Special Projects

"This year Suzie deserves special mention for herculean efforts in the creation and production of the Library's Oral History Project, which was produced and released in time for the Library's official grand opening." Howard Spivak, Director for Library Systems & Academic IT

In the spring 2002 as we began planning for the autumn gala that would officially open the new Library, we began to search for a way in which we could chronicle the contributions of the many people whose hard work caused the new Library to come to be. Nicholas Irons managed this wonderful project, with the help of staff members Suzie Samuel, Federico Brusilovsky (a student assistant), and others. Working from a list compiled by the Library and the President's Office, in the fall the project team set up shop in the consultation area on the first floor of the new Library, turning it into a production studio.

Some of our interviewees came to us to be videotaped; for others, we took our equipment and went on the road to places like Borough President Marty Markowitz–quite an experience for the crew! When people were unavailable for taping (President Lattin; Vice-Chancellor Mucciolo) project staff created photo montages and conducted the audio portion of the interview by telephone. Thanks to Federico Brusilovsky's incredible talents as a sound editor, the results were superb. Former Vice-President Patricia Hassett allowed us to use the raw footage from an interview she had done with architect Sandy Howe. Again, Federico worked his magic, creating a beautiful clip for our project.

The project debuted at the October 18 gala grand opening of the new building, running on large monitors in several places throughout the Library. Its audience was rapt. In the summer 2003, the project team will reunite to add yet more interviews to the video/oral history of the new Library's origins.

Vernon E. Lattin: President of Brooklyn College at the time the master plan was undertaken and completed.

Patricia Hassett: Selected by President Lattin to present the project to the University, then (after the University gave the project funding priority) to the State Budget Office.

Laurence Mucciolo: CUNY Deputy Chancellor at the time the College sought the University's blessing for the Library Project.

Ella Weiss: Assistant vice-president at Brooklyn College who helped gain the State Assembly's support for the Project.

Barbra Higginbotham: Brooklyn College's Chief Librarian.

Steve Czirak: Brooklyn College's Assistant Vice-President for Facilities.

Charles (Chip) Foster: State Budget Office's program officer for higher education.

The Honorable Howard Golden: Borough President while the new Library was taking shape.

The Honorable Edward Griffith: Head of the Brooklyn delegation to the State Assembly (now retired).

The Honorable Rhoda S. Jacobs: Ongoing advocate and strongest spokesman for the College in the assembly.

The Honorable Marty Markowitz: Brooklyn Borough President.

Ms. Emma Macari: CUNY's Vice-Chancellor for Facilities.

Heidi Blau: Lead architect for Buttrick, White, and Burtis.

Sandy Howe: Lead architect for Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott.

"As a result of a mandate from the Provost's Office, we began a new Gateway Initiative this semester. It marks a new direction for content development. Instead of waiting for faculty to take the initiative with course content development, we have created Interactive Syllabi for the following Gateway courses: Biology 17, Math 2.9, Chemistry 1, Chemistry 1.1, Economics, and Accounting 10.1. In addition, we added appropriate publishers' course cartridges to the course sites.

"We worked with subject librarians in establishing contacts with the instructors, and we also used personal contacts to achieve faculty buy-in. We hired Elina Yuffa to assist with the development of these Interactive Syllabi. She also developed a way to produce registration labels for the students enrolled in these courses, which were delivered to the Library Cafe and to the faculty for distribution. We were able to have the courses up and running before spring break, an amazing achievement given the complexity of the project." Sylvie Richards, Multimedia Specialist

Multimedia Specialist Sylvie Richards, and part-time staff that a grant from the University (through the undergraduate dean's office) enabled us to hire, met with faculty in Accounting and Economics, Biology, and Chemistry. They were invited to address the Math department during its regular departmental meeting. In addition, faculty in several courses came for private tutorial sessions in the use of Blackboard. Two faculty members in Biology requested their own Blackboard courses, and some modifications of the Interactive Syllabus were created to suit their instructional goals.

We anticipate that students will begin to benefit from our efforts as they learn about the existence of the resources from the instructors and from other students. Future developments include interactive assignments, the use of tutors to monitor discussion boards, and the inclusion of publishers' test banks.

"When PCs were first marketed, they were over-hyped. Everyone would have one in his or her kitchen holding millions of recipies. But the cause of PCs' success had little to do with much-heralded early rationales. The PC succeeded for two reasons. It was the best typewriter ever invented--what you saw was what you got and mistakes could be easily corrected--and the spreadsheet made it the best calculator ever as well. It was only later, when millions of units were sold, that new applications like the Internet developed.

