Carpe Digital, or, Reinventing a 1980s AV Center as an Entrepreneurial Digital Services Center
•Als PPT, PDF herunterladen•
0 gefällt mir•350 views
The document summarizes the process of connecting various dots to transform a print-oriented library department into a new digital services operation called the Norwick Center for Digital Services. Key steps included identifying needed elements, creating an executable plan, securing funding and space, hiring new staff, and promoting the new center. Usage of the center's resources has increased significantly since its opening.
Empfohlen
Empfohlen
Weitere ähnliche Inhalte
Was ist angesagt?
Was ist angesagt? (10)
Andere mochten auch
Andere mochten auch (17)
Ähnlich wie Carpe Digital, or, Reinventing a 1980s AV Center as an Entrepreneurial Digital Services Center
Ähnlich wie Carpe Digital, or, Reinventing a 1980s AV Center as an Entrepreneurial Digital Services Center (20)
Mehr von The Entrepreneurial Librarian
Mehr von The Entrepreneurial Librarian (20)
Kürzlich hochgeladen
Kürzlich hochgeladen (20)
Carpe Digital, or, Reinventing a 1980s AV Center as an Entrepreneurial Digital Services Center
- 3. Gillian McCombs, Dean & Director Central University Libraries Southern Methodist University
- 4. THE PROLOGUE
- 12. Rob Walker, Director Norwick Center for Digital Services Southern Methodist University
- 14. ACT ONE: THE WAY WE WERE
- 15. The Way We Were
- 16. The Way We Were
- 21. ACT TWO: THE PLAN
- 23. ACT THREE: THE OBSTACLES
- 25. The Obstacles BUT OTHER THAN THAT, WE WERE IN GOOD SHAPE!
- 26. Think big, you may only have one chance at success.
- 27. Think big, you may only have one chance at success.
- 30. Put a square peg in a round hole.
- 31. Put a square peg in a round hole.
- 34. Make them an offer they cannot refuse.
- 35. Make them an offer they cannot refuse.
- 37. Show me the money!
- 38. Show me the money!
- 42. Bring in a ringer.
- 44. If you build it, they will come.
- 45. If you build it, they will come.
- 47. If you build it, they will come.
- 49. If you build it, they will come.
- 52. Attention must be paid.
- 53. Attention must be paid.
- 55. THE EPILOGUE: WHERE’S THE BEEF?
- 60. Where’s the beef? videoconference adobe cs3 practice video editing audio editing scanning other users 10 90 53 131 11 54 131 total users 480
- 61. Where’s the beef? videoconference adobe cs3 practice video editing audio editing scanning other users 10 727 434 425 54 338 702 total users 2690
- 63. ? QUESTIONS
Hinweis der Redaktion
- Hi, I’m Gillian McCombs, Dean & Director of Central Univeristy Libraries in Dallas, TX.
- In preparing for today’s presentation on how the nCDS was born, it was necessary for us to look back from where we are now and connect the dots forward, because though the nCDS may have seemed like on overnight success, it was actually several years in the making.
- Naturally, every project starts with that first dot, a vision that someone has that gets broken down into a plan that leads to the eventual execution of the project. There are other dots along the way... a combination of incremental progress and cataclysmic events that propel a project toward its eventual completion. And then ultimately, is that final dot, the end product, what you envisioned when you first started down the path? Connecting the dots that led up to our project, which we will delve in to more detail shortly, we noted:
- Whie the nCDS may seem like an overnight success, it was actually 6 years in the making.
- You’ll notice the flurry of activity in 2007 as we got the ball rolling and momentum picked up
- At this time I’d like to introduce Rob Walker, Director of the Norwick Center to present some of the key details that led to the success of the re-invention of the Norwick Center.
- Hi, I’m Rob Walker, director of the Norwick Center for Digital Services. To backtrack a little bit, I started working at SMU in 1998, when I was hired as a manager of audio visual services for the media center.
