On the third floor of the University Library, a high-tech operation is evolving. The Digital Services Center provides assistance to faculty and staff who want to experiment with technology and develop Web-based and other materials in support of their teaching and research endeavors.
Karen Vaughan, the center's coordinator, says "there is an increased interest on campus for faculty to use more Web-based materials with their courses. The Digital Services Center provides equipment and assistance for this purpose."
Opened last spring, the center is equipped with high-end Windows NT and Windows 95 computers, scanners, digital audio and video editing programs, a CD-ROM writer and a stationary digital camera. A Nikon LS-2000 slide/film scanner should be in place sometime this spring.
In addition to the high-end workstations, the center provides assistance with Web pages, image and text scanning, digital audio/video capture and editing, video conferencing and CD mastering capabilities.
"We're not a production center, but a place where faculty can use new equipment and develop skills at their own pace, with our assistance," Vaughan said.
She notes that many faculty have used the center for scanning images and text. PaintShop Pro and PhotoShop are available for manipulating images scanned from photographs or from printed materials. Many faculty have used TextBridge, an optical character recognition program, to scan printed text (resumes, reports) when they don't already have an electronic copy to edit. Adobe Exchange is used to create PDF (portable document format) documents, which are presented as an image to be viewed with the Adobe Reader, but not edited, Vaughan added.
Recently, a professor used the center to put a short video he developed onto a CD, she said, and other faculty, who don't yet have access to Lotus Notes and NT computers, have received assistance with Web page development. Space on the library's UNIX server is also available. The center works with other units on campus, including the Center for Learning Technologies, which helps faculty with instructional design and ways to implement technology into their curriculum and classroom.
When the Digital Services Center is not able to assist visitors on more involved projects, staff can refer them to other facilities on campus, such as Media Services. The center staff will also refer faculty to other librarians.
Faculty may not always be aware of the many full-text resources to which the library subscribes or many of the valuable Web sites that exist, Vaughan said. Librarians can identify resources that may already be available electronically for direct links from course Web pages.
While the goal of this multimedia center is to serve as a resource for faculty, it also offers training opportunities. Last December, a session on "Enhancing Your Course Web Pages" was well attended, Vaughan said, and coming this spring is a session on image scanning techniques.
This semester, the center has expanded its hours and is now open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday; and 1-5 p.m. Saturday.
For more information about the center, or to make an appointment, contact Vaughan at 683-4184 or kvaughan@odu.edu, or visit the center's Web page: http:// www.lib.odu.edu/services/dcenter.
