April 17, 2007
Issue No. 74
Consulting and Multimedia Services in Meyer Library: Spring Quarter News
by Kim Hayworth
Consulting and Multimedia Services (CAMS) is a media resource and service center for the Stanford community. It consolidates faculty, student, and staff consulting on the second floor of Meyer Library.
Here are news items about CAMS as Spring Quarter 2007 begins:
Changes to the Meyer Technology Services Desk
Reorganized Desk: To expedite and organize customer service, we are implementing a new system to separate the different functions that the Technology Services Desk serves. Wide-format poster printing is available on the far left when users approach the Desk. Here, you can drop off files in a variety of formats, including .PPT, .PDF, and all common image types, such as JPG, PNG, and TIF.
Next, the Equipment Checkout and Media Sales kiosk still remains at the center of the Desk. Items such as AV equipment and a wide assortment of cables can be borrowed from here.
Finally, at the far right of the Desk and conveniently located adjacent to the Multimedia Studio, consultants will address your technical questions about flatbed image scanning, video editing, printing troubles, or other topics.
Video to DVD Burning: The Desk has a new self-serve SONY DVDirect VRD-MC1 video to DVD deck - located to the far right when you are facing the desk. This deck accepts video input via firewire or USB, memory cards, S-video and RCA and burns the video directly onto a DVD-R.
Camcorder Checkout: A useful resource for online checking on the status of camcorders for checkout is Socrates. (Here are instructions, with screenshots, illustrating how to do so.)
Digital Voice Recorder Checkout: Due to popular demand, we have also begun obtaining digital voice recorders for checkout. The first model we are testing out is the Olympus WS-100. It runs on a single AAA battery and offers up to 27 hours of recording time. It is a USB plug and play device, but one caveat is that it saves audio files in WMA format. If our first acquisition is successful, we will purchase more units as appropriate.
Note that the Meyer Technology Services Desk, also offers general help for use of Meyer Library's technology-enhanced study spaces, printing services and other resources.
Academic Technology Podcast Series
CAMS continues to produce the Academic Technology Podcast series. The podcast episodes provide the Stanford community with a variety of interviews, overviews and presentations related to teaching and learning with technology. In addition to audio, the enhanced podcasts contain text, images and video.
Podcast topics include information about campus events such as the SULAIR Technology Chalk Talk by Kimberly Hayworth. Kimberly discussed podcasting and its current and potential uses at Stanford in her presentation Podcasting in Academia: What, Why and How.
Academic Technology Lab
Faculty, TAs and other instructional staff can contact the Academic Technology Lab regarding training and support for the development of instructional materials. ATL projects include interactive presentations, digital audio and video projects, DVD creation, and Web sites. Instructors can reserve an ATL workstation or set up a consultation using the online scheduler at:
http://atl2.stanford.edu/scheduleit
See Meyer Tech Desk Blog for More Information
For the latest news about what's happening on the second floor of Meyer, please see the Meyer Tech Desk blog.
This blog is updated weekly and includes general information, tips and tricks for working with multimedia, the Week in Review and Consultant of the Month.
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Academic Technology Specialist Program: What's New
by Claudia Engel
The Academic Technology Specialist Program has recently acquired two new Academic Technology Specialists (ATSs) and has launched the AURA Program to mentor undergraduates who work as research assistants for the ATSs.
Academic Technology Specialists are placed within schools, programs or departments based not simply on technical expertise, but on their respective discipline-specific backgrounds. As members of both the academic and the IT community, ATSs are uniquely positioned to bridge different cultures and to facilitate a creative and mutual exchange.
Two Academic Technology Specialists Join the Program
Dena DeBry and Carlos Seligo have joined the Academic Technology Specialist (ATS) Program. Both were formerly ATSs in the VPUE for Freshman and Sophomore Programs.
Carlos Seligo: Carlos has a PhD in English Literature from University of Washington and has been at Stanford since 1997. He started as a post-doctoral fellow in Introduction to the Humanities, where he worked on the tech-intensive class The Word and the World. In 2000 he became an ATS in Freshman and Sophomore Programs, where he worked with many of the faculty he will be supporting now in his new ATS position in Human Biology. His focus has been on visualizations with multimedia, video, and illustration, particularly with 3D animation. More recently, his goal is to find "hasty" methods of doing things with technology, which ordinarily require a steep learning curve, time and other expenses. In education, doing it in a simpler, faster, and cheaper way is often more important than doing it with the polish of professionalism, particularly if the student is to be the primary user.
