videoconferencing, streaming video, or data collaboration?

Wed Apr 7 23:00:41 EDT 1999

Thanks to all who responded to my question regarding library use of
videoconferencing.  I have collected the responses below.  Although I
received positive responses from about 6 folks, I am forming the belief
that videoconferencing is not a big focus for most libraries.  It may be
that libraries are focusing on the more core competencies that aid in
providing best access to scholarly information, and videoconferencing is
not the best technology for this.

But a big part of providing this best access comes in providing patron
training such as BI.  What  innovative technologies are people using to
deliver BI?  I am interested in knowing about projects to deliver BI
using streaming video (sort of the tutorial method) or data
collaboration tools (a real-time distance communication method).  Are
these techniques successful?

Thanks!
Dondi Michael
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

MY QUESTION 3-28-99
I am interested in knowing about videoconferencing projects in
college/university Libraries.  Specifically, are many using
videoconferencing for interlibrary meetings, bibliographic instruction,
library tours, other distance learning projects, or other reasons.  Has
this been successful?

I have recently noticed several small colleges/universities that have
videoconferencing capabilities outside the Library that are just not
being used.  Usually a grant of some sort funded the building of a
videoconferencing facility, and then it is not maintained.  Is this also

happening in Libraries?  Where do Librarians see videoconferencing
fitting into the Library?  Are Libraries waiting for direction from the
rest of the campus to see whether distance learning will be embraced by
the institution.  Are some Libraries going it alone?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Mary Pagliero Popp, Library Information Technology Services
Indiana University Libraries, Library E456, Bloomington, IN 47405
(812) 855-8170    FAX: (812) 856-4979   popp at indiana.edu

Hi!  Library staff use the videoconferencing facilities on our campus
(always busy!) for systemwide meetings (between IU campuses).  We are
using it for Promotion and Tenure workshops and our Serials Department
did a training session for another campus a couple of weeks ago.  I have

also used it for brainstorming meetings as we develop Specifications for

a new online system.

We would like to use it more for staff training, but it is very hard to
schedule!

As for the future, that seems murky.  It would be nice to bring BI into
distance learning classes.  But, it seems unlikely that we in the
Libraries would "go it alone" for bibliographic instruction.
Interactive web tutorials seem a better use of time and energy.
Eventually, See Me-See You technology on the workstation will do a
better job for staff
training and other types of interaction.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Frank Lin                                  Email: F.Lin at uws.edu.au
Web Developer / Network Support          Phone: +61 2 4620 3589
Technology Access                         Fax:   +61 2 4628 2460
Library and Information Services
University of Western Sydney - Macarthur
PO Box 555 Campbelltown, NSW 2560 Australia
http://library.macarthur.uws.edu.au

Hi Dondi,
We at University of Western Sydney - Macarthur have been using
Videoconferece facilities for both teaching and meetings for the past
two years.  Macarthur have two campus about 35km apart.  Each campus is
equipped with two videoconferencing sites. One for teaching and one for
meeting.  The library is in charge of the entire Videoconference
facilities.  Personally I only use it a couple of times a year, but I
know other library staff (and other Uni staff) who use it regularly for
team meetings.  There are also regular classes held using the teaching
videoconferencing sites.

As for the University of Western Sydney  (includes Nepean (3 campus),
Hawkesbury
(2 campus), and Macarthur (2 campus) which covers the Greater Western
Sydney (about 100km from on end to the other)), videoconferencing are
used mainly for meetings (teaching are used by each University member).

Apart from Official University stuff, the University also hire out the
facilities to outsiders for business meetings, interviews, etc.  If you
need more info on this, I can direct to you our videoconferencing staff.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Linda Woods Hyman
Pacific Bell Education First
(619) 237-2020
http://www.kn.pacbell.com
lhyman at mail.sdsu.edu

We created a web-based resource for schools and libraries using or
interested in using videoconferencing.  Information about
videoconferencing uses, access to a videoconferencing listserv, and an
interactive directory of others using videoconferencing can be found at
http://www.kn.pacbell.com/vidconf.

I am also enclosing this excerpt from a recent listserv posting.  All of

the Community College districts in California received videoconferencing

units as part of a three year grant.  I suggest you contact the person
who sent this message for more info.  As far as I know, all of the units

were placed in the library.

