The New Media Center (NMC) has been relocated to the lower level of the American University Library and is open for business! The New Media Center has merged with Media Services former Digital Media Studio suites and as a result, there are 22 Mac workstations available for students, faculty, and staff to work on not-for-profit multimedia projects!
The following are a few changes that should be noted and are intended to improve the accessibility of the space, the AV equipment loan procedures, and the effectiveness of our software training.
1. Probably the most substantial change is our implementation of a training calendar that insures that the major multimedia production applications (Final Cut Pro X, FCP 7, Photoshop, and iMovie) will be taught repeatedly and often. We feel this will best serve all students with multimedia projects whether it’s the beginning, middle, or end of the semester. This change means we won’t be providing on-demand training for individual classes but we’re confident that students will have even more opportunities to learn the basics. Rest assured that the lab consultants will continue to provide ad hoc instruction on an individual basis and will assist students in accessing online Lynda tutorials. We will also be providing workshops on many other applications (e.g. Flash, podcasting, animation, sound design) though less frequently. The bottom line is that we’re committed to meeting the needs of the AU faculty, students, and staff; and since this training approach is a departure from the past policy we encourage your input on how we can tailor it to meet the needs of our users.
Here’s a link to the Fall training schedule:
2. It’s no longer necessary for faculty to submit a Faculty Services Request form or students to petition to use the NMC. We feel that there are enough computers available (22) to have a more open policy. We expect there will be times during the semester when there’s a wait list and we will work with other campus labs to insure that all students get the access they need without overburdening any given lab.
3. NMC hours will be longer and overnight access is available by reservation.
4. Standard equipment loan periods have been extended from one-day to three-days. Video and still cameras, tripods, and audio recorders now circulate from the Media Services desk.
We are all excited to see what the coming year holds for the New Media Center and look forward to assisting you with your projects.
Each of our 22 workstations has been named after a well-known robot. You’ll know them by their unique desktops created by NMC lab consultants.
Here they are:
