Lyons New Media Centre - Policies & Procedures
Main Room
Priority Usage - Computers
The main room of Lyons (L411) has 12 Mac Pro computers. It should be noted that these have been set as priority usage for patrons needing the installed multimedia software. Patrons using the computers for reasons other than multimedia software may be asked to relinquish their workstations as the demand for the specialty software increases.
There is an additional priority usage stipulated on two of these 12 workstations for lynda.com. Any students, staff or faculty who need to learn more about software may use our lynda.com subscriptions to watch indepth video tutorials.
Available for All Students, Staff & Faculty
Please note that Lyons facilities are available for all faculties to use. Whether you are from the Communication Studies and Multimedia department or Engineering, English or Health Sciences, you are welcome!
Saving Your Files
We cannot stress this enough: Be sure to save your work as you go along. If something happens to the computer and your work wasn't saved, you will regret not saving as you worked. The machines in Lyons are cleared and reset to their original state at midnight every night, so please do not expect to find your files on the machine the next day. Be sure to leave with your files!
Lyons does not generally provide USB keys, writeable DVDs or external hard drives. Patrons are expected to bring their own portable storage devices/media when using our multimedia software and equipment.
Lyons is also not responsible for lost files. We will certainly help as much as we can to preserve work in the case of a computer freeze (if the library IT department is available at the time), but ultimately, patrons are asked to play it safe and back up / save their files often.
Remember to Logoff!
Once you are finished on a computer in Lyons, remember to logoff and close all accounts and programs being used, then logoff the machine (Apple menu > Logoff). Lyons is not responsible for hijacked accounts and files due to accounts being left open on our computers. Account and file security is the responsibility of the user.
Bookable Rooms
We have several rooms and stations which can be booked in Lyons. These are: the Consultation Room (L418), Edit Studio L415, Edit Studio L416, the Media Classroom (for the green screen) and gaming stations in the Games Room (L414). The Consultation Room may be booked for group study / work, but all other rooms must be used for their specific purposes.
There will be a replacement fees for lost or damaged keys/equipment. There are also fines for returning keys/rooms/equipment late. Be aware that rooms may only be used for the booked time, so be sure to lock-up and return keys/equipment borrowed to the Lyons Help Desk on time to avoid fines.
It is the responsibility of the individual to keep track of their time, borrowed equipment, keys, etc. It is not up to staff to remind patrons that their time is running out on a booking. Please vacate rooms and report to the Lyons Help Desk promptly to avoid fines and to keep the rooms clear for the next booking(s).
Cameras
There are several cameras available at Lyons. Some may be borrowed outside of the library. See our Equipment page for more details. There are a few policies for these cameras:
- Try to recharge the camera before returning it to the Help Desk in Lyons.
- Remember to remove your file(s) from the camera before returning it to the Help Desk in Lyons, as staff will erase the SD cards on a regular basis.
- Renewals may or may not be granted on cameras, depending upon the general demand and time of year.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT FINES:
All cameras, tripods and other accompanying equipment are due back within 24 hours from the time borrowed (so if the camera is signed out at 2:05pm on a Friday, it is due at 2:05pm on the Saturday). Please be sure to be prompt in returning cameras & other equipment to prevent any fines from accruing upon your account.
Edit Studios & Equipment Use
- There is a maximum capacity of 4 people in each Edit Studio.
- This room may be booked for 2 hours per day per group.
The two Edit Studios (L415 & L416) may be booked for two hours per day (per group) by any student, staff or faculty member through our online booking system. It should be noted that these rooms need a key, which can be signed out at the Help Desk in Lyons at the time of the booking. Keys and equipment must be returned to the Help Desk immediately at the end of the booking.
There will be a replacement fees for lost or damaged keys/equipment. There are also fines for returning keys/rooms/equipment late. Be aware that rooms may only be used for the booked time, so be sure to lock-up and return keys/equipment borrowed to the Lyons Help Desk on time to avoid fines.
Please note that equipment in these rooms may not be removed from them. Microphones which can be signed out at the Help Desk may only be used in the Edit Studios. They may not leave Lyons. Food and drink should be consumed before entering or after leaving the studios, to help keep these rooms clean for all to use.
The Edit Studios are not to be used for group study. Due to the highly specialized software, these must be available for patrons needing the software at all times. Please use the library room booking system if you are in need of a study room. Bookings found to be solely for the purpose of group or personal study will be canceled by staff.
Green Screen Room (Media Classroom - L413)
If you wish to book the Media Classroom to use the green screen, send an email to Rhonda Moore (Manager). Include the date(s) and time(s) that you would like to book (give a few options in case your first choice is not available).
When you arrive for your booking, please remember to check in at the Lyons Help Desk before and after you use the room, as the green screen room & equipment is signed out on your card and must be taken off your card once you are finished. You are responsible for the room as long as it is signed out on your card.
While using the green screen room, you will have access to the green screen (a painted wall & green paper for the floor) and the lights. If you need a camera, there is a camcorder available for use in the green screen room only -- ask to sign it out at the Help Desk in Lyons.
There will be a replacement fees for lost/damaged equipment. There are also fines for returning keys/rooms/equipment late. Be aware that rooms may only be used for the booked time, so be sure to lock-up and return keys/equipment borrowed to the Lyons Help Desk on time to avoid fines.
