NCSA NEWS

FFP Brown Bag Series Continues

released January 15, 2002

The next 2002 Faculty Fellows Brown Bag seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 23, at noon in Room 4269 of the Beckman Institute on the University of Illinois campus. The presenter will be Michael Twidale, a professor in the UI Graduate School of Library and Information Sciences. His presentation will be "Cyberdocents: An Exploration of Education and Guidance In and Around Museums." Pizza and bottled water will be provided on a first-come, first-served basis. The presentation will also be available on the Web at http://mediavectra.ncsa.uiuc.edu/twidale/.

Twidale's project explores the concept of the "cyberdocent"—the use of advanced technologies to provide some of the additional information, interaction, and experiences of a museum visit that are traditionally provided by, for example, a docent giving a guided tour. These docent functions add value to the artifacts in a museum, providing different layers of meaning, different ways of looking at the artifacts and their wider context, alternative ways of understanding abstract concepts, and opportunities for interaction.

The Faculty Fellows Program (FFP) offers one-year fellowships to UIUC faculty who are engaged in research projects that could benefit from access to the world-class computing facilities and expert staff at NCSA. The program is funded by the NCSA, the University of Illinois, and the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. The FFP also brings new interdisciplinary research projects to NCSA and the Alliance.

The Brown Bag seminar series gives current Faculty Fellows the opportunity to present and discuss their research projects with their fellow university colleagues, and with the NCSA/Alliance community.

The full year's schedule of Brown Bag lectures can be found at http://www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Divisions/DirOffice/campusrelations/FFP/FFP_BB.html.

 

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