Materials Science Professor Jeff Rickman asks a question of one of his students, who sits 300 hundred miles away at Carnegie Mellon University. The student answers the question as if he is in the same room with Rickman. This interaction takes place via a digital video conference over Internet2 (I2), a high bandwidth research network (155 Megabits per second) that enables students and faculty to get beyond the walls of the university virtually at will - to share, collaborate, and interact with other universities and research institutions in ways that were truly science fiction only a decade ago.
Beginning this semester, Lehigh and Carnegie Mellon are jointly offering Materials Science graduate courses as part of the Quantum project, the educational component of a $4.5 million dollar five-year grant funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Its purpose is to share Web-based graduate and professional instruction in materials science and engineering between three top Pennsylvania universities (Lehigh, CMU, and the University of Pittsburgh).
As an early adopter of interactive digital video technology, Lehigh has demonstrated technical expertise that is setting the standard for its Quantum Project partners. Over the winter break, Distance Education's ISDN-based videoconferencing classroom in the Rauch Business Center was enhanced for I2 applications through the integration of a Polycom VS4000 View Station. The VS4000 supports a 2 Mbps Internet video connection, high bandwidth video streaming, and multi-conference connection to two other sites. The room was simultaneously upgraded to switched 100 Ethernet to handle high-bandwidth video traffic. Abundant bandwidth and the new view station provide excellent full-motion video and clear audio for ease of use by students and faculty alike.
Andrea Pressler, Director of Web-based Instruction in Materials Science, who has been coordinating the collaboration between Lehigh and CMU, observes that Professor Rickman "addresses his students at CMU just as he does the students sitting in front of him at Lehigh." Tony Rollett, a Professor in the Materials Science & Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University and instructor of one of the courses admits that before I2, they were struggling with other technologies. He finds that "Based on student feedback, we expect that this [new technology] will substantially improve student satisfaction with the experience".
Internet 2 opens new avenues for faculty and staff to share expertise
and academic programs. Professor Rollett sums it up well by asserting that
the technology enables "a vision of education in which the very best research
experience is made available for any student at any institution."
By Brad Price
This spring Lehigh will experience Internet2 Day! Interested faculty, staff and students are invited to attend this full day conference featuring distinguished academic and network professionals from such organizations as the University Corporation for Advanced Internet Development, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Southern Universities Research Association. Attendees will also see demonstrations of remote instrumentation and videoconferencing applications in which Lehigh faculty are currently involved.
Internet2 Day will be held Friday, March 16, 2001 from 8:30am to 4:30pm in Neville Hall. There is no cost to attend, but registration is required. Lunch will be provided by NetCarrier. For more information and the latest agenda, visit Lehigh's Internet2 web site at http://www.lehigh.edu/i2.
Internet2 is a consortium led by over 180 universities working in partnership with industry and government to develop and deploy advanced network applications and technologies, accelerating the creation of tomorrow's Internet. Applications for Internet2 range from the humanities to the sciences. Research that requires interactive collaboration and instruction, real-time access to remote scientific instruments, shared virtual reality, or multi-media services can benefit from Internet2.
Utilizing Lehigh's 155 megabit connection to the Mid-Atlantic Gigapop
in Philadelphia for Internet2, members of the campus community can participate
in research and educational activities with other Internet2 schools, as
well as with corporations and research sites on the various interconnected
national and international high-speed networks.
The Library Users Committee met on January 16th to consider several
issues related to library operations, specifically video circulation and
recall policies. The current membership, which is elected by the faculty,
includes: Scott Gordon, English; Alistair McPherson, Mechanical
Engineering and Mechanics; Jim Maskulka, Business; and George
White, Education. Graduate and undergraduate student representatives
will be appointed in the spring. Scott Gordon serves as chair.
A new step-by-step guide, eToolbox enables faculty to add links
to library materials online directly from course web pages. By using the
easy to follow instructions, faculty can insert direct links to such resources
as full text articles, journals, database search results, electronic books,
government documents, ERIC reports, research guides, online searching,
web evaluation guides and much more. Students will be encouraged to access
the latest and best in academic resources from around the world, selected
by Lehigh Librarians. Check the eToolbox contents list and examples at
http://www.lehigh.edu/~inref/guides/tools.html
for
more information.
By Gail Kriebel
The Fairchild
Martindale Library, opened in 1985, is running out of space. This is consistent
with the findings by experts on academic library buildings that libraries
commonly begin to run out of space about 16-17 years after new construction.
A recent survey of the Fairchild stacks indicates that the existing shelves
there are 85% full with some floors and wings reaching nearly 90% capacity.
A library is considered "full" when it reaches 85% capacity because at
that point it becomes very difficult to accommodate the random addition
of new material without excessive rearrangement of existing volumes. Although
the aggregate number of Lehigh's paper journal subscriptions have been
reduced or replaced by electronic access, the collection of bound journals
and books housed at Fairchild continues to grow at a rate of more than
1,300 feet per year.
