and client feedback in real time through information sharing
• Personal Storage: centralize and access personal work content on multiple devices in a secure environment

An addition to the Box service is Box Notes, which provides a place to comment and collaborate on ideas. Actual working documents can be written and edited in real time by multiple users.

General information about Emory Box can be found at http://it.emory.edu/box/index.html; that site also provides details on rules of behavior for using the application and terms of service. Storing data subject to PCI or FISMA rules in Emory Box is not allowed.