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Members of the campus community returning each fall after a summer away are traditionally greeted by several new and improved library services. This fall is no exception.
During the past few months, the library has upgraded or introduced the following technology-related services to facilitate the university's teaching and research mission:
In response to the changing needs of the campus community, the library is now offering workshops by request.
This new model for delivering information technology (IT) training to the university community will replace the scheduled, open enrollment IT workshops previously offered through the library. Beginning immediately, the library will work with you to develop customized workshops to meet your training needs.
Workshops will require that you assemble a group of five or more people committed to taking the workshop, and that the library has a suitable instructor available.
The workshops, which typically provide a basic introduction to the features of the software or technology, can focus on curricular needs, course requirements, personal interests, or professional directions. For teaching faculty, they can be designed to complement course content and be offered during class time.
The library's goal in offering the new approach is to provide better, more relevant training that meets the needs of everyone in the university community, along with increased collaboration with faculty in integrating information technology skills into the curriculum.
For more information on requesting a workshop, see http://libweb.uoregon.edu/it/
Questions or comments about the program should be directed to Nargas Oskui at 346-1688.
An upgrade to Version 6.3 of Blackboard, the university's course management system administered by the UO Libraries, took place this summer. New features include new types of assessment questions, multilingual support, and a syllabus builder, among others.
Scheduled downtimes for Blackboard have also been reconfigured to minimize inconvenience to users.
For more information about Blackboard and the upgrade, visit http://libweb.uoregon.edu/cet/blackboard/help/
Seventeen new Dell 3.4 GHz computers with flat screen monitors are in place to improve teaching and learning in the library's John D. and Rena J. Edmiston Instruction Laboratory (Edmiston Classroom).
The design of the new equipment offers a much improved field of vision between instructor and students in the classroom. Processing time for the new computers will be as much as six times faster than the previous ones, and all computers are equipped with DVD-RW drives and USB ports for peripherals.
The Edmiston Classroom is used exclusively for instruction and training. Priority use is for library instruction requiring hands-on access to electronic resources.
Faculty members interested in library-related instruction for their students are encouraged to contact their library subject specialist (http://libweb.uoregon.edu/colldev/general/special.html) assigned to their department or the Office of Library Instruction at http://libweb.uoregon.edu/instruct/who.html to schedule a class or workshop. For more information on the classroom, visit http://libweb.uoregon.edu/instruct/ec/
The library's popular FindText service, which offers online access to the full text of articles in more than ten thousand electronic journals, has been upgraded to include three enhanced search features.
Users can now search for individual journal titles by using an A-Z listing or a standard text search. Electronic journal titles may also be located by browsing within a set of predetermined subject categories, as well as by vendor or publisher. The search features can be viewed at http://breeze.uoregon.edu:9003/findtext/a-z/default