I think you'll find the whole gamut of answers to these questions.  You
might want to check Blue Web'n
(http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn) using distance education as a

search term. Here's one of the 32 hits that I got:
http://www.uidaho.edu/evo/distglan.html (see guide #11 for
videoconferencing).

Also try ADEC, the American Distance Education Consortium, at
http://www.adec.edu/

I have heard that DEOS (Distance Education Online Symposium) is a great
listserv for distance learning. You can find info at the American Center

for the Study of Distance Learning (http://www.ed.psu.edu/acsde/).

Join a videoconferencing or distance ed listserv and ask your questions
again. Be ready for the whole world to respond!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Donald A. Barclay
Houston Academy of Medicine-
Texas Medical Center Library
donaldb at library.tmc.edu

          Our library set up a videoconferencing room about a year ago,
and the responsibility for managing it fell to me.  (Quick show of
hands, how many webmasters are also videoconference-facility managers?
Is there a connection?  Are we way off topic here?) It's been an
interesting experience.

Videoconferencing is not cheap. The initial equipment is costly as is
connecting the equipment to a video network. Then there is a cost for
each videoconference. This always includes a time-based connection cost
and may include a conference participation fee.

We have served as a host site for several library-training
videoconferences, such the recent SLA/ACRL videoconference on electronic

licensing. We charge a small fee to attend conferences of this type and
invite librarians from all over the area to attend. One nice benefit of
this is that we've gotten to meet lots of librarians (including
corporate librarians) who we would have never met otherwise. We always
load up our new friends with plenty of propaganda about our library. (-:

We also rent out our videoconference room to non-library groups. For
example, a neo-natology seminar that meets twice a month in Houston and
Dallas has been using our videoconference room for over six months and
has it booked for another six months.

We has yet to use our facilities to export library instruction or
training from our library to other sites. The biggest hang up here is
that the sites we most want to reach don't have videoconferencing
facilities.

Hope this information is of some use.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Janet Chisman
Systems Librarian
Libraries - Washington State University
Pullman, WA 99164-5610
VOICE: 509 335-4941  FAX: 509 335-6721 EMAIL: chisman at wsu.edu

Dondi,
Washington State University Libraries is gearing up to try
videoconferencing between a branch campus and the science library.
Software is on order and then we will begin.  Our Cooperative Extension
office has used videoconferencing to do long distance instruction.
There is some information on this at:
http://cru.cahe.wsu.edu/training_exp.html

When we get going here in Pullman we hope to offer instruction on
Library resources to our experiment stations and research sites similar
to what cooperative extension has done.

We see videoconferencing as a possibility for face-to-face contact
between our reference desks on campus (we have 6 libraries) as well as
with branch campuses (4 of these).  As I said above we hope to use for
instruction to remote locations also.  Our university is developing a
series of Learning Centers located at extension offices (there is one
office per county) and we will explore instructional/information sharing

opportunities at these sites also.

I think this capability, or something like it, will be a major component

of library services in the future.  Don't wait for someone else to take
the lead!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Keawe Vredenburg <kevreden at ksbe.edu>
Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate

A likely problem is that videoteleconferencing is still being treated as

an "event", not a means of communication.  Although we have VTC links to

all our schools, the systems are located in places that are too
prominent, and are used only for major happenings.  I suspect that time
and technology will take the aura of "special" off our VTC systems and
in a few years, a conference will be more commonplace.  One
consideration is to democratize VTC with workstation cameras to get
regular folks familiar with the concept.  So long as VTC is something
where people think you need a makeup crew and participants think in
terms of "I'm going to be on TV!", it will be hard to get it used as a
favored alternative to e-mail and the telephone.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RESPONSE FROM:
Hillel Weintraub, Director, Communication Center
Doshisha International Jr/Sr High School
60-1 Miyako Dani, Tatara
Kyotanabe 610-0321, Japan
Phone and fax: 81-774-65-8960; main office - 8911
school homepage at http://www.intnl.doshisha.ac.jp

I am also interested in this area; is it possible for you to somehow
share/summarize the responses/information you get from the list that is
sent directly to you rather than posted? I'd appreciate anything you
could pass along very much.

Thanks, Hillel