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University of Connecticut UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT YourLIBRARIES Information Connection www.lib.uconn.edu November/December 2009 Streaming Video Now Available at UConn Nicholas Eshelman and Jo Ann Reynolds We are currently working with the Litchfield labor for five courses in sociology, political science, County Writers Project, based at UConn’s Torrington human rights, and English, “Killing Us Softly,” which he University of Connecticut Libraries is offering campus, to present streams of their series of author looks at gender representation in advertising, for 17 a new service that enables documentaries, T interviews. Interviews are being conducted by Davyne courses from women’s studies to anthropology, and original productions, and some commercial feature Verstanding, a lecturer there who heads the project. the Academy Award-winning documentary “King films to be shown to an unlimited number of students Authors who’ve been featured include Frank Gimp,” which chronicles the life of a special needs on an on-demand basis. McCourt, Francine du Plessix Gray, and Frank child to college graduation for two classes in educa- The new service, which is free, eliminates the Delaney. Thus far, 56 interviews have been digitized. tional psychology. need for faculty to either set aside class time for More will be added as they take place. They may be To keep track of what videos are available for screening a video, or else physically go to the library viewed by going to: http://www.lib.uconn.edu/lcwp/ streaming, simply bookmark the “Streaming Media” and place a DVD on reserve, and then have students “As Director of the Litchfield County Writers page in the “Media Resources Guide to Video.” http:// line up for the opportunity to view it. Project (LCWP) at UConn Torrington, I’m delighted classguides.lib.uconn.edu/mediaresource. The Library “streams,” or presents video over the and grateful that UConn Libraries has chosen to If you wish to add one of the existing streams to University’s computer network, material for which we stream the many literary discussions hosted here your HuskyCT class, please contact Jo Ann can obtain streaming rights from commercially over the years,” says Davyne Verstandig. “My Continued on page 2 available productions, or material whose copyright is conversations with authors of international owned by UConn. Once videos are streamed, renown, such as Frank McCourt, Roxana students can view them whenever they wish on either Robinson, and Frank Delaney, will now be a PC or Mac. Special arrangements may be made to available as an educational tool for a much show streams on large screens. wider audience.” The library is currently providing some 85 video In October alone, streams of conversa- streams. Users of the new service include the tions with the nationally known writers in the Litchfield County Writer’s Project, the School of LCWP were viewed more than 500 times. Business, Women’s Studies, the Sociology Depart- While streaming of special guest lectures ment, the School of Education, Psychology, Commu- are appropriate for this service, videos of class nications, General Education, Anthropology, Human lectures may be more suited to podcasting Development and Family Studies, Continuing Studies, and are not within the scope of this service. as well as for the Library itself. The video streams are Among the videos the library has Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt speaks with Davyne used by 50 courses at three of the four regional Verstanding as part of the Litchfield Country Writers Project at streamed or plans to stream are: “Stolen UConn’s Torrington campus. The conversation is available as a campuses. Childhoods,” a documentary on global child video stream. Learning Commons Kickoff 2009 Barbara Cervera Others present won prizes bout 100 people were on hand to celebrate the their academic work assignments. The tools donated by the Writing Center kickoff of the Learning Commons in included in the Learning Commons are: A and the Q Center. UConn’s Babbidge Library on September 24. The celebration computer workstations, printers and scanners, Agents of Improv provided an featured remarks by Vice Provost for University research databases, academic software programs, unexpected—and raucous—end Libraries Brinley Franklin and Vice Provost for collaborative work areas, even video editing to the event. Undergraduate Education and Regional Campus capabilities in specially-equipped multimedia The Learning Commons Administration Veronica Makowsky, an appearance studios on the floor. IT help, reference has become a popular by Jonathan the Husky mascot, a raffle for two iPod sources, research advice, and tutoring gathering place on “Shuffles,” and cake. Winners of the two iPod help are available at various locations, campus. It brings Shuffles were Jason D. Baron, a 7th semester including the Writing Center, Q- together in one space communication sciences major from Bethel, CT, and Center, HuskyTech desk, the tools and Xian Chen, a graduate student in computer science Learning Resource Center, and support services from Beijing, China. Jason