Computing & Information Resources

Technology is increasingly an integral part of a student’s education. In addition, many student services and information will be delivered via technology. To provide the KSU student with a quality education delivered most conveniently, technology will be used as an essential part of instruction, for student access to educational materials, and for the delivery of student services.

A $25 technology fee was collected for the first time in the 1997-98 academic year to provide students with improved technological resources including: greatly enhanced on-campus and remote access to the internet; important software packages such as Microsoft Office delivered on-line; student training in use of computer technology; increased access on campus through extended laboratory hours; computer connections, and an electronics study room in the Library; upgrade of student laboratories; and, instruction in the use of advanced multimedia presentation technology in the Presentation Technology Department laboratory. The technology fee for 2008-2009 is $50.00.

In addition, the Kennesaw State University Website has been constructed to provide students with course registration, reviewing of grades, easy access to information, instructional materials, services, activities, and the World Wide Web; many classrooms are connected to the internet; and selected campus classrooms continue to be upgraded to state-of-the-art multimedia and presentation sites. Each year brings new technology, creative uses of technology on campus, and services to meet our growing needs.

KSU generated e-mail accounts are the official means of communication with students. Instructions can be found at http://students.kennesaw.edu.

The Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer (CIO) provides leadership in the continuing advancement of information and instructional technology. This position oversees the operations of information technology which includes the Horace Sturgis Library, Information Technology Services and Enterprise Systems and Services, Online Learning Services Department, Multimedia Development Group, and Department of Archives and Records Management.

Horace W. Sturgis Library

Built in 1981 with over 100,000 feet of space, the library, named after the university’s first president Horace W. Sturgis, is designed to support and advance the teaching and learning activities of the greater university community.

The Sturgis Library has more than 600,000 volumes of books and government publications. There are more than 3,300 serial publications and well over 1,500,000 pieces of microforms. The library also provides, through contractual and consortia arrangements with the Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education and the University System of Georgia over 10 million items for research and study purposes. The Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education includes institutions such as Agnes Scott College, Emory University, University of Georgia, Clark-Atlanta University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia State University, and the Institute of Paper Science and Technology.

Use of these collections is available by an institutional access card, via five day truck delivery, institutional fax machines and through interlibrary loans.

The Atlanta Regional Consortium for Higher Education and University Systems Libraries have unique titles that augment collection development at Kennesaw and through the Georgia Union Catalog, enhance both research and teaching. Access to these extensive catalog collections are through the on-line public catalog which is available in the library, on the campus network and via telephone from remote sites.

For research purposes, faculty and students have access to a broad array of traditional print collections and full-text and full-image items through GALILEO, ProQuest, ERIC, and Lexis/Nexis. The GALILEO service provides access to world wide web resources such as the Library of Congress, full-text journal titles, newspapers, and to document delivery services.

Users of the library also have access to four special collections:

• The Children’s Literature Collection named in honor of the late John DiFazio, professor of education at Kennesaw, houses an 8,000 volume library used for the professional preparation and training of P-12 teachers.
• The Teen Collection consisting of 1,500 works designed to meet the unique learning and reading needs of adolescence.
• The Bentley Special Collections brings together a world-class collection that spans the history of the written word in the Western World. This collection provides undergraduate students one of few opportunities in the nation to study original works firsthand.
• The Government Documents Collection houses print, microforms, CD-ROM databases and remote access to Federal Agencies. Sturgis Library, as part of the national depository system, make books, periodicals and agency data available to the Sixth Congressional District.

Tours, seminars and classroom instruction are provided for both small and large groups of students and faculty. Individual instruction is provided by appointment.

The library is a charter member of SOLINET, and is a member of the On-line Computer Library Center, a major international library computing network with members located in the United States, Canada, Europe and Japan. The Sturgis Library is open 100 hours during the semester and has extended hours during exams. Between semester hours are posted at library entrances, the circulation desk and on the library website. For checkout of materials, the university identification card serves as a library card.

Computing Services

Tracking rapid evolution within the computing field, Information Technology Services and Enterprise Systems and Services constantly refine, improve, expand and advance the computing resources available to students, faculty and staff at Kennesaw State University. They provide network and desktop support for the more than 20,000 members of the KSU community.

Information Technology Services coordinates computing services for KSU students, faculty, staff, and supports over 3,000 personal computers, LANs and connections to many different computing locations. Students, as well as faculty and staff, are eligible for computer accounts affording access to services such as the Internet, KSU’s library system, an active jobs database, a current scholarship database, electronic mail, FTP, Telnet, and KSU’s web site server.

Faculty and staff workstations are networked for services such as electronic mail, student records, online scheduling and registration, access to the internet, as well as word processing and high quality printing. KSU faculty and staff are in communication with colleagues worldwide through internet mailing addresses, gaining access through desktop personal computers and also through remote dial-in services.

