INFORMATION
RESOURCES: LIBRARY, MEDIA, AND COMPUTING SERVICESINFORMATION
RESOURCES: LIBRARY, MEDIA, AND COMPUTING SERVICESThe Audio-Visual/Instructional Television Center supports the campus instructional program at the university by making available a wide range of media and television services. Activities include providing equipment (from slide projectors to computer projection systems), access to the university media collection, cable telecommunication links, electronic classrooms, satellite telecommunications, videoconferencing, support for video-based distance education, equipment design and installation, grant consultation, and media production. AV/ITV's website describes all aspects of AV's services, including specific details on technology support in each classroom, teleconference schedules, and operational features of AV/ITV-designed media carts. In this rapidly changing field, new services contributing to more effective education will be described on the web site as they become available.
The university media collection includes over 13,000 videotapes, DVDs, laser discs, CD-ROMs, films, and multimedia kits. The center acquires these based on faculty input and provides a web catalog of all holdings at www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/AV.mediacatalog.html (although this is the major university collection, separate film and video archives exist in both the center and the university library). The library's Media Access Center, built and maintained by the library, the computer center, and the AV/ITV Center, provides students and faculty with access to both digital and analog video and computer tools, and with a cable television connection to all types of media.
Equipment provided by the AV/ITV Center to faculty in support of classroom instruction includes laptop computers, video projectors, multimedia integrated carts, slide projectors, audio and videotape recorders, video presentation carts, and digital cameras. A complete listing is available at our distribution web site (www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/Distribution.html).
The center designs, installs, operates, and maintains all radio and television microwave links for the university, including C-band, Ku-band, and DBS satellite links, an extensive campus cable television network, and a series of teleconference facilities across the campus. Using these facilities, faculty experiment with new teaching strategies; participate with their classes in satellite-based seminars; and both originate and receive distance education programming from around the state, the nation, and the world. To learn more about these services, visit www.sfsu.edu/~avitv/Teleconf.html.
Faculty use AV/ITV production services to create media using a wide variety of resources including digital video and photography, computerized graphics, and virtual environments to develop self-teaching videotape modules, distance education on-line courses, multimedia packages, and Power Point classroom presentations to meet their classroom instructional needs. Other services include web page and multimedia support, CD-ROM authoring, and multi-format videotape production. In conjunction with television services, videostreaming is also developed in this area. Continuing support for faculty using slides, overhead transparencies, and charts is available. The AV/ITV Center can also supply technical assistance in the preparation of production budgets for grant proposals.
This unit of the center plans, designs, builds, installs, and maintains instructional electronic equipment throughout the campus. The campus television network, electronic classrooms, and mobile electronic teaching platforms are examples of services provided by this area. Technical services also has a comprehensive electronic/optic/mechanical facility for equipment fabrication, maintenance, and repair. Consultations and recommendations on technical specifications for media-related grant proposals are available to the campus community.
The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) offers a wide range of technology services to the campus community. Internet/e-mail accounts, 24-hour computing lab, help desk support, campus-wide software licenses, and on-line services via the the web. Students have access to on-line grades, financial statements, class schedule searches, class schedules, address changes, transcripts, Internet/e-mail account requests, and shortly, registration. Internet/e-mail accounts can be used for e-mail, dial-in modem access, publishing a personal web page, programming course work, and on-line research. Additional instructional computing tools are available to students in support of curricular activities provided through agreements with other CSU campuses: social science database archives, business databases, geographic information systems, etc. Some of the current campus-wide software licenses DoIT distributes include Microsoft Office and Visual Development Tools, Oracle databases and application development tools, and anti-virus software. Faculty have access to on-line class rosters which list student names, e-mail addresses, web page links, and some prerequisite information. DoIT also provides instructional computing support to faculty requiring on-line course work, videostreaming, database administration, specialized IT training for classes, and administering listservs.
The John F. True 24-hour computing lab allows students to have access to computing resources with connectivity to the Internet and standard software applications. In total, over 1,500 PCs and Macintoshes are available to students, supported by the colleges at SFSU. Many are general purpose computing labs, offering standard software applications; others are specialty labs, with discipline-specific software (www.sfsu.edu/~doit/labs.htm). Over 300 dial-in modems provide remote access for the campus community. All classrooms, computer labs, and on-campus housing have high-speed network access. There are a number of computer workstations on campus designed to meet the needs of students with various kinds of disabilities.
The Division of Information Technology offers free short courses and workshops throughout the year to faculty, staff, and students on basic, intermediate, and advanced skills in computers--from word processing and spreadsheets to graphics, databases, and web pages. In addition to the courses, technical assistance is provided via the web (www.sfsu.edu/~helpdesk), e-mail (helpdesk@sfsu.edu), phone (415-338-1420), and walk in (ADM 110).
Administrative functions within the division support the technology infrastructure that is key to running the university. In addition to the areas named above, there are staff which enhance and maintain the intercampus networking, Internet/e-mail servers, web application development, telephone services, campus-wide administrative systems (student information, financial and human resources), data center operations, and equipment services.
The mission of the J. Paul Leonard Library (JPLL) is to empower its university constituency with lifelong learning skills to identify, find, evaluate, use, and communicate information in promotion of excellence in scholarship, knowledge, and understanding. To fulfill its mission within the context of the missions of San Francisco State University (SFSU) and the California State University (CSU) system, the library is committed to the following goals:
The J. Paul Leonard Library collections number over three million items, including books, periodicals, electronic databases, government publications, microforms, audio-visual media, computer software, and maps. Information about these materials is accessible via the library's on-line catalog, InvestiGator, and through consultation with the library's faculty and staff.
