Multimedia Commons Debuts at Leavey
Photo/Jon Vidar
In keeping with themes of multimedia literacy in the university's plan for academic excellence, the Library of the Future contest encourages students to explore those questions using the tools available through USC Libraries' new Multimedia Commons. The contest is sponsored by the Friends of the USC Libraries.
The Multimedia Commons, on the first floor of Leavey Library, features sophisticated workstations, scanners and Wacom graphics tablets. The new space complements other recently added services such as a podcasting studio, digital cameras, HD camcorders and audio kits available for check-out at the Leavey service desk.
Students already have begun using the podcasting studio for multimedia class assignments and personal projects such as video and music blogs and short films.
The Commons is available to all students, but Karen Howell, director of Leavey Library's Undergraduate Learning Center, hopes that students interested in the Library of the Future contest will be among the first to take advantage of the new services.
“Leavey is a perfect place to work on contest presentations,” Howell said. “Our mission at the libraries is to support the university's 21st-century curriculum. Students will start here to do their research and then return to produce multimedia content for the competition as well as their classes.”
The Library of the Future competition asks student teams to consider the physical structure, technology and social aspects that will shape tomorrow's library. Teams must consist of students from more than one academic discipline. Entries will take the form of three-minute multimedia presentations.
The libraries currently are recruiting the high-tech business leaders and scholars who will make up the panel of judges. The panel will select a grand-prize winner and two runners up at a Parents Weekend event. The grand prize will be an all-expense-paid trip for four to the USC football game against Cal this fall.
“Many of the library services we take for granted today seemed impossible only a decade or two ago,” said Marje Schuetze-Coburn, dean of the USC Libraries. “This contest will reward students for thinking creatively about what libraries can and should do for them in the future.
“The prizes will be a big draw, but the opportunity to present work to a prestigious panel also will be a large part of the contest's appeal to students,” she added.
The USC Libraries soon will begin offering workshops and other educational programs to help students get started creating contest entries and other multimedia content.
The workshops will cover everything from basic technical issues to intellectual-property rights and privacy concerns in today's media landscape. Further details will be posted on Leavey Library's Web site and the libraries' home page.
The Library of the Future contest deadline is Sept. 28. More information is available at http://www.usc.edu/libraries/future
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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