FAQ
(Frequently Asked Questions)
Q: Who can
use the Learning Resources Center?
A: The LRC
is jointly funded by the School of Health Professions (SHP) and
the School of Nursing (SON) for supporting the curricula of these two
schools. Consequently, students and faculty of the SHP and the
SON have priority in the use of the facility. Students and faculty
from other schools and departments at UAB may also use the facility
on a pay-per-use basis, subject to availability. Room rates
may be viewed here.
Q: What are the LRC's hours?
A: The
LRC's regular operating hours, during academic terms, are as
follows:
Monday -
Thursday, 7:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Friday, 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, Closed
Hours are reduced
during semester breaks, 7:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., and
the LRC is closed on Saturdays during the breaks.
Q: How do I reserve a classroom in the
LRC, Scrushy, Webb, or Nursing buildings?
A:
All rooms in the LRC and most classrooms in the SHP and the SON
are reserved through the LRC. A room reservation request form,
available online or in the LRC, should be completed and forwarded
to Albertha Smith, AV Coordinator.
Although classrooms are normally booked well in advance of any
given semester, last-minute
requests may be submitted (on the same form) and a room usually
assigned within the same day. An email confirmation is issued to
each requester after a reservation is processed. Room request
forms may be submitted to the LRC electronically, through the
Facilities Scheduling
section of this site, or on paper to Room 203A, Zip 1270, or faxed
to 5-9554. From off campus, forms may be sent electronically
through the section noted above or mailed to University of Alabama
at Birmingham, Learning Resources Center, 1530 3rd Ave. So.,
Birmingham, AL 35294-1270 or faxed to (205) 975-9554.
Q: Can I view schedules for classrooms in the LRC,
Scrushy, Webb, or Nursing buildings?
A. You may do so via the LRC’s Scheduling page
(click the Scheduling button of the main menu) or go directly to
the WebViewer
here. The WebViewer has lots of features that allow you
to view the features of a room, who is occupying it at any given
time, and a weekly calendar of events in the room.
Q. What guidelines does the LRC use in scheduling
classrooms?
A. Following are
the guidelines that we follow in the room scheduling
process:
Scheduling deadlines are established, based upon those issued by
the Registrar’s Office, and announced via e-mail to all faculty
and staff. Room
assignments are made only after all requests meeting the
deadline are submitted. The time period immediately following the
deadline allows the LRC to start with a “clean slate”, so to speak, and
then begin matching classes to the most appropriate spaces to help
ensure best fit for all. In
determining best fit, we consider the following:
Size
of space in relation to size of group; Special equipment needs in relation to specialized facilities,
e.g., courses using video teleconferencing in LRC 104 or LRC 114;
Consistency in the room assigned to each group to avoid confusion
about where classes meet from day to day or week to week;
Proximity of available classrooms to faculty
offices/departments/buildings.
- We distribute room
assignment confirmations soon after the announced deadline, and
then only after we feel that room assignments are relatively
stable and satisfactory. Confirmations are sent to the persons
submitting requests on behalf of faculty and, to the extent
possible, to the faculty members themselves.
Q: As a faculty member, how do I
find out what media is available in the LRC to support a course
that I teach?
A: The
LRC has an online catalog
here that you
may browse or search, and it is always current.
Q: As a faculty member, how do I go about
acquiring media for use in my course?
A: The LRC
Director can conduct a search among various media publishers to locate materials related to specific
topics. Information on materials that might be relevant are then
shared with the requesting faculty member for possible order and
evaluation. When the faculty member determines which
materials might be the most appropriate, the LRC orders the
materials for an evaluation period. When the materials
arrive, the LRC notifies the faculty member, who evaluates the
materials and determines which ones, if any, should be purchased.
The LRC must be assured that faculty requesting materials are
committed to using them - either in the classroom or through
assignment to their students. Evaluation forms are issued to
the faculty member(s) for completion during the review process, and the
completed forms are placed on file for future reference.
Q: As a faculty member, how do I place
materials for my students on reserve in the LRC?
A: Place
items, such as article reprints, into a manila folder, along with a
table of contents for items within the folder, and bring it to the
Information Desk of the LRC. One of the LRC staff will create a
record for the folder in our circulation system database and
immediately provide you with a call number for the item. The call
number should be distributed to students who will be using the
folder, because it's the fastest way to locate materials in our
collection. If you wish to place an audiovisual item on reserve,
simply bring it to the Information Desk, and we will create a
record in our database for that, too, and provide you with a call number for it.
Q: As a faculty member, how do I go about
getting software installed in the LRC for my students or class to
use?
A: Requests for installation of software in
the LRC should go through the Director's office. The software
media should be forwarded to the Director at
least one week prior to the date of use. The Director
will subsequently submit a work order to AskIT for installation of
the software. A copy of the license
agreement must accompany the media and is a prerequisite for
installation. Upon successful installation and testing of the
application by AskIT, the LRC will notify the faculty member who
requested the installation.
Q: As a faculty member, how do I get
equipment that I might need for a class presentation?
A: Audiovisual and
computer equipment for class presentations should be included as
part of room reservation requests. Of course, this presumes some
prior planning on the part of the instructor. However, last minute
needs can be accommodated by requesting the equipment directly from one of
the AV Technicians or contacting the Information Desk of the LRC.
Last minute requests may take a little longer to retrieve and
deliver and are subject to availability, but the staff will do its best to accommodate your needs.