"Handhelds will probably proceed along the same lines. Currently they are the world's best address and appointment books. PDAs can also serve as high-class Sony walkmen, porting music in digitized form. They can do e-mail, although so can the wireless phone. As more and better units are developed and sold, new applications will emerge." Howard Spivak, Director for Library Systems & Academic IT

Getting a Handle on Handhelds: Instructional and Library Applications for Higher Education was held April 24, 2002, our annual "gift" to librarians, faculty, and technology staff at colleges and universities throughout the metropolitan area. Presenters from our sponsors Apple, ArcStream, Blackboard, MetaText, and Palm talked about both the current and anticipated handheld landscapes, and multimedia specialist Sylvie Richards made an exciting interactive presentation about library and higher ed applications for handhelds. This day-long program was highly successful, attracting an audience of more than 100 participants. It sparked the interest of Academic IT staff in the general handheld issue and was the genesis for our upcoming Tech Fee-funded pilot project.

Handhelds: The Future of Urban Mobile Computing

"In last year's annual report, wireless was mentioned as a pilot project. The implementation of wireless has not been a major concern, in that the few students who come with laptops can connect them directly into our network. Brooklyn College is a computer school with no student parking areas. I have never envisioned large numbers of students carrying laptops on the subway.

"My interest in wireless has focused on wireless as a low cost alternative to wire. That view was altered by the project undertaken for the Library week program on PDA applications in libraries. The PDA is a device that is both affordable and can be carried easily and securely on public transportation." Howard Spivak, Director Library Systems and Academic IT

Why handhelds and why wireless? National trends show that:

Wireless spaces are substantially cheaper to build and maintain than hardwired ones, and handheld devices are less costly than desktop/notebook computers. This makes these technologies ideally suited to publically-funded urban academic settings, where lower-cost approaches have a better chance of taking root than more costly ones.

Because wireless/handheld solutions are cost-effective, they are better able to take teaching with technology from "event" (a trip to a computerized classroom) to "integrated" status.

Compared to desktops (or even notebooks), the portability of lightweight handhelds ensures that these powerful little devices can be taken to every class, truly integrating technology with teaching.

Not only have mobile phones become ubiquitous in urban environments, but their functionality is rapidly merging with that of hand-held computing devices. Because of this rapid growth in both ownership and technical capability, new modes of educational delivery will be able to piggyback on the availability of these new hybrid platforms, making access to and use of these technologies far easier than would be the case were independent adoption required.

And, here at Brooklyn College:

Demand for wireless access to the Brooklyn College network and the Internet continue to grow across campus. Accordingly, the Library is in the midst of its own wireless implementation to meet the growing needs of our readers for "anytime, anywhere" access to academic and administrative resources and services.

As increasing numbers of Library holdings become digitized, there is an anticipated demand for new ways to interface the Library's digital assets with personal electronic devices.

The opportunity now exists for the Library to provide users of mobile hand-held devices such as Pocket PCs, PDAs, and Web-enabled cell phones with both public and secured/private information via these devices. In some cases, this access can occur automatically, without the necessity of searching for the information. Members of the campus community will soon be able to get information at the time and place they need it, without having to wait to log into a desktop computer or configure their own laptops for wired Ethernet connection in the Library. Examples of resources eligible for wireless mobile access include:

The Library's Web pages at http://library.brooklyn.cuny.edu (serving as the portal to essential academic resources, such as:

The CUNY+ catalog, e-books (via NetLibrary), and e-journals

Library and Library Cafe workshop schedules

Room and resource scheduling

Staff and office locations and hours

Library news

The Student Web-Central portal at http://infocenter.brooklyn.cuny.edu (providing online access to administrative information) and electronic resources such as:

The WebSIMS system which provides online access to a wide variety of student records functions.

College and general news

Blackboard announcements, calendar items, and selected course content via ArcStream's Blackboard to Go! -- a plug-in for Blackboard v6 Enterprise (to which CUNY is migrating this year)

Collections from the Music Library, audio books, and self-guided audio tours of the Library

Instant Messaging: between students and librarians/faculty/staff

3M Digital ID System and Digital Library Assistant to facilitate shelf reading, shelving, searching, and self-check-out library materials

GPS to facilitate locating lost or misplaced books, media, and other resources (laptop, projector, etc.)

We will seed this exciting project in the spring 2003 with 2002/03 Tech Fee money. We envision a three-year project.