Pictured from left, top row: Dwayne McCay, Bill Britton, Kevin Bogle, Pat Watson, Gary Womble, Stan Pinkleton, Shirley Mosier, Aubrey Mitchell
bottom row: Jason Brown, Pauline Bayne, Renee Smith, Rob Tanner, Rick Greene
not pictured: Chris Hodge, Tamara Miller, A.J.Wright, Aneisha Davis, Dee Hardwick
Digital Media Service wins Team Excellence Award
Below is the winning proposal describing the collaboration between the Office of Research and Information Technology and the University Libraries. For more information visit Digital Media Service.
TEAM MEMBERS
Office of Information Technology
Stan Pinkleton, Exec. Director, CTS
Renee Smith, Digital Media Service
Rob Tanner, Digital Media Service
Chris Hodge, SunSite, CTS
A. J. Wright, Unix & NT Group, OIT
Pat Watson, Technology Evaluation, CTS
Kevin Bogle, Student Assistant, DMS
Jason Brown, Student Assistant, DMS
Aneisha Davis, Student Assistant, DMS
Rick Greene, Student Assistant, DMS
Shirley Mosier, Business Liaison, CTS
Dee Hardwick, Admin Support, CTS
University Libraries
Aubrey Mitchell, Assoc. Dean
Pauline Bayne, Professor
Tamara Miller, Professor
WHAT THE TEAM DID
The Digital Media Service, formed in May 2001, is the result of a unique collaboration between the Office for Research and Information Technology (ORIT) and the University Libraries. The primary role of the Digital Media Service (DMS) is to meet the growing need for digital materials in support of instruction at the University of Tennessee. DMS provides digital conversion, storage, and delivery of media to faculty across the main campus in Knoxville and throughout the statewide university system via secure streaming servers and the Internet. The Digital Media Service also assists faculty in securing copyright permissions and offers referrals to related media production and technology services. The long-range goal of the Digital Media Service is to provide a single point of service for all of the digitization services UT will require in the future.
WHY THE TEAM’S ACCOMPLISHMENT IS NOTEWORTHY
Students now enter the University with an expectation of receiving instruction that fully utilizes the digital technologies of the time. Many colleges and departments at UT had already begun to experiment and implement digital services for their faculty. No one, however, had addressed the issue from the perspective of the whole campus instructional community.
As a full service digitization lab, the DMS facilitates the incorporation of technology in instruction and the adoption of emerging technologies in the classroom for all colleges and departments at UT. By ORIT’s central funding of the digitization for instructional use there are no funding barriers to prevent a faculty member from incorporating this technology into their teaching. This also makes it possible for faculty and departments to quickly adopt new technologies for teaching.
THE PROCESS THE TEAM FOLLOWED TO ACCOMPLISH ITS GOAL(S)
A DMS Steering Committee was formed in early 2001. Members Pauline Bayne, Chris Hodge, Tamara Miller, Aubrey Mitchell, and Stan Pinkleton served as transitional managers before full staffing of DMS was achieved. They planned space renovations and furnishings, established the first-year budget, purchased equipment, led the search for full-time staff, and designed initial publicity campaigns. A. J. Wright of OIT Unix & NT Group joined the DMS team as the chief technical consultant and addressed all server and connectivity issues. DMS began operation in June 2001 when Rob Tanner, Digitizing Supervisor, opened the doors of the renovated space in the Hodges Library. Renee Smith was named DMS Coordinator in August 2001. Student workers Kevin Bogle, Jason Brown, Aneisha Davis, and Rick Greene round out the staff performing a variety of digitization duties.
The Steering Committee continues to meet monthly to confer on operational matters, policies, budget, and planning. However, DMS collaboration goes beyond the two sponsoring entities on campus. A DMS Advisory Board was convened in January 2002. This group consists of other stakeholders including representatives of various IT units (Customer Technology Support Group, Computing & Networking Services, Innovative Technology Center, Unix Group, and Business Office), faculty from fifteen academic departments, Distance Education, University Relations, and the Technology Committee of the Faculty Senate. Meeting quarterly, the advisory group provides input on matters of procedure and policy to facilitate the primary goals of the service.
WHAT OBSTACLES THE TEAM HAD TO OVERCOME
Funding – The centralized digital media service idea was conceived in the midst of difficult budgetary times at UT. Maintaining existing programs was difficult, and starting a new program took considerable courage. A proposal and business plan were presented to Dr. Dwayne McCay, Vice President of the Office of Research & Information Technology. Dr. McCay agreed to provide the funding necessary to start the service.
Space – A great idea and startup money mean nothing if you have no place to put it. Space is always a major concern at UT, and the DMS project was no exception. Dean Barbara Dewey stepped forward and provided the project with choice office space on the 2nd floor of Hodges Library. The location is highly visible, centrally located, and enjoys close proximity to the Libraries' collections and media service.
Coordination—DMS Services are continually assessed and redefined in response to faculty needs. Early in the academic year when it became apparent that DMS’ slide scanning capabilities were not sufficient to meet the high level of demand, a specialized film scanner was added. Return on this investment was immediate and ongoing, as slide scanning has become one of the most popular DMS services. Likewise DMS purchased a book scanner to save on book wear and tear, decrease production time for scanning bound materials, and improve image quality. Each of these additions required a team effort in training and integration into the production flow.
Service—Through teamwork efforts DMS has been able to significantly decrease standard turnaround time during the first year of operation. Intake processes were streamlined, and a tracking system was implemented to monitor jobs as they moved through the system. Standard turnaround time dropped from two weeks to five working days. Department deadline accuracy rates improved drastically from the pilot phase. Total production is up significantly with more than 6800 items processed and entered into the DMS database.
Faculty Participation-- Visibility on campus is extremely important to DMS, and interaction with all colleges is vital. In its early stages DMS may well have been the best-kept secret on the UT campus. Throughout the year various members of the team made presentations about DMS to on?campus audiences (as well as regional, national, and international audiences.) Promotion of the Service began with a grand opening event on November 16, 2001. All faculty and administrators were invited. Dr. Dwayne McCay, Vice President for Research and Information Technology, and Dean of the Libraries, Barbara Dewey, delivered opening remarks and cut the ribbon to officially launch DMS.
A web site was constructed (http://digitalmedia.utk.edu/) to make basic information about DMS available. Information to assist faculty in planning use of digital instructional materials is provided, as well as guidance for students who need to access the materials on the DMS server. Again, the website is a collaborative effort of the DMS team.
THE RESULTS OF THE TEAMWORK
DMS has become a model for other campuses by showing that disparate groups can be brought together to manage a single coordinated service, and by showing how emerging technologies can be transitioned from pilot projects to production on a routine basis. One hundred eight clients from more than fifty?five academic units plus several non?instructional units have used the digitization services at DMS.