Carlos' first long term project will be to create learning modules to supplement the Human Biology Core. In addition several professors have Web sites that have grown organically from student projects over the years, or in laboratories, that need to be redesigned to be more searchable, and more easily expanded in the future. Finally, Carlos has begun a weekly blog for faculty in which he shares Low-hanging Fruit, resources online or on one's computer which can be easily "picked" without much of a learning-curve or any new hardware and software.
Dena DeBry: Dena is working with the Visual Resources Center, a new addition to the Art and Architecture Library. She came to Stanford in 2000 from Pratt Institute, where she was the Director of Technology and Program Development in Academic Computing. Dena has an MFA in Printmaking and she taught a hybrid digital/traditional printmaking course as a visiting assistant professor in the Fine Arts Department at Pratt Institute for 5 years. Read more about Dena's current projects in Visual Resources Center Moves Towards Digital Image Collection in this issue.
ATS Program Launches AURA Program
At the start of Winter Quarter, the ATS Program began a mentoring program for exceptional undergraduate students at Stanford called AURA (ATS Undergraduate Research Assistants). Through AURA, undergraduates work as research assistants for individual ATSs in their respective departments or units. In addition to working one-on-one with their ATS sponsor, the undergraduates also have the opportunity to learn from the expertise of the entire ATS program through group meetings and training sessions.
There are currently 7 students in the program, with another scheduled to join at the start of Spring Quarter. Dena DeBry, (ATS for the VRC), Carlos Seligo (ATS for Human Biology) and Joseph Kautz (ATS for the Digital Language Lab), coordinate activities for the students which include monthly meetings, training sessions led by ATSs, joint work on group projects, field trips, and other opportunities for the students to share and learn from each other. All of the ATSs participate in the AURA program, offering their expertise via specialized training sessions, a shared email list and working with AURAs in creating an academic technology knowledge base to serve the campus community.
To learn more about the AURA program and AURA student projects, visit the Web site:
http://www.stanford.edu/group/aura/
To learn more about the ATS program, visit:
http://ats.stanford.edu/
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Upgrade to Stanford Desktop Tools
by Ammy Hill
With twelve months remaining until the end of life for PC-Leland and MacLeland, now is the time to consider upgrading to Stanford Desktop Tools (SDT). New improvements make moving to SDT more attractive.
PC Users
Starting February 22nd, users of Stanford Desktop Tools who log on to Windows using a domain account - that is, who use their SUNet ID and password to log on to a PC that's joined to the Stanford Windows Infrastructure - may now take advantage of single sign-on for Stanford Web pages protected by WebAuth. With either Internet Explorer or Firefox such users can now click their way right past the weblogin form without having to re-enter their SUNet ID and password. (There are a few sites, like Axess, that still require explicit authentication.) Complete instructions for enabling this feature are available.
Macintosh Users
Macintosh users can also take advantage of single sign-on if their local account's short name and password match their SUNet ID and password, if Stanford Desktop Tools is installed, and if they run Stanford Sign-on.app, inside their /Applications/Stanford/SDT folder, to be sure single sign-on is enabled. If the user names and passwords don't match, authenticating by hold-clicking the Stanford Desktop Tools dock icon and choosing "Authenticate to Kerberos..." from the pop-up menu will still greatly reduce the number of times Stanford Web sites prompt for a log-in. Complete instructions for enabling this feature are available.
For More Information and Assistance
For more information about Stanford Desktop Tools see Frequently Asked Questions under the Essential Stanford Software category. New questions and answers are being added frequently based on your HelpSU requests. For problems or questions regarding Stanford Desktop Tools, submit a HelpSU request with the Problem Category: Software Downloads and Upgrades and the Problem Type: Essential Stanford Software.
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Student Computing Creates New Residential "Collaboratory" at Wilbur Hall
by Allan Chen and Rich Holeton
Working with Residential Education, Student Housing, and the Symbolic Systems Program, Student Computing has created a new high-technology collaborative space, the "CoLab," at Arroyo House, Wilbur Hall.
In 2006-07, Arroyo House, home to about 90 upper-class undergraduates, became the Symbolic Systems and Related Majors Focus House. Residential Education's focus houses feature special programs or intellectual themes, supported by the Resident Fellow (RF), Resident Assistants, and Focus Assistants. Arroyo's focus on "Mind and Intelligence" is led by RF Todd Davies, Associate Director of Symbolic Systems, and is aimed at students majoring or minoring in symbolic systems, computer science, psychology, linguistics, or communication.
