Category Archives: Post for MiddNotes

Puzzles in the Davis Family Library

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We now have some puzzles for use in the Library.  Currently there’s a spot set up behind the Research Desk on the main floor. Take a study or office break and put together a few pieces or a whole puzzle.  We will leave out several options at a time and rotate what we have.  If you want to take one elsewhere in the Library, just stop by the Research desk and ask to see the selection.

We will gladly take more puzzle donations (it would be nice to get some featuring foreign places for summer) and we are still looking for donations of GAMES (rubics cubes, monopoly, etc).  Just drop your donation at the front Circulation desk.  Anything we don’t use will be given away.

A Zine Called “Dresses”

Audre Lorde, Catharine Wright, gender, GSFS, Library Spotlight, LIS Staff Interest, Middlebury Community Interest, Post for MiddNotes, Post for MiddPoints, Sexuality, zines

Find student Andrew Pester’s zine Dresses cataloged in Special Collections & Archives by visiting archivesspace.middlebury.edu and searching the course name “Outlaw Women.” To see the print copy this summer, make an appointment  and drop by the garden level of the Davis Family Library

“The question of acceptance had a different weight for me.” ~Audre Lorde

Name: Andrew Pester

Year: 2017

Major: Dance

Hometown: Lawrence, Kansas

Collaborators: Dr. Catharine Wright’s Outlaw Women Course

Thanks Yous/Acknowledgements: Lexi Adams for helping to carry me through this.

You made a zine. What is that? And what was your motivation?

My zine is a collage of text, images, and color that express my life in a critical manner in relation to Audre Lorde’s biomythography, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. I created this zine in Catharine Wright’s Outlaw Women course, and the idea struck me after a movement-writing exploration with Maree ReMalia. I was writing in my notebook, and my narrative made much more sense in my own handwriting. I wanted the physicality of writing to be present in the work, so I decided to stray away from the traditional essay and into something more visual, the zine.

I write about a difficult interaction with my family, and I have found that I can be more true to the experience with the combination of visuals, text, and color than I can be with text alone. In creating the zine, I have found that the images restore the gentleness of motherhood that for a moment is shattered. The zine has been restorative and empowering.

How do you want users to interact with it?

I want users to absorb the text like they might absorb a photograph. There is no order in which I want the user to read the text, although the user may find a certain linearity. When making the zine, I thought about highlighting the moments that are an expression of my queer identity, those that are timeless and still live inside my body. I like to think of this zine more as a self-portrait than anything else.

Where would you like it to now live and who can help you with that?

I would be honored for my zine to live in Special Collections & Archives. I believe Mikaela Taylor and Joseph Watson can help me.

New in the Library: Mobile Standing Desks!

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The Davis Family Library now has 3 mobile standing desks.

“The Nomad Stand”

Students can use these anywhere in the library.  If one is not in use, just take it to a spot that is the right height for your comfort level.

They were designed by Franklin Dean-Farrar in Athletics and made here in Middlebury by Maple Landmark Woodcraft.

If these are popular we’ll order more.

Students have asked for standing desks, and we listened!

— The Library Space Team

24/7 period for Davis Family Library

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The Davis Family Library will be open 24 hours a day starting Sunday morning, May 7th. Regular hours resume for Friday and Saturday, May 12th and 13th, then 24/7 resumes until 8 pm on Tuesday, May 23rd. After 11 pm, you will need your ID to access the building.

Armstrong Library will have regular hours, with extended hours Friday and Saturday, May 19th and 20th (closing at 10 pm).

A full calendar of the hours can be found at go/hours

New Public Library_Printers

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ITS has replaced the printers with paper decks in Davis Library 142, 242 and 303 along with the two in Armstrong library. The new devices are Konica Minolta multi-function copier/printers. They look very similar to the Library_Color printers in LIB 142 and Armstrong lower level, but they only print in black and white. We have removed all print-release stations since users can now log into Papercut using the touch screen on the device.  Signage has been posted on the wall above each machine providing the new instructions.

