Borrow Digital Equipment from the Link

In Clare Tufts’ French Phonetics class, she uses a personal Sony HD video camera to record her Duke students reciting French poetry, stories and pop songs from memory. To prepare for filming in class, she visits Duke University Libraries and checks out a video camera tripod for free. She’s has tried out everything from Flip cameras to iPads for her courses.“When some new technology or some new piece of equipment comes out, most of us who teach in a language other than English are really interested in trying it,” said Tufts, who’s been teaching at Duke for 28 years. “Recording is a fantastic learning tool for pronunciation; most people don’t really like to listen to recordings of their own voice.”The Link Service Desk, on lower level 1 of Perkins Library, manages the equipment loans, from video cameras and GoPros to iPads and webcams, and the technology is available for checkout by Duke students, faculty and staff. Members of the Duke community must provide a valid DukeCard ID and fill out a loan agreement form at the Link Service Desk. Equipment is loaned on a first-come, first-served basis, and the timeframe and usage must be approved by Link staff and the Duke Digital Initiative, which explores new and emerging technologies to support teaching and learning at Duke. Erik Piper, team lead at the Link Service Desk, said equipment can be checked out for a few hours to a few months for longer projects, based on availability. Other available pieces of equipment are Flip video cameras, microphones, tripods, headsets, and laptop and phone chargers.“We take any request into consideration,” Piper said. “This program gives equipment access to tons and tons of different people and they’re going to be creative. They don’t have to think about barriers anymore.”First priority for equipment loans goes to faculty and students, who use equipment for classroom and research projects. Other short-term requests will be considered.High definition video camera, headset, charger and tripod loans have been the most popular, Piper added, and the Link Service Desk can process up to 200 pieces of returned equipment in one day. Duke students, faculty and staff can make a reservation to use the Duke Multimedia Project Studio, located in room 006 of Bostock Library, for multimedia production and graphic design. The studio offers Apple’s Final Cut Pro, Motion and iMovie software for video editing, as well as other software for audio and design projects.Duke faculty members such as Tufts, the French professor, use the Link’s loaner equipment program to add a multimedia component to their curriculum. Duke programs also use the equipment such as DukeEngage, which sends Duke students around the world for service projects and research. The Link program allows Duke community members to explore alternative avenues for presenting research without adding to the cost of their project, said Paula Batton, Duke OIT director of customer and technology support.“People want to interact with research now,” Batton said. “They don’t want to just read a term paper anymore. Whatever the point of their individual research is would be of interest to a larger community if presented in a different format.”