v.5 no 2                                                                                                            April 2001

TABLE OF CONTENTS

IR Space Planning in Progress
IR and ZAC Collaborate
ACIS Completes 3 Policies, Submits Policies 4-6 for Review
Small Group Collaboration Rooms Available in Fairchild Library
Distance Ed Marketing & Planning Committee Formed
New Telephone Exchange for Student Residences
IR People
Lehigh Evaluates Portal Options
FastNet Discount Available to Lehigh Faculty and Staff
 

IR Space Planning in Progress

In November 2000, Vice Provost for Information Resources Bruce Taggart appointed an IR Space and Program Planning Task Force to develop a program and space plan for Linderman Library and the Fairchild-Martindale complex. He underscored that the resulting plan should be consistent with IR's strategic planning efforts, take into account current trends in academic and computing center space planning, incorporate and plan for future technology as much as possible, and work to meet the learning styles and study needs of students and faculty while providing appropriate services and collections. This task force represents Phase 2 in IR's space planning efforts and builds on previous work with architectural consultants, Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. The group has met a number of times this semester and has been involved in a massive data collecting effort in order to quantify the existing collections and their growth rates, the amount of space being used for different functions now, and also usage patterns of the two facilities.

In Phase 1, Geoff Freeman and Carole Wedge from Shepley Bulfinch worked with key university administrators, humanities faculty and a number of the IR staff to think creatively about the Linderman Library. The goal was to decide how Linderman might best be revitalized as an exciting library center while at the same time addressing issues of climate control and navigation through the building. The result of this first phase was the concept of a small addition (mostly glass) on the north face of the building abutting Memorial Walk that would provide an additional entrance and the ability to see what is happening in the building. In this concept, the new addition would include an information commons and café space. The reading room and rotunda would be refurbished, technology would be ubiquitous and unobtrusive, group study rooms would be added, and all of Special Collections would be consolidated on the fourth floor instead of being dispersed throughout the building. This concept is consistent with the Sasaki Associates' recommendations for a more pedestrian-friendly campus and would work to make Linderman Library a destination building.

The next step toward realization of the Linderman Library concept is an engineering and structural feasibility study that has not yet been scheduled. In the meantime, it is essential that the space in the Linderman and Fairchild-Martindale buildings be looked at jointly; therefore, the work of the new task force is critical to the overall IR space planning effort. Carole Wedge from Shepley Bulfinch is continuing as a consultant for this current phase. Members of the task force are: Jean Farrington and Sue Cady, co-chairs; Roseann Bowerman, Robin Deily, Gale Fritsche, Gail Kriebel, Christy Roysdon, Steve Roseman, Elia Schoomer, and Sharon Wiles Young from IR, and faculty members, Charles Lyman (materials science), Jean Soderlund (history), and Wally Trimble (journalism). Members of the task force welcome input from the Lehigh community.

IR and ZAC Collaborate

IR and the ZAC have collaborated on a pilot project to record rehearsal sessions of the Lehigh Philharmonic Orchestra, edit them, and mount them as streaming video clips on the Web prior to the April 21st concert. Orchestra Director and Associate Professor of Music Paul Chou sees this as an opportunity to test this "cutting edge" technology and then move forward with a direct application to his pedagogy. Steve Lichak and George Motter performed the extensive filming and editing.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

ACIS Completes 3 Policies, Submits Policies 4-6 for Review

The Advisory Council for Information Services (ACIS) has been working with the management and staff of Information Resources (IR) to develop policies relating to various information technologies and services since its creation in fall 1999. These policies are developed by the Council and published to the university community at large before being revised and submitted to the Provost for final approval.

The Council has been chaired by Mohamed S. El-Aasser, Dean-elect of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Current members include George DuPaul, Department of Education and Human Services; James Hall, Department of Accounting; Rosemary Mundhenk, Department of English; Denise Blew, Office of Finance and Administration; Jason Honsel, Office of Admissions; and Bruce Taggart (ex officio), Vice Provost for Information Resources. George DuPaul will serve as the new chair.

The first ACIS policy, adopted in June 2000 articulates IR software support levels. A second ACIS policy, focusing on the establishment of IR service standards and the development of appropriate metrics, was adopted in fall 2000. The third ACIS policy, concerning campus network standards, was adopted in January of this year. Currently under consideration, and very close to completion, are these additional policies:

• DRAFT Campus Server Standards (Proposed ACIS Policy #4)

• DRAFT External Lehigh E-Access (Proposed ACIS Policy #5)

• DRAFT E-only Journal Conversion (Proposed ACIS Policy #6)

These drafts may be reviewed at http://www.lehigh.edu/ir/policies/. Over the next few months, ACIS and IR will be looking at developing a new policy on institutional data warehousing.

Small Group Collaboration Rooms Available in Fairchild Library

The existing eight small group collaboration rooms in Fairchild Martindale Library have recently been enhanced with whiteboards and LAN access. Three currently have PCs as well. They are ideal spots for students to finish collaborative projects or to study together for final exams. Students or faculty can reserve the rooms at the Fairchild Circulation Desk up to 24 hours in advance for blocks of several hours.

Laptops for use in these rooms can be borrowed from the Media Center in the lower level of Fairchild Martindale Library. One small group collaborative room is located on the top floor of the Mart Wing (room 628), and the others are at the far west end of the upper floors of the Fairchild wing (rooms, 596-599, 695-696, 796). Contact Gail Kriebel at 83028 or the Circulation Desk at 83030 for more information.

