The third phase of the John T. Richardson Library renovation extended the open-plan computing of the Information Commons to the second floor of the Library to include the CoRE (Collaborative Research Environment), with Mac and Windows workstations powerful enough to handle CPU-intensive applications used in digital mapping, text and data mining, 3D modeling, graphic design, and video production, as well as Mac Pros and Dell Precision 5810 machines attached to 22” Wacom Cintiq HD Pen Displays.
For projects that may require privacy, sound optimization, and media creation software, The 1581 Media Studios are now open and available for reservation. 1581, taking its name from the example set by technology and entrepreneurship centers such as 1871 and BLUE1647 (and from one of the most important dates in DePaul history), provides access to digital audio and video composition and content creation, as well as small studios designed for usability research, green-screen video, and digital imaging.
These rooms are private, sound-buffered spaces optimized for audio recording/editing, video editing, interviews, presentation practice, podcasts, digitization, and other media production projects. Rooms are reservable by current students, faculty, and staff; users of the rooms are not limited to curricular projects, but are also encouraged to use the studios to pursuit personal interests and co-curricular learning related to digital media creation.
DePaul faculty members have already used the 1581 studios as a part of their teaching; Department of Physics Associate Professor Dr. Eric Landahl used 1581 studios in his Sound and Acoustics class offered last Fall. Students brought musical instruments to the rooms and recorded themselves using library equipment, also measuring the room’s decibel levels with sound level meters.
Each of the rooms include a MacPro installed with the Adobe Creative Suite software, in addition to AVID Sibelius. More specialized software for media production will become available soon. The rooms are also equipped with a microphone and speakers, and are large enough for additional instruments and equipment. For questions and/or further information, contact Janice Scurio, Information Technology Librarian.