Newsletter No. 3

CUHK Newsletter What is UIMS ？ While somemay correctly answerthat UIMS is theacronymfor University Instructional Media Services,not very many canclearly defineits responsibilities or categorically list theservicesit offers, let aloneidentify each servicewith theresponsibleofficerin charge. How much doyou know about UIMS? The following articlemay beof useif you haven't used their servicesbefore.But remember,UIMS is afee-charging service-unit, albeitfeesareonly to cover operating expenses and setat a very reasonablerate. What Do They Do? The provision of audio-visual facilities — From the UIMS Circulation Counter you can borrow all sorts of audio-visual equipment ranging from TV sets, tape-recorders, video-recorders, video cameras, to overhead projectors and slide projectors. You can also obtain the ‘raw materials’ such as films, tapes, video-tapes and transparencies for the production of audio-visual teaching aids. On request, UIMS staff will help produce transparencies andmake copies of tape and video-tape recordings. A self-service room was opened last November and staff members can make use of the facilities inside to design their own audio-visual teaching aids. The provision of technical support services — The University has some 180 overhead projectors, 50 slide- projectors, 70 tape-recorders, and a lot of other audio-visual equipment. Their upkeep and maintenance is the duty of a technical support team comprising three technicians. Whenever there are important functions and ceremonies, the team will be called upon to assist in the setting up of public-address systems and other lighting and audio-visual arrangements. When a new teaching block has been completed, user departments will chase after them for advice on the design and installation of audio-visual facilities in classrooms, lecture halls and language laboratories. Audio-visual production work — The principal duty of the audio-visual production team is to help administrative and academic units design and produce video programmes for publicity or instructional purposes. They have to work closely with the user-units to understand their needs and to cater to their requirements with the limited resources they have. Another important duty is to help record the University's history in the form of slides, photographs and video-recordings about major University functions and events. Future Plans UIMS staff have plans to improve the quality of their service through the acquisition of better and more professional audio-visual equipment. If resources are available, they hope to extend the business hours of their Circulation Counter and produce more audio-visual programmes to complement teaching activities in the University. They are running a certificate course on education technology in collaboration with the Department of Extra-Mural Studies to promote public interest in this area and they are eager to do more of this in the future. 7