Jake Palmer: a senior pre-graphic design major takes advantage of all the services at his disposal in the Digital Resource Lab. Lindsey Davidson / ASSISTANT PHOTO EDITOR
Ralph Brown Draughon Library.
This building, built in 1962 and named after a former Auburn president, is one of most heavily trafficked areas of campus.
Especially this time of year, students flock to the confines of its walls.
While most Auburn students utilize the library as a study haven, many are not aware of the extent of its resources.
The Digital Resource Lab is located on the first floor of the library.
The DRL’s mission statement says it is “designed to help Auburn University students, faculty and staff use multimedia materials in their class assignments and course projects.”
Inside the DRL, students can find state-of-the-art technology to assist them with all of their school related news.
Advanced software and computer equipment, along with on-site staff expertise, gives students the resources they need to complete projects.
A few of the services provided by the DRL are digital video editing, digital audio editing, graphics layout and design, analog-to-digital conversions, CD and DVD authoring, image scanning, build music scores and creating and printing posters.
Cameras, tripods and scanners are also available.
“The Digital Resource Lab is very convenient as it is open late at night and right on campus,” said Amanda Elliott, a senior in graphic design. “It is so helpful to not have to go over to the public library to find books or to drive across town to get something printed.”
At the DRL, printing is a self service, meaning students are responsible for remaining in the lab with their projects.
All that is needed to use the DRL is a valid Auburn login and OIT access.
The DRL is open from 7:45 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, with adjusted hours on the weekend.
The DRL is under an expansion that will triple its size.
The additions are scheduled to open this summer, and a grand opening will occur this fall.
Another service provided by the library is the accessible archives database.
This database provides full-text, primary source accounts of historical events.
It is comprised of first person accounts, which is ideal for research in a variety of fields.
“I have used this service in several classes, from my English classes to history research papers, this service is an incredibly convenient way to find first-person records,” said Megan Garver, a sophomore in English and Spanish.
Another recent update to Auburn library services is the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research.
It has been expanded to include TIGER/Line Files, a display of the geographic information for the United States, Puerto Rico and island areas.
Once these files are loaded in GIS software, researchers can use the information to generate census reports and housing information and to effectively display them on maps.
Two other valuable resources to be aware of are subject-specialist librarians and the special collections and archives department.
At the main reference desk on the second floor, there are subject specialists available to assist students with research.
These specialists can be contacted by e-mail for an appointment.
The special collections and archives department on the ground floor of the library is home to 10,000 cubic feet of archival and manuscript texts.
This service is available for extended research and analysis projects.
As always, students within the College of Architecture, Design and Construction and the College of Veterinary Medicine are encouraged to utilize their respective extension libraries.