To promote collaboration around this interdisciplinary focus, and to create an in-house teaching space for small seminars, Student Computing designed flexible technology spaces in Arroyo to support group work, individual study, and "on-the-go" computing. To accommodate these needs, the existing computer cluster had to be remodeled and reconfigured. First, the room was split, with about two-thirds of the space dedicated to the inner room. The outer room remained a mini-computer cluster, featuring desktop-replacement workstations and a printer, reducing the number of those machines from five to four.
CoLab for Small Seminars
The inner room is the CoLab, visible through the newly constructed wall via a window intended to create a sense of "transparency" between the two spaces. The CoLab features three wheeled, collapsible tables that combine space efficiency, as-you-need-them surfaces, and sturdy design. Chairs, while without wheels, are designed to be stacked quickly without taking up much room. This allows students to meet in groups of varying sizes, and for classes to be taught in the space.
CoLab, Arroyo's technology workspace for small seminars.
Whiteboards cover the walls, and Huddle Boards, from Polyvision, offer a light-weight, removable "mini-whiteboard" option for groups to meet in different parts of the room while still being able to display them on the larger board via a set of hooks that suspend them from rails. Finally, two 37-inch Dell LCD displays allow students working in groups to plug in a laptop and share work without huddling over each other's shoulders. These displays can be moved around the room via rolling Ergotron stands.
Overall, the room offers a powerful combination of both high and low-tech tools, implemented so as to maximize their use while decreasing their support needs.
"Twenty-first century education is much more collaborative than when I was a student in the previous millennium, and dorm spaces like this are really needed," says Prof. Davies. "The CoLab has often been occupied with students discussing projects or practicing presentations." The Arroyo staff has instituted a reservation system prioritizing group work in the CoLab, and a student-initiated dorm seminar will be held there during Spring Quarter.
WebStations in Lobby Area and Cluster Changes
To complement the now-reduced number of full-service computers in the cluster, Student Computing has added two WebStations in the high-traffic foyer, the lobby entrance area, of Arroyo. Intended for "quick-hit" access, WebStations offer only a Web browser and media players/readers (Acrobat, Flash, etc). WebStations are intended to attract those students who traditionally have used the cluster for only short periods of time, just to check e-mail. The three remaining machines in the cluster accommodate more intense, prolonged work on papers and other projects.
New Arroyo cluster to be used for prolonged, individual work.
In prototyping this combination of WebStations and desktop-replacement computers, Student Computing hopes not only to effectively meet student needs, but also to improve our service model to fit the "on the go" nature of student life and mobile computing.
For More Information
For more information, please contact Allan Chen, Educational Technology Manager for Student Computing.
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Online Technology Training Courses Now Available to Mac Users
by Nancy Baumann
Online training courses offered through Information Technology Services that previously were available only to PC users now can be accessed with a Macintosh computer.
TechPort is the University's online technology training service, with more than 1,000 online, self-paced courses that can be accessed around the clock and any day of the week.
Users can register by going to:
http://techport.stanford.edu/
Those who register also get access to thousands of online technology-related books to further assist with ongoing professional development.
Courses and book topics include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Dreamweaver, programming languages, and project management. The sign-up cost is $175, which grants access to all the courses and books through August 31, 2007. Take as many courses as you like, as often as you like. STAP funds can be used.
If you have questions, please contact IT Services, Technology Training at 650-723-4391.
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Resources for Stanford Webmasters
by Scott Stocker
The Office of University Communications, which maintains Stanford's main Web site, offers a set of resources and style guidelines for Webmasters of departmental or other official Stanford Web sites. The Stanford Web Guide is available at:
http://webguide.stanford.edu/
It includes templates appropriate for creating a departmental Web site, downloadable Stanford graphics, information about Web site accessibility, and a list of additional resources.
Examples of Web sites that have been built using these resources are:
University Communications has also teamed with a vendor, Wired Moon, to offer discounted Web site development using these official University templates. For more information, please refer to the "Resources" section of the Web Guide.
Finally, all departmental Webmasters and Web designers are encouraged to join
the SU Webmasters interest group. This group meets periodically to discuss
issues of interest to the maintainers of university Web sites. To join, please
visit https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/su_webmasters.
For more information, please contact Scott Stocker, Director of Web Communications.
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Stanford Bookstore Computer Department: Frequently Asked Questions
by Shelley Hughes and Tom French
Who is eligible to buy computers at the Stanford Bookstore?
We sell computers to the Stanford community. Stanford students, faculty, and staff are all eligible to take advantage of our education discounts. Visiting scholars, Continuing Studies students, and Stanford conference and camp attendees are also eligible. Of course, Medical Center staff and SLAC employees are also always welcome to buy hardware.