 

 

 

Notes for In-progress Project Presentation for Panopto Pilot

In-progress Projects, Middlebury Community Interest, middpoints, notes, Open, Post for MiddNotes, Post for MiddPoints, projects
  • Panopto status update
  • Recap of original charge and proposal, history of project including Media Core process and funding. General consensus that Pantopo isn’t perfect but is pretty good, and definitely the best of all available options. The goal is to make a proposal for FY18 by January. Current Panopto contract runs through June.
  • Q:Will legacy streaming platforms, MiddMedia, archived items be a part of this process?
    • A:Not during this initial phase; with the decline in available data space, eventually we’ll need to examine those assets.
  • Rate of video storage has increased x20.
  • Most Panopto views are administrative, with some faculty using it for courses as well.
  • Students don’t have to leave Canvas to view videos in Panopto, but do have to log in again. Panopto creates a new user using single sign-on credentials. A Panopto viewer window embedded in Canvas will popup a login window; the issue is with what Canvas passes to Panopto. This issue is on Panopto’s development timeline, tentatively for late fall or winter. We’re meeting with them as well, working on code.
  • Embedding in WordPress doesn’t work, trying to write some code for that. We should be able to turn on a Panopto plugin for WordPress.
  • Some faculty are using Panopto at MIIS, have also used the webcasting feature successfully, including interactive and note-taking features. Sharing videos through a link has resulted in a good user experience. This is the legacy of Panopto as a lecture capture platform; perhaps we should talk about that while we’re talking about video conferencing. Should remember that Panopto charged based on views.
  • Q:Heather has asked whether we can embed Panopto on Sharepoint pages
    • A: not at present.
  • Thoughts on recent training? Seems pretty straightforward. We have two hours of training left, most topics are also available through support documentation and video.
  • Windows version of Panopto software has many more features than the Mac version (e.g., the focus feature); we may get questions related to that difference.
  • Panopto rep did send statistics on first training session; the analytics are very thorough with very specific usage info. Panopto may have applications for original research.
  • Panopto is currently not embeddable in Drupal because of the way Drupal filters code, but other schools have solved this issue; may take some work to make it possible.
  • Searchability is limited to English only, users will need to upload a caption file for other languages. Users can also supply keywords to make videos more searchable.
  • Q: If we do additional training, can we focus on other features?
    • A: Potential for more creative uses than simply streaming video.
  • Lecture capture is a non-starter at Middlebury; faculty don’t want it and the costs were prohibitive. MIIS can still use it that way. May be useful for making guest speakers/special lecturers available to students abroad.
  • Part of the proposal to continue Panopto would be a 3-5 year commitment to encourage user investment in the platform.
  • Media workload at MIIS is increasing, so we’re looking to Panopto as a possible assist in that regard. The goal is for self-service, self-empowerment. Lots of need to cover recurring classes, to record and make available later, which has been difficult to staff and organize. There may be some capacity to use Panopto to automate some of that process, but it would require upgrading a space to achieve it.
  • Feedback on Panopto has been generally good, and good enough to go forward.

ACTT Meetings ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Web Conferencing Service

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Tuesday, November 8, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the Web Conferencing Service project.

  • Share what has been done, so far.
    • The results of the round-robin, what services were removed from consideration as a result
    • Current use of services under consideration.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

ACTT In-progress Project Presentation for Panopto Pilot

Agendas, In-progress Projects, Meetings, Middlebury Community Interest, middpoints, Open, Post for MiddNotes, Post for MiddPoints

Tuesday, November 1, from 3-4pm
LIB 105A or Zoom room https://middpilot.zoom.us/j/846802386

The new ACT Team process includes in-progress project presentations. These presentations are meant to inform the community about how things are going, what has been done and what still needs to be done, what is going well and what are the challenges.

In this meeting we will talk about the video streaming service and the Panopto Pilot.

  • Review the training that occurred on 10/25
  • Share what has been done, so far.
  • Discuss what still needs to be done.

In-progress project presentations are open meetings, anyone may attend.

This way to the Unplug and Recharge Room

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Follow the arrows, and find some time for yourself! Take a break from your studies for just one – quiet – moment. You’ll feel refreshed, we promise.

Photo of Unplug and Recharge Room

Just follow the arrow

The Unplug and Recharge Room will be available through November on the Upper Level of the Davis Family Library, but you may borrow meditation cushions all year long from the circulation desks at the Davis Family Library and the Armstrong Library.