The Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library’s Information Commons has expanded its multimedia lab with more computers and software for students to create and edit videos.
The “No Shh Zone,” as it is commonly referred to, provides an environment with modern computer technology where students can work together on group projects and even talk out loud to get those projects done.
One of the most popular aspects of the Info Commons is the multimedia lab, where library patrons can check out digital cameras and make their own movies using video editing software. Due to the lab’s popularity, the library has expanded it to include more computers, software and space to accommodate users.
“We anticipate the multimedia lab will become full of students now that we have opened this larger space,” said Cynthia Frazier, General Services Assistant in the Lee Library. “We post a reservation schedule a week or more ahead of time and it fills up fast.”
This lab is open to students in any major, unlike other places on campus that have to reserve their services for students within their departments.
The multimedia section on the library third floor includes four Mac computers, two PCs that have video editing software and four desktop publishing stations where students can create screenwriting storyboards and use Adobe and Macromedia programs.
Students can also do more than just create their own movies in the expanded lab. Two “analog racks” that sit near the room’s entrance can convert almost any type of video or audio recording to other formats including reel-to-reel, cassette, vinyl record, VHS and even European PAL videotapes and digital audiotapes. The multimedia lab and its consultants follow all copyright guidelines when duplicating media.
The library plans to further expand the multimedia lab if increased demand for the equipment continues, with ongoing mini instructional courses for students to learn how to edit their video and audio files.
For more information about the expanded multimedia lab, visit the Lee Library’s Web site at /www.lib.byu.edu/departs/gen/ic/multimedia.html or visit the Information Commons on the library’s third level.
Writer: Angela Fischer
