Improvements to Recording Equipment and Services Available to ARHU Instructors and Staff

A message from ARHU Academic Technology...

Have a great idea for a student project involving video?  Want to make a video document of a lecture or event?  Want to videotape interviews for your ethnographic research?

ARHU instructors and staff can borrow recording equipment from Academic Technology.  To make a reservation, please contact Brian Crawford at bcrawfo2@umd.edu.

Last spring we asked faculty and staff about their experiences using our video equipment and how they want to incorporate video into their pedagogy and work.  What we discovered is that many people want greater control and quality for some projects, while others need simplicity and dependability.

Our solution was to tailor our resources toward your evolving needs.  We ordered brand new pocket cameras (Samsung HMX-W300) which offer a more durable and modern version of the Flip camera.  We ordered enough cameras to meet our typical maximum demand, but please order as early as possible to ensure you can be accommodated.  Instructors sometimes borrow enough cameras to lend one to every student in the course.  You can borrow mini-tripods for the Samsung HMX-W300 as well as additional microSDHC cards, so you can continue filming while you dump footage onto a computer!

For those who need greater control of their camera and want higher quality, we have purchased 4 new prosumer camcorders (Panasonic HC-X920). They are really powerful cameras that offer super fast apertures, perfect for shooting in dimly lit lecture halls.  Because we now have 5 available camcorders, we strongly encourage you to rent them anytime.  Tripods and auxiliary microphones come with all of our camcorders.

Lastly, we have also ordered a professional grade camcorder for live-events.  This camera will be used by us to shoot your events upon request.  If you have a big, public event coming up that you would like to have recorded and hosted online, please contact Brian at bcrawfo2@umd.edu. Please contact us at least 2 weeks in advance to ensure our availability.

And just in case you were wondering, all of our equipment and services are free to ARHU faculty and staff, but are offered first come, first served, so please be sure to contact Brian as soon as you know you'll need our services.