Summer 2003 Workshops

Note on dates: the first and last dates listed for each event were travel days. All workshops began with a reception/meal on the arrival date.

Sunoikisis Summer Seminar and Curriculum Planning - June 3-11
Leaders: ICC Course Directors

Description: The Greek session (June 3-7) planned the course ICAGR391: Homeric Poetry, while the Latin session (June 7-11) planned the course ICLAT391: Literature from the Early Republic. The two groups met jointly on June 7 to discuss other areas of collaboration in classics. Participants attended either one of the sessions or both.

Who Attended: These sessions were intended for all interested ACS classics faculty, in particular those who participated in the Fall 2003 on-line courses (ICC's).

For more information: See the Sunoikisis homepage at sunoikisis.nitle.org

Building a Media Resource for Teaching Modern Languages - June 12-16

This work session, members of the REALIA Project Managing Board and ACS staff assisted faculty members in editing and cataloging images for the REALIA Project (www.realiaproject.org), an on-line, searchable archive of high quality media for use in teaching modern languages and cultures.

Participants had a collection of at least several hundred high-quality prints or slides depicting Russian or Spanish scenes. ACS digitized a portion of the materials in the spring, and the participants gathered at the ACS Technology Center in June to edit the images and provide detailed descriptions, working with librarians and technologists as necessary. The resulting cataloged images remained the property of the contributing faculty member, but also was added to the REALIA Project, a searchable Web database managed under the auspices of three consortia comprising 42 colleges and universities.

Participants were encouraged to apply in teams, including a faculty member, librarians and student assistant from each campus. The teams were trained in editing and cataloging images and were encouraged to continue the work of building and cataloging their media collections on their home campuses.

 Agenda

Description: Producing a digital collection requires careful planning and organization to effectively reach the intended users and efficiently achieve the collection’s goals. This workshop was intended to facilitate the planning process for participants who intended to produce digital libraries; it drew on many resources including the leaders’ experiences in creating and managing the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues (http://alsos.wlu.edu).

The goal of the workshop was to enable participants to design digital collections that facilitate access to reliable content. This required organizing content to allow varied searches and also enforcing strict editorial practices. Issues of organization, content, and vetting were addressed.

The design, implementation, and ongoing maintenance of the Alsos Digital Library were used as one model of a small to medium sized multidisciplinary collection. Other examples of successful digital collections were presented, including collections from the NSF’s National Science Digital Library.

Dr. Settle, professor of Chemistry at Washington & Lee University and co-director of the Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues, presented the topics associated with gathering and organizing materials for collections. He also addressed issues associated with managing and maintaining the collection. Dr. Elizabeth Blackmer, the Alsos editorial consultant, discussed the tasks associated with producing, editing, and reviewing the content of the collection. Dr. Whaley, professor of computer science at Washington & Lee University gave a brief introduction to general database design principles that apply to such collections and discussed general concepts of providing web access to such databases.

Participants were asked to bring ideas for specific collections. Their activities during the workshop focused on their own collections, especially during the second day. The instructors and facilities were available for an open work session on the third day. Upon completion of the workshop, participants were ready to work with computer personnel to build a collection.

Who attended:Faculty members from any discipline and information technology professionals including librarians and computer staff members.

Prerequisites: The interest and desire to build a digital collection for education or research. Basic, generic knowledge of databases useful but not required.

For more information: Frank Settle (http://chemistry.wlu.edu/Settle2.html).

 Agenda

Producing Digital Collections for Education and Research: Databases with MySQL and PHP - June 21-25
Leaders: Kevin Treu, Professor of Computer Science, Furman University; Tom Whaley, Professor of Computer Science, Washington & Lee University

Description: This workshop introduced participants to a popular and reasonably straightforward method of providing web access to databases. Almost all significant web sites are now database-driven. In an academic context, these databases could hold scholarly digital collections as discussed in the preceding workshop; they could represent student project data from courses or independent study, or they could be faculty databases created for course management purposes. In all cases, the data contained may be queried (searched), modified, updated and analyzed using a convenient web interface.

The database platform presented in this workshop was the MySQL relational database system, PHP was the web scripting language used to provide database access. Both of these packages are freely available for most platforms. Some time was spent discussing alternative approaches (including ASP and JSP), emphasizing the common concepts and tasks needed for web access to databases. Also included in the workshop were some practical topics on database design and implementation. The workshop consisted of a combination of lectures and hands-on laboratory sessions. Participants were able to develop an abbreviated prototype system of their choosing together with a suite of typical application pages.

The primary development tool used was Macromedia Dreamweaver. However, support for other development methods (e.g., raw text editing) were also provided.

Who Attended: Faculty members from any discipline and information technology professionals including librarians and computer staff who had the interest and desire to build a digital collection for education or research. Participants had at least a beginner-level understanding of web authoring with HTML or a development tool such as Dreamweaver. Participants were also familiar with basic programming concepts (e.g., variables, looping and decision structures), though this was not strictly necessary. No experience with relational databases was necessary.

Workshop Materials

Flash-The Next Stage - July 8-13
Leaders: Patricia Gray, ACS Technology Center; Sean Pollack, Academic Technology Consultant, California State University, Fullerton

Description: In this intermediate/advanced workshop for Macromedia Flash, participants planned, began and executed a Macromedia Flash project either for web-design and functionality, or for teaching and learning. (We looked at examples of both types of projects). Participants came with an idea for a project or a project already underway. Participants learned the basics of Actionscripting, video import and delivery via Flash, sound importing, and advanced techniques for using layers, symbols, and animation effects.

Who attended: This work session was intended for instructional technologists, web designers and developers, and faculty who had at least 6 months continuous experience using graphic design image editing software (such as Macromedia Flash, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator) and were also comfortable with the basics of optimizing images for web delivery, web design and usability. In terms of the Flash interface, it was assumed that participants were familiar with the timeline, layers, property inspector, library, as well as basic animation (shape tweening, frame by frame, and motion tweening), symbols and instances (graphic, button, and movie clip), and the different Flash-supported export formats.

Agenda

Music Faculty Technology Workshop and Second Annual ACS New Music Festival - July 16-22
Leader: Patricia Gray, ACS Technology Center

Description: This workshop was a follow up on the work initiated the previous year. New faculty members who were interested in any of the collaborative projects in progress were included.

The three areas of concentration were:
1. Continued work on the building of online teaching modules for use in music theory and history classes. These modules were designed to be used in collaborative projects or in individual classes. An example of a typical module is available at: http://www.colleges.org/techcenter/music/modules/vox.html.

2. The production of the second annual ACS New Music Festival featuring works by faculty, student, and guest composers. Among the works performed was the winning pieces from the 2003 Student Composition Contest. In addition to the new compositions were two works in the Classics of the 20th Century category. Featured this year were Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and George Crumb's Voice of the Whale. There were four concerts resulting from collaborations between ACS faculty, students, and guests artists.

3. Sound and video recording and editing. These sessions were designed for those interested in recording concerts and making demos. Presenters discussed recording equipment, placement, and editing software. As part of the sessions participants made recordings of some of the Festival concerts.

Who attended: Faculty who were interested in using technology in the classroom or as an aid in a variety of collaborations among member institutions.

Fall Workshop

Fall 2003 IT Staff Retreat - October 16-19, ACS Technology Center

[Past Workshops]