Information Technology Services also administers more than 700 student work stations located in 30 electronic classrooms and four open computer labs. All of KSU’s buildings are connected via almost five miles of fiber optic cable. All open computer labs are net worked and are open to students seven days a week. These labs are supervised by qualified lab assistants available to help with a wide variety of standard software packages in word processing, spreadsheet, database management, communications and graphics. KSU students with special needs have access to computers configured with features such as screen magnification and voice synthesis.

Networked electronic classrooms advance diverse curricular needs by granting access to statistical and programming language software, as well as standard software packages. Special purpose advanced labs are available to majors in accounting, computer science, education and information systems. One of the Georgia Department of Education’s Educational Technology Center is located on the Kennesaw campus. Through this facility, majors in education and other fields have access to state-of-the-art technology for teaching and learning.

The rules for use of all telecommunications equipment, including telephones, computers and FAX equipment, are found the KSU Web site at: http://www.kennesaw.edu/resources/policy.shtml. They can also be reached through the KSU Intranet home page by choosing the topic Telecommunications Policies from the Technology Resources section. Use of any of these facilities implies an understanding of and compliance with these policies.

Online Learning Services Department

Online Learning Services supports online learning systems for Kennesaw State University, including web-based course support, video servers, and systems for providing live and recorded classes over the Internet. Our mission includes the investigation and development of new technologies for online learning and for classroom use.

OLS supports the KSU WebCT system. WebCT is a system that can be used, at the option of the faculty, in any course at KSU. It is accessed over the Internet from on- or off-campus and provides a variety of instructional tools for use by faculty and students. Access to the WebCT materials for a course is restricted to students enrolled in the course. Each term, more than 50% of KSU students are enrolled in one or more courses supported by WebCT.

Additional information about resources for online learning and the services provided by OLS can be found at the web site: http://online.kennesaw.edu/

Multimedia Development Group (MDG)

The Multimedia Development Group (MDG) offers a wide range of multimedia services and training for faculty, staff, and students. Located on the fourth floor of the library, MDG supports audio/visual and presentation equipment on campus. In addition to maintaining KSU’s multimedia presentation classrooms, MDG specializes in multimedia training and production assistance; graphics creation, multimedia file conversion, audio/video tape duplication, video editing/compression, desktop publishing, and CD-ROM recording. MDG supports some of the most cutting edge multimedia hardware and software available.

Instructional Equipment

MDG supports a wide range of equipment for classroom use. Through designated building coordinators, MDG maintains a distributed set of equipment for faculty to request. Each building coordinator has his/her own system for reserving equipment. See your departmental secretary to obtain building
coordinator’s contract name and number. Equipment available for pickup includes: data projection systems, video playback combo, VHS camcorders, audio cassette player/recorders, audio CD players, public address systems, slide projectors, and microphones. If you have special equipment needs, consult MDG to consider options.

MDG Media Lab Hours

The MDG multimedia lab is open to faculty, staff, and students Monday - Thursday from 8:30 a.m. - 9:00 p.m., Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday from 1:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The lab is closed on holidays.

Department of Archives and Records Management

The Department of Archives and Records Management was established in 2004 in order to preserve the history of Kennesaw State University and to oversee the management of university records. The goal of the Records Management division is to promote and ensure the proper retention, maintenance, and disposal of records to satisfy the legal, fiscal and administrative needs of the University, and to provide assistance to staff with records management issues.

The Archives has a wide variety of materials pertaining to the history, growth, and development of Kennesaw State University, including:

• student publications, such as The Sentinel (newspaper), The Talisman (yearbook), and Share Magazine (art and literary magazine);
• minutes of President’s Cabinet meetings, annual reports, KSU Fact Books, budget summaries, accreditation reports and studies;
• KSU memorabilia including groundbreaking shovels and hard hat, athletic uniforms, flags and banners, and commemorative tee shirts; and
• photographs, video tapes and cassette recordings of campus life and events, prominent speakers on campus, and commencement ceremonies.

We also have special collections pertaining to the history of Cobb County, including:

• NAACP Cobb County Branch Records
• Bowling Yates (First Superintendent of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield) Papers
• Bell Aircraft Georgia (Marietta) Division Photograph Collection
• Cobb County Oral History Project

The KSU Archives is open to all students, faculty, staff and community members.

The KSU Educational Technology Training Center (ETTC) is the largest of the 13 Department of Education (DOE) Educational Technology Centers located throughout the state of Georgia. The KSU ETTC is located in the Bagwell College of Education on the second floor of Kennesaw Hall. The ETTC serves educators in the upper third of the State, including metro Atlanta.

The KSU ETTC provides comprehensive instructional, administrative, and technical technology training for Georgia educators. The KSU Educational Technology Training Center is also the founder of the “Georgia Framework for INtegrating TECHnology Program”. The A+ Education Reform Act of 2000 recognized Georgia’s InTech Professional Development Program as the premier technology integration training solution for Georgia educators. InTech is one acceptable path for meeting the special Georgia Technology Requirement.

Visit their website at http://edtech.kennesaw.edu for more information on available resources and services.