UMR library: it has more than just comfortable couches
Adam Hart
Issue date: 11/3/05 Section: Features
"The average student doesn't know what all that the library has to offer," says Andy Stewart, director of UMR's library. He just returned from a 1-year stint in Iraq, and I think he is right, which is why I set out to find out exactly what the library has to offer to the students here at UMR.
I'll start by talking about some of the common things you can do at the library. They have multiple study rooms available on the third floor. They're quiet, cozy, and you can definitely catch a good nap if you need to up there. Additionally, they have rooms that can be reserved, which will accommodate 10-20 people. The library is open from 8 a.m. to midnight 7 days a week, save for 7 major holidays when they close. If you want, you can even have a pizza delivered to the library. They allow food and drink throughout the building, which is nice, considering most public libraries do not.
The multimedia area, which is to the left when you first enter the building, is something that I never see a lot of students using when I come in. I was surprised when it was described to me as better than Kinko's for what you can do with the machines. You can print posters up to 42 inches in width and then scan in that same poster with the high-resolution scanner. The scanner uses such a high resolution, I was told, that some of the larger items like maps could not even be opened in Photoshop due to the file size constraints. There are also laminating machines, microfilm readers, and printers. The library has an extensive collection of microfilm on hand, including the New York Times dating back to the 1850's, so if you wanted to you could find out what was the news for the day during the Civil War or maybe the Great Depression. Furthermore, the area is going through an extensive upgrading process. A new Mac G5 will be in place soon and installed with Adobe's Creative Suite, and the most widely used professional video editing software, Final Cut Pro. Don't get any ideas, you amateur porn stars...
I'll start by talking about some of the common things you can do at the library. They have multiple study rooms available on the third floor. They're quiet, cozy, and you can definitely catch a good nap if you need to up there. Additionally, they have rooms that can be reserved, which will accommodate 10-20 people. The library is open from 8 a.m. to midnight 7 days a week, save for 7 major holidays when they close. If you want, you can even have a pizza delivered to the library. They allow food and drink throughout the building, which is nice, considering most public libraries do not.
The multimedia area, which is to the left when you first enter the building, is something that I never see a lot of students using when I come in. I was surprised when it was described to me as better than Kinko's for what you can do with the machines. You can print posters up to 42 inches in width and then scan in that same poster with the high-resolution scanner. The scanner uses such a high resolution, I was told, that some of the larger items like maps could not even be opened in Photoshop due to the file size constraints. There are also laminating machines, microfilm readers, and printers. The library has an extensive collection of microfilm on hand, including the New York Times dating back to the 1850's, so if you wanted to you could find out what was the news for the day during the Civil War or maybe the Great Depression. Furthermore, the area is going through an extensive upgrading process. A new Mac G5 will be in place soon and installed with Adobe's Creative Suite, and the most widely used professional video editing software, Final Cut Pro. Don't get any ideas, you amateur porn stars...