Library and Computing Facilities
Through an innovative merger of libraries, computing and educational technologies, the Connecticut College department of Information Services provides students with an integrated and rich information, computing, and communications environment throughout the campus.
The popular Charles E. Shain Library recently underwent a $11 million renovation, which was completed in March 2015. The facility includes a first-floor Research Commons, with open-access computing workstations located near the library reference and circulation desks, along with the Blue Camel Café, a space that is available for 24-hour study. The renovated library also includes 10 collaboration rooms for group study, along with a wide variety of seating throughout the facility. Lower-level spaces include the Technology Commons, providing an array of seating for group work; an Advanced Workstation Cluster, which provides dual-monitor screens and numerous software packages; the Digital Scholarship and Curriculum Center, offering support for digital projects and research; the Advanced Technology Lab, which includes a space for technology instruction; the state-of-the-art Diane Y. Williams ’59 Visualization Wall; and the IT Service Desk, which provides an array of technical support services. Shain Library also houses two electronic classrooms.
The general library collection consists of more than 500,000 print book and bound periodical titles and approximately 12,000 VHS/DVD titles. Electronic resources in the collection include subscriptions to more than 200 research databases, the complete content of more than 13,000 journal titles, and access to nearly 1 million e-book titles. Shain Library is also a partial federal documents repository that provides access to approximately 200,000 government documents. The library’s collection is augmented through the CTW Consortium, a partnership with Trinity College and Wesleyan University that shares an online materials catalog and provides fast access to more than 2.2 million items.
The Linda Lear Center for Special Collections and Archives houses more than 21,000 volumes and 4,000 linear feet of manuscript and archival collections, including 10,000 photographic prints and 44,000 slides and negatives. The Center also holds 275 paintings and 125 fine prints. The Charles Chu Asian Art Reading Room provides a quiet reading and study space for students and faculty. The Greer Music Library in the Cummings Arts Center contains more than 11,000 books, 19,000 scores and 20,000 recordings, as well as study, computing and listening facilities.
Access to the campus network and the Internet via robust and modern wireless technology is available throughout the campus. Email, electronic books and journals, the Moodle course management system, and academic courseware are available both on and off campus. The Connecticut College Information Services website offers access to many academic resources, such as scholarly journals, research databases and college publications. Students are allowed personal Web space on Google Apps for Education Google sites. They can also utilize a supported WordPress platform to create a website, blog or academic portfolio. The Connecticut College IS website is www.conncoll.edu/information-services.
Students are strongly encouraged to bring a recent laptop computer to campus for personal and academic use. Apple Macintosh and Windows computers are both supported on campus, and the College maintains agreements with several vendors for educational discounts. Additionally, there are more than 300 Apple Macintosh and Windows-based computers in public and discipline-specific clusters located around the campus. Laser printers, scanners, and general application and instructional software are available for student and instructional use in many of these locations. These facilities, as well as the Digital Scholarship & Curriculum Center and the Advanced Technology Laboratory in Shain Library, and the Ammerman Center for Arts & Technology, enable students to work together on technology-related projects. Faculty and staff can also use these facilities to create multimedia resources and to conduct scholarship using new technologies. The College integrates technology into foreign language instruction in several facilities, including the Walter Commons for Global Study and Engagement, located in the Blaustein Humanities Center, as well as the Davis and PC electronic classrooms in Shain Library.
Students may request voicemail accounts and local and long-distance telephone service in residence hall rooms. The College provides in each room a robust selection of cable TV channels, in regular and high-definition, including premium channels.
The Connecticut College high-speed Internet connection provides sufficient bandwidth to allow students, faculty and staff to communicate with educational, research and commercial organizations around the world.