Who is eligible to buy software at the Stanford Bookstore?
Most of our software is available for purchase to people who have a current academic ID.
What forms of payment do you accept?
Most credit cards, debit cards, AMEX, Discover, cash, or checks are accepted.
How about payment for departmental purchases?
Campus departments must use an online Standard Purchase Requisition form, which should be forwarded to Procurement. Departmental orders totaling less than $2500 (including tax) can be purchased with a Stanford Purchasing Card (VISA/MasterCard) or Rapid Purchase Order (RPO), which can be faxed (650-325-3476), or brought into the store and used like cash.
Do I get a faculty, staff, or student discount?
As a member of the Stanford community, you are welcome to buy our merchandise at our academic prices, as marked. There is no additional discount.
What brands of computers do you sell?
Apple and IBM/Lenovo. Also, you can order Dell computers from http://www.dell.com/stanford.
What are the benefits of buying computer hardware and software at the Stanford Bookstore?
Our prices are often academic or less; we usually have the lowest price available for Apple and Lenovo computers. We are conveniently located, we carry a large inventory of products, we are often able to replace new units that are defective, we have in-house repair for Apple computers, and we offer frequent deals on recently discontinued merchandise. Also, we have seasonal promotional offers, especially during the back to school time frame and the winter holiday period.
What kinds of accessories and peripherals do you sell?
We have an assortment of items including computer sleeves, carrying cases, iPod accessories, hard drives, surge protectors, routers, hubs, ethernet cables, video adaptors, monitors, power supplies, batteries, media, thumb drives, web cams, microphones, headsets, ink, toner cartridges, printing paper, PDAs, cleaning supplies, and gift cards. And we usually get shipments of new items twice a day.
Can I order an Apple Computer or ThinkPad with different specifications than those listed on your price list?
Yes, please talk with any computer sales associate for a quote and delivery time estimate on your "built-to-order" computer.
If you don't have an item in your store, can you still get it for me?
We can often accommodate special orders. Please let a sales associate know what you are interested in and they will check on availability, price, and arrival time.
Do I have to purchase AppleCare at the same time that I purchase the computer?
No, you have one year from the purchase date to purchase AppleCare.
What is the advantage of purchasing AppleCare with my computer?
With AppleCare, you will be eligible for 3 years of telephone support. If one of your computer parts fails, AppleCare will cover the parts and labor costs of the repair. If you have a desktop computer (iMac, Mac Pro), Apple will visit your home or office for the repair, if necessary. AppleCare provides international coverage.
Where can I go to have my computer insured against theft and accidental damage?
This company offers computer insurance to Stanford students: http://www.safeware.com/stanford/
Do you ship computers?
Yes, we can ship merchandise to locations in the US. For the protection of the merchandise, all shipments are insured and usually shipped via UPS 2nd day air with signature required. Sales tax will be based on the shipping location. Please talk with a sales associate if you need a quote for shipping costs.
Can I get my iPod engraved?
Yes, we are happy to provide this service at no extra charge.
Can I return my computer?
Once you've opened it, we'd like you to keep it. If it is defective during the first 7 days of your ownership, and the defect is confirmed by the manufacturer, you can exchange your computer for a new one. We require your original receipt and box and packing materials to facilitate the exchange.
Can I return my software?
Once you've opened it, we'd like you to keep it. If it is defective within the first 30 days after your purchase, you may exchange it for the same title and platform.
Do you offer computer repairs?
Our computer service department is authorized to repair Apple products. They can also help to facilitate some PC repairs through a Palo Alto company called Computer Care. Our service department can perform backups and data transfers. They sell memory and internal hard drives for most computers. They are open Monday through Friday from 9am until 5:30pm. They can be contacted by calling 650-329-1217, x338.
Can I buy my computer on an installment plan?
We do not offer financing. Many customers take out a computer loan from the Stanford Credit Union to finance their purchase.
How can I find out about your latest prices and inventory?
Check our Web site at http://www.stanford.edu/group/bookstore.
When are you open?
Normal store hours are:
Monday through Thursday, 8am - 8pm
Friday, 8am - 7pm
Saturday, 9am - 6pm
Sunday, 11am - 6pm
Where are you located?
You can find us on campus, next to the Post Office at:
519 Lasuen Mall
Stanford, CA 94305
What are Your Phone and Fax Numbers?
Phone: 650-329-1217, x456
Fax: 650-325-3476
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