Purdue Libraries and School of Information Studies News

MEL’s Database of the Week for 3/26/10

March 26th, 2010

Welcome to Database of the Week — a feature from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). These database snapshots will give you basic information about our most relevant and beneficial online resources.

This week, instead of a database, we are featuring a new technology that will be included in MEL’s continuing renovation.

This Week’s Featured Technology: media:scape, from Steelcase.

Location: In the Management & Economics Library by the east wall.

Description/focus: media:scape is collaboration technology for laptops.  This is a demo that we will only have in MEL until April 9.

Start with this hint: You really need a hands-on experience with the media:scape station in order to appreciate its simplicity and ease of use. The media:scape station looks like no more than a round table pushed up to a display of 2 flat-screen monitors.  However, when you open the media well in the center of the table, you will find 6 “Pucks” with laptop ports for connecting to the collaboration station. When one or more laptops are connected to the media:scape station, any of the laptops can be displayed on either of the monitors with just a tap of the “Puck.”  Access to resources through the Internet makes it easy to display and share information.

Why you should know this technology: Phase 2 of the MEL renovation will be underway soon, and the plans include several media:scape stations.  This collaboration station provides an environment to enhance learning and facilitate student success.

How this technology can be integrated into the curriculum: media:scape technology enables all the members of a small group to participate visually and to collaborate via their personal laptops.

Cost: Included in the renovation budget.

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Database of the Week comes to you from the Management & Economics Library (MEL). Our intent is to give you a brief introduction to a database that you may not know. If you would like more information about this database, or if you would like a demonstration of it for a class, contact kranlib@purdue.edu. Database of the Week is archived at https://blogs.lib.purdue.edu/news/category/mgmt/database/. For more Purdue Libraries news, follow us on Twitter (@PurdueLibraries).

If you would like us to promote your favorite database, send an email to mdugan@purdue.edu.