Please do not use other equipment in the room (such as the SMARTboard or Instructor's workstation in the corner of the room) without permission from the Manager (Rhonda Moore).
Consultation Room (L418)
- This room may be booked for 2 hours per day per group.
The Consultation Room (L418) may be booked for two hours per day per group by any student, staff or faculty member through our online booking system. A key will be signed out at the time of the booking from the Help Desk in Lyons. Keys and equipment must be returned to the Help Desk immediately at the end of the booking.
There will be a replacement fees for lost or damaged keys/equipment. There are also fines for returning keys/rooms/equipment late. Be aware that rooms may only be used for the booked time, so be sure to lock-up and return keys/equipment borrowed to the Lyons Help Desk on time to avoid fines.
The monitor on the wall may be hooked up to laptops to practice presentations. If using a Mac, you will need a dongle to connect to the monitor. If you don't have your own, you may borrow one from the Help Desk in Lyons for two hours.
This is the only bookable space in Lyons which may be booked for group work/study. All other rooms in Lyons serve a very specific purpose and must be used accordingly. If this room is already booked, please visit the library room booking system to book another group study room elsewhere.
Games Room (L414)
- Maximum capacity per console: 4 people
- Maximum capacity per gaming PC: 1 person per machine
- These stations may be booked for 2 hours per day per group.
There are several important policies and procedures for the Games Room that patrons should note prior to booking and using this space:
How to Play Games @ Lyons blog post (external link)
Important Note about Steam:
If you are using Steam to play games on our gaming PCs, please only use the Lyons accounts that automatically logon to each of these stations. Do not use your own account. The reasons for this range from putting your account at risk on a public machine to your game information taking up space on our hard drives to licensing not always covering more than one copy of the game(s), etc. If there is a game you think we should have, please let the staff at the Help Desk know and we will add it to our 'games to buy' wishlist to consider when we do our games purchasing.
Please also note the following important points about gaming at Lyons:
- If you have booked the final half hour of the day, you will be expected to pack up prior to the closing time, as staff need time to return games and controllers, etc. before the doors are locked at closing. So if the Centre is closing at 9:30, pease start shutting down your game by 9:15 or so, and return everything to the Lyons Help Desk.
- Games & controllers must stay within Lyons. They are only for use in the Lyons Games Room. We are not signing out games or controllers to be used at home at this time.
- Please arrive promptly for your booking. Bookings may be canceled after 15 minutes, leaving it open for other patrons to book.
- Please use the station you booked. If you use another station just because it's "free" at the time, you will throw off all the other bookings that day.
- Staff cannot book a station for you.
- Please keep your booking names "clean". Offensive ones may be deleted/cancelled.
- Remember to logoff on any machine you have logged into with your own account. Login to your own accounts at your own risk; use our accounts wherever possible. Please practice safe gaming.
- As strange as it may sound, the Games Room is not a study or hang-out space. The game stations are managed via a booking system and are specifically to be used for playing the video games offered by Lyons, primarily for academic purposes (as well as leisure). Please do not use these spaces if you do not have them booked for the purpose of playing games. Each room in Lyons has a purpose and if the rooms are used for other purposes, patrons may be asked to relinquish the room in question -- the same can be said for gaming stations & computer work stations.
Video Wall
The video wall usually plays a rotation of images, video, animations and other media projects during the hours Lyons is open. Sometimes, the sound it turned on. Please be aware that the Lyons New Media Centre is not a quiet/silent study area and that there may be noise from the video wall througout most days.
Submitting Files For Display:
- You can submit files to Kelly Penfold via email, USB key, disc or Dropbox. Other methods of submission must be discussed with Kelly first (downloading from sites such as Vimeo or YouTube might not be possible).
- Please also include:
- your name
- that you are a student at McMaster
- what faculty you are in
- titles for each file
- a brief description of what the viewer sees / hears, depending on the format; the description is an absolute must for accessibility reasons. This can be as simple as "A weeping willow tree against a sunset sky." These descriptions are used on our "What's on the Video Wall?" blog page.
- If emailing from an email other than a McMaster email, please include your McMaster email address in the body of your email to Kelly
- Any submissions for the video wall for an event MUST be submitted NO LATER two weeks prior to said event.
Resolution, File Types & Notes:
- Files are generally added to the video wall within a week of receiving them, depending on existing workload and/or availability. An email is usually sent to the contributor once the files have been added.
- The video wall displays at a resolution of 1360 x 768 pixels. We usually "frame" images with a border that fits this resolution, adding the student's name and the title/description of the image. All images will be resized to fit within this frame.
- Preferred image types are: .jpg, .gif or .bmp (24-bit or lower, please)
- Preferred video type: .mov (h.264)
- Note #1: Please consider adding captioning to / providing a transcription with any videos / audio files. (We do have software which will facilitate this.) If you cannot or do not have time, please consider giving us permission to do so for you.
- Note #2: If straight audio files are given to us, in order to make it work with our current digital management system, we may need to set it into a movie (with a blank screen or a screen of captions/titles to explain why the wall is blank).
- Note #3: If creating videos, podcasts, etc., please be sure that any media you use that you do not create is usable via a Creative Commons license / is royalty free.
Sometimes the wall is used for presetations for classes as well as conferences and other events. To book the video wall for this purpose, please contact Rhonda Moore (Manager).
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