introduction | guidelines | priorities | hours | staff assistance
The Information Arcade Classrooms are computer-based research and instructional facilities within the University of Iowa Libraries. The Information Arcade reports to the Libraries’ Director of Research and Instructional Services, and is partially supported by Campus Services.
The purpose of these policies is:
- To encourage, as a priority, development and redesign of courses that make effective use of electronic information resources and technology;
- To enable a wide variety of innovative academic courses and instructional programs of the University Libraries, as well as Information Technology Services programs and special university programs, to take advantage of the unique facilities and services of the Information Arcade;
- To aid in the complex process of promoting and scheduling Information Arcade facilities by providing a clear statement of scheduling priorities, when the classroom is available, and who may use it;
- To establish policies and reasonable charges for the use of the classroom by groups that are officially sponsored by the University but whose audience is not UI faculty, students, or staff;
- To establish policies and procedures for providing staff assistance for the preparation and/or instruction of class sessions held in the Information Arcade.
- The Information Arcade classrooms are intended primarily as a research and development facilities for courses and instructional sessions that:
- Make extensive use of interactive teaching/learning methods, multimedia, and/or electronic primary source materials;
- Emphasize information literacy and the integration of diverse information sources into research and learning.
- Priority is given to first-time users and to the development of new courses/sessions that use information sources, software, and equipment not available elsewhere on campus. Courses/sessions which incorporate interactive, hands-on instruction will receive priority over courses/sessions that primarily offer demonstrations.
- The Information Arcade seeks to support a diverse mix of academic courses and special sessions that:
- represent a variety of departments and programs;
- further the staff and user education programs of the University Libraries and Information Technology Services;
- include both graduate and undergraduate courses;
- make use of a variety of electronic resources and methods;
- need to use the classroom for appropriate occasional use as well as those that use it more frequently
- Instructors should request only those dates when they will actually be making use of the resources of the Arcade classroom and make arrangements to use other facilities on campus for class sessions that do not require these resources.
- FIRST PRIORITY in use of the electronic classrooms is given to:
- formal academic courses that are taught for undergraduate or graduate degree credit at the University of Iowa;
- sessions that are officially sponsored by the University Libraries;
- sessions for UI faculty, students, and staff that are officially sponsored by Information Technology Services (ITS).
- SECOND PRIORITY in use of the electronic classrooms is given to other kinds of sessions that are offered for an audience of UI faculty, students, or staff and that also satisfy one of the following criteria:
- are officially sponsored by academic departments or other official units or groups at the University of Iowa;
- are taught by UI faculty, students, or staff.
- THIRD PRIORITY in use of the electronic classrooms is given to sessions that are officially sponsored by ITS, University of Iowa academic departments, or other official campus groups but whose audience is not primarily made up of UI faculty, students, or staff. These groups will be charged a fee for the use of the classroom. This fee currently is $50 per hour or $250 per 8-hour day; the fee will be reviewed annually and is subject to change. University sponsorship must be confirmed in writing by a letter from the appropriate dean, departmental executive officer, or other administrative officer. In general, these sessions may be scheduled only during the summer and winter interims and the summer term and should not be scheduled more than seven months in advance; they will be scheduled only if they are unlikely to conflict with First or Second Priority requests.
- The classrooms are NOT AVAILABLE for:
- Groups or individuals that are not part of or officially sponsored by the University of Iowa;
- Sessions for UI faculty, students, or staff that charge a registration or other fee that exceeds the cost of handouts or other materials prepared for the attendees;
- Thesis or dissertation defense sessions that do not require facilities or resources unique to the Information Arcade;
- Sessions for pre-college age students, except for special summer or interim programs that are officially sponsored by the University of Iowa.
hours and times for scheduling
- When the Information Arcade is open regular semester hours (8:30 am - 9:00 pm M-Th and 8:30 am- 5:00 pm F), sessions may be scheduled:
8:30 am - 7:30 pm, Monday - Thursday;
8:30 am - 5:00 pm, Friday.
Exceptions may occasionally be made in order to schedule sessions at other times, contingent on the availability of Arcade staff and so long as such sessions do not meet in the Arcade on a regular weekly basis.
- On average, between the hours of 8:30 am - 5:00 pm M-F during the Fall and Spring terms, time will be allocated approximately equally between sessions sponsored by the Libraries and other sessions or courses; periods reserved for Libraries and ITS workshops will include a number of prime-time 1.5 - 2.5 hour slots scattered throughout the week.
- In scheduling academic classes, preference will generally be given to classes that meet during the standard University class time slots.
- No single group, class, or individual may request the classroom for more than 20 hours within a period of five or fewer consecutive week days. Exceptions to this rule may be made if the instructor presents detailed documentation justifying the need for additional hours and if granting the exception will not unduly limit access to the classroom for other users (including students who need access to the classroom workstations for class assignments and for independent learning and research).
The following types of staff assistance are available, upon request and pending approval, to instructors who have been scheduled to teach a course or class session in the Information Arcade Electronic Classrooms.
- General technical assistance with the facilities and resources in the Classrooms is provided by the Arcade Consultants or the Arcade Assistants who staff the service desk. Such assistance may include, for example, help with the Instructor's Station control console, accessing applications and other software, and basic software and equipment troubleshooting. Consultants and Assistants may not install software or hardware and the level of emergency support they can offer during class time is limited.
- Advanced technical assistance may be requested by the instructor in the Classroom Reservation Request Form at least one week prior to the date requested. Such advanced assistance may include the installation of applications, system software, or other resources onto Information Arcade equipment; the installation of hardware peripherals or other devices; or training in any of the supported software applications or resources available in the Arcade. All such requests must be approved by the Information Arcade Head.
- Assistance with planning a course may be requested by the instructor in the Classroom Reservation Request Form provided the form is submitted at least two weeks prior to the day of the course. Such assistance may include meeting with a member of the Arcade staff to discuss the resources available in the Classrooms, discussing with a Reference & Instruction librarian how to integrate electronic reference resources into traditional curricula, discussing with Academic Technologies staff how to develop a digitally enhanced pedagogical strategy, or receiving a tour of the Arcade facilities.
- Assistance with instructing class sessions may be requested by the instructor in the Classroom Reservation Request Form. If an instructor's request is approved, the instructor should to meet with the assigned Reference & Instruction librarian at least two weeks prior to the day of the class session to discuss the nature of the assistance requested. This assistance may entail having a librarain instruct a class session or having a librarian team-teach with the course instructor. Such requests are reviewed or coordinated through the Libraries' Instructional Services Program. Instructors must be present in the Classroom during their own class session. Reference and Instruction staff assistance is limited to a total of two class sessions for any given course per semester.
Exceptions to any of the above guidelines may be discussed with Lisa Martincik (319-335-5287, lisa-martincik@uiowa.edu).
These policies were originally approved by the Information Arcade Steering Committee in November, 1994. They were revised in 1997 and 2005. Questions regarding the use of the Information Arcade Electronic Classroom should be directed to Lisa Martincik, Head, Information Arcade, by phone at (319) 335-5287 or by e-mail at lisa-martincik@uiowa.edu.