In order to accommodate this growth, Information Resources will utilize
movable aisle compact shelving as have many major academic libraries in
the United States. Ten rows of standard library shelving at the west end
of the second floor (FM-N-2) will be replaced by movable shelving. In addition
several small ranges of traditional shelving will be installed, resulting
in a net increase of 5,000 feet of shelving. This much-needed space will
provide storage for the next 5 years of bound journals. In 1998 Lehigh
Libraries installed over 6,000 feet of compact shelving at the Library
Materials Center in Building J where some backruns of journals have been
transferred recently, also to alleviate crowding. The installation of compact
shelving in Fairchild will begin immediately after spring semester finals
and should be complete by mid July.
By Philip Metzger
Lehigh University
Special Collections recently received the gift of a collection of works
of the English poet William Cowper, 1731-1800. The donors are William B.
Todd, Lehigh '40, and his wife Ann Bowden, of Austin, Texas. Until his
retirement, Dr. Todd was Professor of English at the University of Texas.
His specialty was analytical bibliography, in which he had an international
reputation, with a special interest in the 18th century. Bowden is a noted
librarian who taught rare books librarianship in the library school of
the University of Texas.
Cowper (pronounced Cooper) was a popular poet of the latter half of
the 18th century, and was especially known for his nature poetry. The gift
consists of about 300 volumes representing over 250 separate editions,
ranging from 18th century first editions to modern-day reprints. It represents
a rich bibliographical and historical resource for the study of the poet
and his influence. English Professor Barbara Traister is excited
about this collection as a potential subject for research.
Two additional units have come under the Information Resources "umbrella":
the Enterprise Systems Implementation (ESI) group directed by Manny
Pena and the Distance Education/Summer School Department directed by
Jim
Brown.
Enterprise Systems Implementation, in conjunction with other IR staff and staff from several functional departments, has been working on Project LEWIS. The primary objective of this project is the rapid implementation of SCT's Banner suite of enterprise wide applications. The ESI staff continue to install, maintain and enhance the Banner enterprise wide applications that include systems for student, admissions, alumni development, financial aid, finance, payroll and human resources. Complementing the aforementioned systems are a suite of web applications for student, admissions, alumni, finance and human resources. Current priorities include migrating the legacy finance system over to the new Banner finance system, and bringing web for employee, alumni and finance into a production environment. More information on LEWIS is available on the web page: http://www.lehigh.edu/lewis.
The Lehigh distance education program began in the spring semester of
1992 and now enrolls approximately 350 FTE students as of the spring 2001
Semester. Distance education students can complete any of several master's
degree programs from the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business and Economics,
and Engineering and Applied Science. While most courses are offered through
the LESN satellite network, a growing number are offered via the web through
LESN-Online. LESN and LESN-Online work through partnerships with major
organizations. Students are employees of such companies as Merck, Glaxo-Smithkline,
Bristol Myers Squibb, IBM, General Motors, Honeywell, Lucent, Air Products
and Chemicals, and 3M.
On February 2, 2001, the Lehigh University Board of Trustees approved
a technology fee to support and improve student-related computing infrastructure
and services at Lehigh University. Demand for these services is one of
the fastest growing areas at Lehigh.
Specifically students will benefit from a mix of direct and indirect services including:
• An expanded MS Office Professional software suite worth more than $500 at the discounted educational price (currently available to students only at computing sites) for their own computers.
• Increased wireless connectivity on campus.
• Expanded Internet bandwidth (minimum of 45 Mb/s) and related infrastructure.
• Upgraded student computing sites with a replacement cycle of no more than 3 years.
• High-speed connectivity and consultant services through the WIRED program for residential students.
• Unlimited Internet and campus network access through a university-provided ISP (Internet Service Provider) for off-campus.
The Technology fee of $100 each semester will be charged to to full-time
undergraduates, full-time graduates, and certified full-time graduates
beginning with the fall semester 2001. It will not be charged in the summer
or to part-time or distance education students. For more information about
the Technology Fee, connect to the Frequently-Asked-Questions web page
at: http://www.lehigh.edu/newtech .
In
2000 Lehigh Parents Denis and Joanne Salamone again donated a gift
earmarked for the area of student networking. Their original gift in 1999,
combined with matching funds from Information Resources, was the impetus
for Lehigh's first venture in this area. Their son Tom is a senior majoring
in computer engineering and has been a WIRED consultant for three years.
Together the Salamones serve as chairs of the Lehigh University Parents
Committee.
At right Bruce Taggart, Vice Provost of Information Resources, and Bruce Eisenhard, Residential Networking Consultant, listen to students talk about their experience of wireless connectivity at Lehigh. Most students in this photograph are participants in the pilot project. The pilot participants receive free wireless cards for their laptops and agree to evaluate the service and give IR feedback on their patterns of use on campus.
To date wireless connectivity is offered in selected areas of Fairchild
Martindale and Linderman Libraries, Rauch Business Center, Maginnes Hall,
and Packard Laboratory. Expansion to other buildings, residence halls,
and additional locations in the first buildings is planned for the future.
Wireless laptops in the Fairchild Martindale Media Center and at the Linderman
Service Desk are available for loan.