Helen B. and Martin D. Schwartz Special Collections and Digital Complex Dedication Held in Bracken Library

The Helen B. and Martin D. Schwartz Special Collections and Digital Complex on the first floor of the Alexander M. Bracken Library was dedicated at 11:00 a.m. on August 17, 2009. The 30-minute ceremony included remarks from Ball State President Jo Ann Gora, Vice President for Information Technology Phil Repp, Dean of University Libraries Arthur Hafner, and Mr. Martin Schwartz.
The event was attended by Schwartz family members and friends and members of the Libraries and University administrations. Following the dedication ceremony, which included a short tribute video recognizing the Schwartz family for their long history of support of Ball State University and especially the University Libraries, guests toured the facility to see demonstrations of the technology and resources available in the areas of the Digital Complex.
The Schwartz Digital Complex is an innovative, collaborative, and interactive learning and teaching environment dedicated to serving the educational advancement of Ball State University students. This technology-rich facility in Bracken Library was made possible by a generous gift from Martin Schwartz in honor of his late wife, Helen.
In her remarks, President Gora said, “None of this would have been possible without the vision and philanthropic support of Helen B. and Martin D. Schwartz.” According to Vice President Phil Repp, the Schwartz Digital Complex will be “Ball State’s connection to the world, as well as the world’s connection to our unique collections, the kind of collections that Helen and Martin worked so hard to recognize and preserve.”
The Schwartz Digital Complex will provide a space that digitally connects students and faculty to the numerous digital media assets and special collections available through the University Libraries. It will be a place for students and faculty to reach across the globe to better understand the stories and customs of world cultures through digital media.
While making available the University Libraries’ rich array of digital media assets and special collections, the Complex also will provide access to media from around the world — a digital “newsstand” that provides access to international media, broadcasts, podcasts, and multimedia. It will be a global gallery that provides students and faculty with a media-rich gateway to connect visually and aurally to the artifacts that form the world’s cultures and societies. The Complex will also serve as an innovative and flexible space for fostering an undergraduate research culture.
The official opening of the Schwartz Digital Complex will be on September 17 as part of the first in a five-part series of Tech4U events sponsored by Information Technology and hosted in Bracken Library. The September 17 event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and is open to the public.
Copies of the DVD of the dedication ceremony and tribute video are available for viewing in Archives and Special Collections, and will soon be available on the University Libraries’ Web site, www.bsu.edu/library.
For more information, contact John B. Straw, Assistant Dean for Digital Initiatives and Special Collections, JStraw@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.

Report about Two Campus-Wide Surveys about Use of Technology by Faculty and Students

Personnel in the Ball State University Libraries’ Technology Training Support Services unit are usually involved with a project or two outside of our daily training and support roles. This academic year, we were part of two major survey projects.

Fall 2006 Campus-wide Faculty Survey of Use of Technology

During Fall Semester 2006, a campus-wide survey of faculty’s use of technology was conducted. The purpose of the survey was to learn how faculty use technology and to compare the results of this survey with those from a similar study conducted during Fall Semester 2003. The procedures followed, and the survey instrument employed, were very similar, with some questions from the earlier instrument not being used because they indicated mastery of certain skills (e.g. e-mail) and some new questions added to reflect the availability of new technologies and services (e. g. DMR). Assistance from the associate deans was enlisted to request faculty to participate in the survey.

Over all, 580 faculty members participated in the survey. Of those, 87% reported that they can perform general computing tasks (file management, software installation, etc.) with ease or with some ease. This is a 7% increase over the 2003 survey results. In 2003, roughly 72% of faculty members were comfortable (ease and with some ease) with productivity applications such as word processing, presentation, and spreadsheets. This year 80% reported that they perform these tasks with comfort. In this category, presentation software use reports showed considerable improvements. The most impressive improvement was reported in the instructional technology category. In 2003, 43% reported using tools such as Blackboard, Gradebook, and inQsit with ease or with some ease. This year, the number reached 72%.

There are many reasons for the increase in comfort level with technology among faculty. Technology is certainly easier to use these days and students provide the gentle nudge for faculty to acquaint themselves with tools like Gradebook and Blackboard. Some of the credit goes to personnel in Technology Training Support Services, too, since the unit has offered 1,744 courses during this period and our figures indicate faculty attendance at 1,469 (not unique individuals.)
These figures do not even include the countless times we visited with faculty for one-on-one training. So kudos to the Ball State faculty who have taken the time to sharpen their skills! And a BIG thank you to all who have taken the time to visit with us to explore the best uses of technology in teaching, learning, and research.

Spring 2007 Student Survey of Technology Use
The Student Technology Use survey was the second major project undertaken this year. It was conducted during the first part of spring semester. An impressive 12% return rate confirmed what we already knew: our students are heavy technology users. Of course, there is still more work to be done.

Of the respondents, 90% report turning in assignments to faculty on paper as one of many options. Printing sky rockets at the conclusion of each semester from 1.7%, who report printing over 100 pages per week, to 37%. Even though a majority (86%) have heard of iLocker, only 48% report using it. With so many electronic file storage and exchange options — 82% report owning a flash drive — we hope use of paper will diminish gradually. In this regard, our technology training specialists are happy to work with faculty to help them discover paperless assignment collecting and grading options.


Technology Training Opportunities
Technology Training Support Services provides training opportunities year round. I invite all faculty to visit one or more of these sessions to explore a variety of educational technologies and how they best fit faculty classroom instruction and pedagogy whether it is in a room or in cyberspace.

For more information, contact Yasemin Tunç, Ball State University Libraries’ Director for Technology Training Support Services, YTunc@bsu.edu, (765) 285-5902.

This newsletter article first appeared in The Library Insider 5(4): 9; April 2007.