- Today, the Norwick Center for Digital Services is currently comprised of three areas: also... software, large format printing scanning, etc This is a long way from the way we were...
- Not exactly Gill and I but what the heck!
- Not exactly Gill and I but you get the picture
- When I arrived in 1998 as technology manager, the CMIT provided up to five distinct services for the campus and had five full time staff (director plus 4 employees) and a handful of student employees. And though we did have our own budget separate from the library’s, the budget was designed to pay for classroom technology support by charging users for live event and videography services.
- And of these five services only one was a direct benefit to the library. And that service, the media library, was being absorbed by the circulation department. I don’t know about you but I saw the writing on the wall, in terms of long-term job security within the library! Especially since the library was the greatest contributor to our budget. Give an example of our most grievous error - the Bush Promenade non-taping.
- The budget was particularly oppressive, because I was on the front lines earning the money. I recall a greater percentage of our budget being spent on student labor for the DELIVERY of equipment to the classroom. A holdover from the 1980’s.
- Compounding our problems, we were also faced with the following: Only one collection of merit. And did I say...
- On paper, it was very simple. Based on feedback we got from student groups, direction from our strategic plan, and peer review we identified areas which needed improvement and set about the path of transformation.
- Naturally we faced some obstacles to this plan
- Being a classroom support operation, our equipment centered around classroom technology and video/live event equipment. Of the old CMIT staff, one would remain with the classroom support operation, one did not want to participate in the new department and only one was a technologist. Our experience was concentrated in multimedia creation, video editing. We had no campus-wide solution in place for asset management, and other than ITS, no one was willing to partner with us for a DAm. Further, there were student technology labs across campus, but they were reserved for students enrolled in specific classes ad not open to the general student population.
- Being a classroom support operation, our equipment centered around classroom technology and video/live event equipment. Of the old CMIT staff, one would remain with the classroom support operation, one did not want to participate in the new department and only one was a technologist. Our experience was concentrated in multimedia creation, video editing.
- So, here’s how we went about achieving our goal. Your results may vary. In an organization unaccustomed to dynamic change, take the opportunity to think boldly, especially if you want the operation to act boldly
- Attenborough was trying to take out 250 men. We were trying to create a new department, but we faced similar challenges: in that we identified our needs and developed a plan to meet those needs. The plan was quite simple really in that we... Give example about architectural drawings, taking one for the team
- We identified a space in the library that would be ideal for the new operation. The problem was that is was already occupied with a non-library group. We identified the hardware and software requirements for the new operation, and we needed a dozen expensive Macs and other specialized gear. We needed to find funds for new technology, improvements to the space (furniture) and additional staffing. Of the three remaining CMIT employees, one was a technologist/manager, one was an administrative director and one employee did not want to participate in the venture. We saw needs for a student center supervisor and a digital collections developer.
- DIY spirit
- Looking first at our assets, we had the remnants of the media operation, and two positions (plus a director) . The media operation had it’s own small endowment and small operating budget. so we scavenged what could, namely some computers and video gear, and two positions. in short....
- Looking first at our assets, we had the remnants of the media operation, and two positions (plus a director) . The media operation had it’s own small endowment and small operating budget. so we looted and/or scavenged what could, namely some computers and video gear, and two positions. we sold live event gear, our minivan, and extra video production gear One of the employees was not a good fit for the new venture, and so instead of having to deal with the hassle of letting him go and all that would entail in HR, I simply found him a new job with a different company that paid more than he was making for me. We then hired a person better suited to the new venture.
- We made an offer to the non-library unit that occupied the prime space we desired for the center. Like the Godfather, they really didn’t have a choice, since the co-operative effort that placed them in the space prime was not a success., so the writing was on the wall for their tenancy anyway. Since our organization was not used to dynamic change and had not embraced digital (anything other than what they were alreay doing was additional work) we offered to basically do all of the work to mount the initial digital collections, since we hadn’t had much activity otherwise.