Clinical equipment (other than
physical assessment instruments available at the Information Desk)
and consumable supplies may be used as part of a class
presentation or lab activity, if they are used within the
LRC. Such items should be requested directly from the LRC's Clinical Lab
Coordinator in advance of your class. Because our clinical
equipment is available in limited numbers, and in some cases as a
single unit, equipment
must remain in proximity to the clinical labs for others to use on
short notice. Clinical equipment is often very expensive, so it's
important that the Clinical Lab Coordinator personally manage and
maintain it to ensure that it remains in optimum condition. Also,
the Coordinator's scope of responsibility for clinical resources
extends throughout, but not beyond, the LRC.
Q: As a faculty
member, I'm using slides that I would like to incorporate into my
PowerPoint presentations. Any ideas?
A: The LRC offers a
slide-scanning service for faculty and staff. Simply take
your slides to the Information Desk in the LRC, and complete a
short order form. Depending upon the number of other orders
currently in queue, your slides will be processed as soon as
possible. You will be contacted when your order is ready for
pickup.
Q: As a faculty
member, where can I get a CD-ROM or DVD, that I have produced
for my students, duplicated?
A: The LRC provides a CD and
DVD duplicating service if you provide the blank media on which to
make the copies. Take the materials that you want duplicated,
along with the blank media, to the Information Desk of the LRC and
complete an order form. All duplication is performed in the
evenings, so you should expect at least a 24 hour turnaround time
for completion of the order.
Q: I'm a student, and my friends and I
would like to use a small conference room to work on a class
project. How do I get one?
A:
During normal hours of operation,
students may reserve one of our small-group rooms for two or more
persons. This will require the presentation of at least two
valid, UAB student I.D.s by the requestors. After
completing the reservation form, students will be accompanied by an LRC staff member
who will open the assigned room.
Q: What kinds of rooms are available in
the LRC and what do they cost if I'm not a faculty member or
student of the SHP or the SON?
A:
Other UAB entities may use the
facilities on a pay-per-use basis.
See
the section on
Facilities Scheduling for details.
Q: Can we have food and drink in the LRC?
A:
Yes, but we ask that you clean up all food and drink spills and
dispose of all waste properly upon leaving the area you use. We
ask that you be especially careful if you take food and drink into
the computer classrooms. Because the computer systems are mounted
beneath the desktops, spillage could seep down into the computer
and monitor below.
Q: Does the LRC have the capacity for
video teleconferencing?
A:
Yes. The
video teleconference facilities in LRC 104 and LRC 114
are available for use, free of charge, by the SHP and the SON and
on a pay-per-use basis by other UAB entities. There is a
two-hour minimum required in using the facility, and the cost
includes the assistance of a technician on site. However,
technical support is available only during normal LRC hours of
operation. Teleconferences originating in the LRC may be
IP or ISDN, although the latter is recommended for greater
reliability and quality of service.
Q: Does the LRC have a satellite downlink
for receiving satellite teleconferences?
A: No, but
Hill University Center
(HUC) does. HUC has rooms
that may be reserved for receiving and participating in a satellite
teleconference. The contact number for the HUC
Scheduling Office is 934-8100.
Q: I'm a student. Is there any way that
I can get an e-mail account here?
A: Yes.
There are a few procedures you must follow to (1) register yourself
in UAB's Electronic Phonebook and then (2) request an account
through UAB's Data Post Office (DPO). If you would like to proceed
with establishing an e-mail account at UAB, do so by
registering.
Q: Does the LRC have software for
producing documents and presentations?
A: The LRC
computers have the Microsoft Office suite installed,
and within this suite of applications are Word (word
processing), PowerPoint (presentation), Excel
(spreadsheet), Access (relational database), Publisher
(desktop publishing), and FrontPage (web page development).
Image editing tools are also available. Printing documents is accomplished on the
computers in the LRC commons through a print charging system, and
there is a small, per-page charge for doing so. Cards for
printing may be purchased at the Information Desk in increments of
$1.50, $2.50, or $4.50 plus a $.50 one-time charge for the card. Once
depleted, cards may be reprogrammed any number of times for any
amount.
Q: Are there any study areas in
the LRC?
A: Keep
in mind that the LRC was designed to
support electronic based resources and interactive learning, rather
than quiet study. In a facility where a variety of audiovisual and
computer based media are used and activities are anything but
quiet, study areas don't fit in very well. However, there are four
small rooms that have been set aside as community study rooms -
240, 246, 258, and 264. We ask only that students using these
rooms respect the needs of others who might be using the rooms. Also, there are plenty of quiet areas in which to study
across the street at Lister Hill Library.
Q: Is there a phone in the LRC that I
can use?
A: There are
three "house" phones from which you may call anywhere on the UAB
campus - located in the student lounge, in the LRC lobby, and the clinical
skills lab. A pay phone is located in the student lounge for
placing off-campus calls.
Q: How do I get an annoucement placed on the
video kiosk systems in the LRC and the Nursing Building?
A:
The announcement should be submitted on the appropriate form, which is
available at the LRC Information Desk. Because the amount of
information that can be displayed effectively on a monitor screen is limited,
the announcement should be as brief and to the point as possible. The
Learning Resources Center reserves the right to edit the information so
that it will be displayed properly.
Examples of
announcements appropriate to the kiosk system include
student organization meetings and special events, new
course information, reminders of deadlines for students,
announcements of dissertation defenses, etc. Examples of items
that are not appropriate are birthdays, birth and wedding
announcements, services for which a profit is made, and most
non-student committee meetings.
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