Access to InvestiGator and to most of the library's other electronic databases is available to any member of the campus community at any time by remote access. Databases include indexes to journal articles and a growing number of full-text journals and other full-text resources.
Within the J. Paul Leonard Library, computer terminals and workstations offer access to InvestiGator and a variety of other electronic databases. At the Information and Reference service desks, library faculty and staff offer advice on library research and assistance using library materials, including print and electronic resources. Appointments may also be made with subject specialists for research advice on term papers and similar projects. A 24-hour facility for quiet study including a computer laboratory is available on the first floor of the building facing the quad.
Document Delivery Services providing access to material such as books, dissertations, and journal articles, not available at the library. Some of the services offered include direct article ordering from CARL UnCover (SUMO); direct ordering of books through Link+, a single searchable catalog shared by a number of CSU and other California libraries; document delivery of articles and interlibrary loans with an average turn-around time of three days to three weeks.
Students may borrow from the library's main collection and many of its specialized collections by presenting a university identification card. A student who has paid fees, but has not yet received an official student identification card, may obtain a temporary library card by presenting proof of fee payment at Circulation Services (first floor). An official student photo ID card is required for library service fifteen days after the beginning of each semester. Neither the library card nor books borrowed on it may be transferred to another person. Loss or theft of a student ID, as well as any change of address, must be reported immediately to the library registration desk and to the Registrar's Office.
ADA Compliance services: The library building is accessible to students with disabilities; and a handout outlining services and facilities for these students is available.
The Reserve Book Room provides materials in high demand for assigned readings in courses. An increasing number of readings are available through electronic reserves. Non-print materials on reserve are housed in the Media Access Center (MAC).
The Periodicals/Microforms area houses periodicals and newspapers, and library collections in microformats, along with equipment to read and copy from these formats.
The Media Access Center (MAC) provides access to the library's collection of non-print materials including videotapes, videodiscs, film, compact discs, audiotapes, pictures, and computer software. Audio-visual equipment is available for utilizing course-related materials in video and audio formats. Production equipment is available for analog and digital video editing. The Media Access Center also has the library's general use computer laboratory with networked PC and Macintosh workstations offering access to printing and scanning equipment, Internet, and e-mail. Computers are available on a first come, first served basis.
The Government Publications Department is a selective government depository housing federal, state, international, and local government publications. Many government publications are not yet included in the library's on-line catalog, InvestiGator, but access is provided through listings on the Government Publications web page at www.library.sfsu.edu/servcoll/govtpub1.html and through the GPO database.
The Special Collections/Archives Department houses archival material concerning the history of San Francisco State University, the Archer Collection of Historic Children's Books, and other rare or unusual materials. It also maintains the San Francisco Bay Area Television News Archives with KQED and KPIX historical film footage as its core.
Frank V. de Bellis Collection of The California State University, is a library-museum of Italian authors and subjects representing the civilization of ancient and modern Italy, particularly in the areas of history, literature, fine arts, and music. Holdings include rare books, music scores, archival sound recordings, manuscripts, periodicals, microfilms, art prints, artifacts, and coins. The collection serves all the campuses of the CSU system.
The Labor Archives and Research Center, located at 480 Winston Drive, collects, organizes, preserves, and makes accessible the records documenting the lives of working men and women and their labor organizations in the Bay Area. The Labor Archives shares a building with the Sutro Library, a branch of the California State Library which enjoys a special cooperative relationship with San Francisco State University. The Sutro Library collection, which is open to all citizens of California, includes some 140,000 volumes and 40,000 historical pamphlets. Among the special collection strengths are natural history, Mexicana, Shakespeareana, records of the Pacific voyages of discovery, the history of printing, genealogy, and local history. San Francisco State University also has an alliance with the San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum (PALM), located in the Veterans Building in downtown San Francisco. PALM's collections focus on the history of the performing arts, with particular emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area since the Gold Rush.
Another service of the J. Paul Leonard Library is the Rapid Copy Center providing on-demand copying.
The library administers the Basic Information Competence Requirement that must be completed by all undergraduate students before graduation. Most students will fulfill the requirement by completing a self-paced tutorial called OASIS (On-line Advancement of Student Information Skills), available on the web (http://oasis.sfsu.edu). The library also offers credit courses in library research, course-related instructional sessions for upper division and graduate classes, and open workshops devoted to database searching. In addition to instructional sessions, a self-guided audio orientation tour of the library, printed information guides, and research guides by subject are available at the reference desk. Many of the guides are also available electronically from the library's web site (www.library.sfsu.edu).
Upon presentation of a current CSU identification card, faculty, staff, and students may borrow books directly from any of the California State University libraries. However, the individual must register with the libraries to obtain a special borrower's card.
Library privileges are also extended to Friends of the J. Paul Leonard Library. The friends organization was established in 1980 to promote the love of books, strengthen relationships between the university and the community, and to raise funds beyond those available in the regular budget for library services. Membership is open to SFSU students, faculty, staff, and community adults. The friends maintain a Book Sale Room in the library and accept used books and other donations.
More information about the library, including description of services and policies, is available via the library web site: www.library.sfsu.edu.