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Ron Renchler
Director, Library Communications
ronr@darkwing.uoregon.edu
This fall, the University of Oregon Libraries will greet returnees and new users with several new or upgraded services, as well as its usual menu of technology-related training programs--all designed to help students and faculty in their academic studies and research:
Nine laptops--seven Dell Latitude D600 (Windows) and two Macintosh iBooks--are available to students for checkout in four-hour blocks on weekdays and for longer periods overnight and on weekends.
The machines are preloaded with popular software and have network connectivity and printing capabilities. The UO Libraries' Media Services Department, located in Knight Library, is handling the checkout process. For complete information about the laptop loan program, visit http://libweb.uoregon.edu/med_svc/laptops/
Library patrons now have access to a greatly enlarged union catalog due to the merger of two library consortia, Orbis and Cascade, into the Orbis Cascade Alliance. The Alliance combines catalog records from the twenty-seven member libraries into one database, called Summit. UO faculty, students, and staff will be able to use Summit to borrow library materials from any Orbis Cascade Alliance member library. For more information, visit the "Orbis Cascade catalog" link on the UO Libraries' home page at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/ or go to http://summit.orbiscascade.org/
Software and technology training workshops for the entire campus community are offered through the libraries' Information Technology (IT) curriculum. See the complete schedule for fall at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/
The Faculty Instructional Technology Training (FITT) Center provides personal consulting support for faculty and GTFs in the use of instructional technology and multi-media. Visit the FITT website at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/fittc/
Students were ecstatic last spring during Dead Week and Finals Week when the doors of Knight Library remained open twenty-four hours a day. Campus patrons will be happy to know that the 24/7 program will again be in place during those critical two weeks at the end of each academic term in 2003-4. A current university ID will be required for library use during all extended hours, and services will be limited to study space, photocopy machines, and Information Technology Center (ITC) computers and printers.
A new and improved version of Blackboard, the UO's course management and delivery system managed by the UO Libraries, is set for launch this fall. See the article below for more information.