- Change cost center model.We had to find creative ways to finance the project, in a short period of time. We sold (and continue to sell) gear to the organization taking over the a/v business. We sold off the “microvan”. We were compensated for a position we lost. We aligned ourselves with the Library IT office to help finance additional computers and software. We used the all the funds we could lay our hands on. We also did a lot of the work ourselves - non-contract “Anthro” furniture, infrasturcture (plasma and projectors) and we took advantage of routine maintenance to improve the spaces.
- We aligned ourselves with the Library IT office to help finance additional computers and software. We used the all the funds we could lay our hands on. Since the project had momentum, no one was really willing to say no to us. We also did a lot of the work ourselves - non-contract “Anthro” furniture, infrasturcture (plasma and projectors) and we took advantage of routine maintenance to improve the spaces.
- We aligned ourselves with the Library IT office to help finance additional computers and software. We used the all the funds we could lay our hands on. Since the project had momentum, no one was really willing to say no to us. We also did a lot of the work ourselves - non-contract “Anthro” furniture, infrasturcture (plasma and projectors) and we took advantage of routine maintenance to improve the spaces.
- In a moment of serendipity, we found a digital collections developer! The wife of a new emplyee looking for part-time work and a ContentDM expert. Gill scrambled to find the funds. We also hired a recent SMU graduate with experience helping students .
- We had faith that if we built the student center and better digital collections, that people would come. But we didn’t leave it up to faith. We worked it. We took an aggressive (ie, non-library approach) to marketing the center: headlines in the campus newspapers and library publications plus other techniques to get our name out there. Even a logo on the cycling club’s jersey!
- We took an agressive (ie, non-library approach) to marketing the center: headlines in the newspapers and library publications plus other techniques to get our name out there. Even a log on the cycling club’s jersey! We came up with the “Carpe Digital” brand and applied it to everything.
- We took an agressive (ie, non-library approach) to marketing the center: headlines in the newspapers and library publications plus other techniques to get our name out there. Even a log on the cycling club’s jersey!
- We came up with offbeat ways to get the students in the center, like “Walkerisms”, offbeat advertisements that may appeal to the target audience. We celebrate offbeatness.
- We came up with offbeat ways to get the students in the center, like “Walkerisms”, offbeat advertisements that may appeal to the target audience.
- We came up with offbeat ways to get the students in the center, like “Walkerisms”, offbeat advertisements that may appeal to the target audience.
- i . Target faculty for student projects, ii. c. Have the freedom to act fast i. We are free to purchase equipment (under $1,000) as required to achieve our digitization needs, film projectors, reel-to-reel audio machines, etc ii. We had funds to help digitization of projects, and that helps the stakeholders make decisions to proceed
- Have the freedom to act fast We are free to purchase equipment (under $2,500) as required to achieve our digitization needs, film projectors, reel-to-reel audio machines, etc We had funds to help digitization of projects, and that helps the stakeholders make decisions to proceed . No spiders and “bots” truly accurate numbers
- Have the freedom to act fast We are free to purchase equipment (under $2,500) as required to achieve our digitization needs, film projectors, reel-to-reel audio machines, etc We had funds to help digitization of projects, and that helps the stakeholders make decisions to proceed
- We present useful data to our superiors, using custom written applications.
- The trend this year was a reduction in video editing and increase in the use of Adobe applications.. We now feel comfortable updating to CS4.
- Looking back at these dots, I’d say, and Rob would probably agree that we are exactly where we want to be: we have a well-used student center, one that has been the model for other centers on campus, vibrant digital collections, and a nascent digital operation already equipped with state of the art scanners, large format printers and large format digital photography. We have learned a lot along the way, particularly about the “domino effect” our actions had, both in and outside our organization (along the way we angered a dean, and lost our original director). At no time, though, have we ever thought the project was not worth the effort or the “consequences”. The progress was definitely incremental, but cataclysmic events created recognizable cattle prod moments that we effectively used to advance the project dramatically.