Distance Ed Marketing & Planning Committee Formed

At its March 1st meeting, the Council of Academic Deans created an informal Marketing and Planning Committee for distance education. The committee will work with the staff of the Distance Education Office to accomplish both short and long-term goals. The committee’s immediate assignment is to bring a broader perspective to the marketing efforts that support existing distance education programming, and to recommend specific new promotional efforts to the academic deans for approval. Beyond that, the committee will undertake a long-term planning effort to advise the deans on programming, technology, potential market groups, and internal organization matters in distance education. The committee, which held its first meeting on March 23, is composed of representatives of various colleges, the departments now actively involved in distance education, and the Distance Education Office. Members are: John Adams, Phillip Blythe, James Brown, Keith Gardiner, Ned Heindel, Michael Kuchta, John Larson, Peg Kercsmar, Ingrid Parson, Fred Stein, Mary Theresa Taglang, and Kathy Trexler.

New Telephone Exchange for Student Residences

Due to the ever-increasing number of telephones on campus, the university is beginning to run low on telephone numbers beginning with the exchange 610-758-. To alleviate the number crunch, all student residence telephones will be moved to the exchange 610-974- during summer 2001. The area code (610) and the last four digits of each student phone number will remain the same; only the exchange will change. There will be no change to faculty and staff phone numbers.

IR People

IR welcomes new staff member Isaac Jefferson who joined the Technology Installation and Maintenance Services Team in March. Debbie Henritzy of IR was promoted in January to the position of Telecomm Communications Assistant.

A number of IR staff participated in the Saturday, February 3rd S.T.A.R. Academies (Students That Are Ready) program. Technology Management staff Roy Gruver, Carol Lidie, Keith Meeker, Kathy Miller, and Dan Moyer presented a computer hardware technology session for the students. Client Services Director Tim Foley presented two sessions: "Using the Internet, Discussion Groups and Electronic Mail" and "Rules of the Road for Today’s Electronic Highways".

IR staff also participated in the recent Lehigh Valley Science Fair on Saturday, March 19th. Stacey Kimmel spoke on "Searching the World Wide Web" assisted by Tim Foley; and Carol Lidie presented "Wicked Big Puddles: Vernal Ponds" assisted by Roy Gruver.

Two programs and one poster session at the March 2001 national conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries in Denver, Colorado, featured IR staff. Directors Sue Cady and Jean Farrington organized and participated in a panel, "Academic Library as Place," and Team Leader Jean Johnson organized and presented part of another panel on "Web Portals: Solving the Problems of Creation and Maintenance". Humanities Librarian Kathe Morrow presented a poster session on "E-Toolbox of Library-Related Resources."

Jean Farrington is the incoming chair of the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) Nominating Committee for 2001/02.

Team Leader and horsewoman Stacey Kimmel now serves as advisor for the Lehigh Equestrian Team.

Vice Provost Bruce Taggart spoke at a January gathering of Lehigh Alumni in Washington D.C. He also was a roundtable participant at the Sun Worldwide Education and Research Conference in California in March. Other participants represented university and governmental entities in China, Hong Kong, Turkey, and Zimbabwe.

Lehigh Evaluates Portal Options

Information Resources and University Communications have been reviewing campus portal products. When implemented, the portal software will replace Lehigh’s internal web page. A campus portal provides users with different types of information based on their role at the university and their personal preferences. Portals are designed to eliminate the need to "drill down" through many layers of web pages to find relevant information. In an ideal world, portals present information as needed rather than requiring the user to search for it. For instance, if students are wait-listed for courses, they would be notified through their portals as soon as a place becomes available.

The ideal portal should also include calendaring, bulletin boards, discussion groups, and email access. It also must integrate with two key components namely, Blackboard and SCT Banner (the LEWIS project), Lehigh’s on-line course management and enterprise wide  systems respectively.

The Portal Technical Committee has developed and sent out a RFI (Request For Information) to a number of vendors. The Technical Committee is currently reviewing their responses with the hope of having a portal implemented by the fall semester. In addition to the commercially available products, the committee is also evaluating an open standards product called Uportal. Uportal has been developed by a number of schools including the University of Delaware, Princeton, Yale, and the University of California. To see a portal in action link to: http://mis105.mis.udel.edu/ja-sig/uportal/ .

FastNet Discount Available to Lehigh Faculty and Staff

As an optional alternative to using the Lehigh University modem pool, Information Resources has negotiated a special discounted monthly rate for Lehigh faculty and staff with the Internet Service Provider (ISP) FastNet. Retired faculty and staff are also eligible. The rate is $9.95 per month and is available now. The advantages of this service are:

• toll-free access (see notes below),

• no hourly limits on usage,

• additional (non-Lehigh) email addresses if desired,

• less contention (busy signals), and

• direct connection to the Internet

Faculty or staff who are presently incurring long distance charges to reach Lehigh because the University is outside their local telephone calling area, will probably be able to enjoy toll-free access via FastNet. For sign up instructions, connect to the Lehigh accounts page at http://www.lehigh.edu/account . There is also an FAQ written by Information Resources staff to assist Lehigh users with evaluating and implementing this service. It is available at http://www.lehigh.edu/helpdesk/fastnet.html .

The FastNet service will provide access to Lehigh University email and resources as well. IR has provided information on how to configure Lehigh email to do this in the above FAQ. FastNet subscribers will also need to set up proxy servers to access the library licensed databases. The FAQ contains a link to these instructions.

As stated in the Advisory Council on Information Services (ACIS) Draft Policy #5: "Faculty and staff users have access to a limited number of Lehigh-provided modems at no cost." See http://www.lehigh.edu/ir/policies. Lehigh University will continue to offer free dial-up access to faculty and staff, including retired faculty and staff. Faculty and staff are NOT required to switch to the FastNet services. It is an option that offers enhanced services.

This discounted rate is also available to Lehigh students; however, as of the fall semester 2001 the new Student Technology Fee will provide full-time off-campus Lehigh students with a free ISP.