comes to the Learning Learning Commons desks. that enable students Commons to get help with papers in the Writing (See pictures on page 4.) to research, develop, Center and Xian likes to use the iStudios, which enhance, produce and finalize contain white boards and computers for group use. Barbara Cervera, Undergraduate Education Librarian. R O M T H E V I C E P R O V O S T If You Build It, Having Fun with Maps: A Faculty They Will Come! Learning Community Approach Brinley Franklin, Vice Provost Jeffrey Dunn & Michael Howser University of Connecticut Libraries outsidetheneatline.blogspot.com. The blog was created by two geography graduate students to showcase t was a lively fall semester at the UConn digitized historical maps and resources with a focus on ILibraries. From the time classes started in late educational applications. Every story posted to the blog August until the last final exam in mid-December, was published using the GeoCommons capabilities. the Libraries were overflowing with undergraduate To share the value of mash-ups with a broader students making use of the learning environ- audience, on November 5 Michael Howser and Bill ments, collections, and services that 21st century Miller, MAGIC’s manager, presented on map mash-ups undergraduate students need to be successful. and 21st century scholarship at the It’s not that graduate students and faculty don’t EDUCAUSE 2009 conference in Denver, CO. also use the UConn Libraries, it’s just that, like the EDUCAUSE promotes the use of overall academic population, the vast majority of technology in higher education. This presenta- our on-site users are undergraduates. he University of tion outlined the initiatives at MAGIC which As part of the Libraries’ strategic plan, we TConnecticut enabled the development of the faculty actively support our undergraduates with intellec- Libraries’ Map and learning community and increased the tually challenging and diverse resources, continu- Geographic Informa- interactivity for maps and data available to the ous improvements in services, excellent learning tion Center (MAGIC) public on MAGIC’s website. For more detail, environments, and opportunities to engage in has been developing a series of map mash-ups. What visit MAGIC’s website at: http:// critical thinking and active learning. exactly is a map mash-up? If you have explored Google magic.lib.uconn.edu. As you’ll read in this issue, this fall, Maps or other Web-based mapping sites, you have used HuskyTech, the Division of Student Affairs’ a map mash-up, which features road information, rivers, Jeffrey Dunn, MAGIC Mapping & Data Specialist. technology support unit that helps students with streams, and even aerial photography. Map mash-ups their hardware problems, joined the Libraries’ Michael Howser, Undergraduate enable you to do everything from find a restaurant to Education/Geographic Information information and technology help desks, the explore a potential vacation destination. Systems Librarian. Learning Resource Center, and the Quantitative This fall, MAGIC, in collaboration with UConn’s and Writing Centers as partners in the over- Institute for Teaching and Learning (ITL), offered a whelmingly successful Babbidge Library Learning Faculty Learning Community (FLC) titled “Maps, Mash- Commons. You’ll also read how the Libraries ups and Interactive Learning” for faculty who are continued to expand their streaming video interested in integrating custom maps within the Streaming Video (Continued from page 1) services in support of undergraduate instruction classroom. This FLC focuses on how faculty can create and how the Map Library opened a customized map mash-ups for the classroom, which Reynolds, reserve services coordinator, at GeoCommons. enable them to highlight geographic-related topics, allow [email protected] or 486-1406. Over the next several years we plan to their students to explore topics and interact with course- If you wish to create a stream of a video, please expand the Learning Commons in Babbidge related data. contact either Nicholas Eshelman, electronic re- Library to include second language tutoring and The 16 participants in this FLC explored mash-ups, sources librarian at [email protected], multicultural initiatives. We continue to develop creating customized mash-ups based on their course 486-3363 or Jo Ann Reynolds. new services using Web 2.0 tools and emerging content, and investigated ways to foster collaborative The Library will negotiate rights for you, if needed, technologies to support undergraduate learning. learning utilizing maps. Creating mash-ups is fun, and may pay for streaming rights, especially if the We will continue to offer students a variety of collaborative, requires minimal technology skills and is a videos will be used by more than one class. learning spaces, including group studies, quiet great way to help students visualize course content. Our ability to provide any given stream is based studies, lounges, state-of-the-art teaching labs, By the end of the fall semester participants were on available resources (disk space, staff time) and and modern media facilities.
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