All majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance who had a valid Unicard on Friday, September 22 should now have card access to the IAML every day from 07:00 to 23:00. Graduate students in those disciplines should have 24 hour access. This also provides card access to the Art Building.
Author: Anthony Reimer
We’re Hiring Student Help!
The Integrated Arts Media Labs have received funding to hire a student assistant for the Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 Term for about 9 hours per week when classes are held. The successful applicant will help provide services and support for lab operations such as photographic printing, equipment loans, troubleshooting computer problems, and general maintenance of the labs. Work usually happens weekdays between 08:30 and 16:30. Preference is given to majors in Art, Music, Drama, and/or Dance (graduate or undergraduate). You must be a current UCalgary student to be hired.
To apply (or if you have questions), contact Head Technician Anthony Reimer in person during business hours or via email at iaml [at] ucalgary.ca. Please supply a résumé including details on your experience with digital tools and the IAML, plus your class/availability schedule. (If that additional information is not in your résumé/CV, please provide it in a cover letter.) Interviews are ongoing. We plan to hire someone on or before September 20.
Why the Small Lab Uses Station Letters and Other Historical Tidbits
Once upon a time, prior to the formation of the Integrated Arts Media Lab in Craigie Hall (1994), both Music and Art had their own small computer labs — Art in AB 611 and Music in CH F206.
Inspired by the Artists they studied, the Art Department lab identified their computers by name. Those names were:
- Alberti
- Bernini
- Cellini
- Degas
- Ensor
- Fuseli
- Giacometti
- Hieronymous
You’ll note a pattern there: the names chosen started with the first 8 letters of the alphabet.
In 1993, the Faculty of Fine Arts (which included Drama and Dance as well) decided that they would be better off combining their resources to make one good lab to share instead of continuing to fund separate departmental labs. And thus, the IAML was born. It open in the Fall of 1994 in Craigie Hall F208, where the Music Resource Centre had been located.
But when the IAML opened, Art still kept around the computers they had in AB 611 so that students didn’t have to hike all the way down to Craigie Hall F Block to just use Photoshop, for instance. This lab was technically a part of the new IAML operations, but most of the day-to-day support was done by Jim Williams, the Photography Technician. The station naming convention stayed the same. When a ninth station was added, it was dubbed Ingres, keeping with the same tradition. The Art Building lab was filled with “hand-me-down” computers, now being handed down from the IAML Craigie Hall lab. So if you wanted the good computers, you still needed to go to Craigie Hall.
The Faculty had always planned for a second IAML lab, and by the early 2000s, it was clear that this was necessary, as Drama started teaching Computer-Assisted Drafting in the Art Building Lab because there were scheduling conflicts in the Craigie Hall lab. To help meet this need, a 10th station was added, which we named “Johnston” (both as a hat tip to the artist from the Group of Seven as well as the late Professor Emeritus of Music, Richard Johnston) and upgraded some old machines to tide us over until we could fund that lab better. At this point, the IAML staff started doing more of the setup and support, with Jim being the point person in the building.
The New Era
In 2004–5, the Faculty of Fine Arts directed their Development Officer, Ian Warwick, to put together a proposal to build a proper second Lab in order to approach potential donors for funding and naming rights. This effort was successful in getting the support of NBC Universal Canada to fund what became known as the NBC Universal Multimedia Lab or NUML. The 10-seat lab in the Art Building now became the high-end lab, to be used for more intense computing tasks, but also for the classes that had been using the hand-me-down lab prior to this.
Because this new lab was clearly no longer just for Art students, the idea of attaching Art-centric names to the stations didn’t seem right. Some thought went in to changing some of the names to performing artists in consideration of those other disciplines, but in the end, the decision was made to simplify them back to their core: just letters of the alphabet. While we could have also just changed them to more numbers, keeping the smaller lab as letters seemed to be a way to both distinguish the space and keep a small nod to its history.
When the donor naming rights agreement expired and no subsequent donor was found, we changed the name of the NUML to the IAML Small Lab, the name of the IAML to the IAML Main Lab, and the name of the combined operation to the Integrated Arts Media Labs. But the reason the Main Lab stations use numbers (like the Craigie Hall lab did) and the Small Lab stations use letters is all about the history of the the two labs.
Your Unicard Now Gets You in the Building!
Effective immediately, the University has added card access to the Art Building 6th Floor perimeter doors. Our understanding is that the doors will now lock and unlock at reliable times (unlike recent experience) but the hours will be more limited to increase security (e.g., the doors will lock at 19:00).
If you have access to the IAML (e.g., you are a major in Art, Music, Drama, or Dance), you now have access to the building for the same hours as you do the Labs. This means Undergraduates can get in the building 07:00-23:00 daily and Graduate Students, Faculty, and Staff can get in 24 hours per day. We do expect some hiccups in this system since it is new, but we expect that the indoor main North doors on the 6th Floor (just outside the Little Gallery and Small Lab) should be the most reliable.
“Back to the Future” in the Small Lab
The Small Lab (AB 605) has historically been all computers of the same kind. First, it was the original Mac Pro. Then it was the 27-inch iMac, which we did for two generations. Over the past two years, we changed the Small Lab to a mix of Mac minis and Mac Pros. Now that we have received some replacement computers for our oldest Mac minis, we have moved all the iMacs back to the Small Lab. But the setup is better than when they left:
- All the iMacs have 32 GB of RAM (instead of our regular 16 GB);
- Headphone and USB connections are more convenient with the extension cables on the right side of the desk;
- All stations now have colour hoods to make colour-sensitive work easier;
- There are three newer iMacs in the mix: Stations I and J are faster 2019 models, and Station A is a 2020 model with extra processing cores and a display with Nano-textured glass (which gives it more of a matte finish).
We will also be deploying two iMacs to the Hallway outside the Main Lab. These will be the same model of iMac as in the Small Lab, so when there are classes in both labs, you can still get a computer with that level of performance.
Winter 2023 End of Term
Here is a schedule of important dates in April for the IAML:
- Monday, April 3 through Thursday, April 6: Printing and equipment loans allowed during other classes if you enter quietly via the South Entrance (near the technician’s office). Exception: No printing Wednesday after 14:00.
- Friday, April 7 and Monday, April 10: University closed. No services. Card access only.
- Tuesday, April 11 and Wednesday, April 12: Access to services is expected to be non-existent during booked classes due to final presentations. If you didn’t print last week, look at the schedule for the gaps between classes (e.g., 09:00-10:00 and 11:30-12:30 Tuesday, 09:00-09:30 and 11:00-13:00 Wednesday).
- Starting Thursday, April 13: Computers will be removed in stages from the Small Lab (to make room for replacements). Expect the Small Lab to be closed sometime during the week of April 17. All files will be erased!
- Starting Monday, April 24: All student files on the remaining computers will be erased!
Fall Cleanup and Holiday Services
As scheduled classes end for the Fall, we begin preparing the Labs for Winter classes. Here’s your guide to the next few weeks in the IAML:
Deleting Student Files
- All user accounts on Lab computers will be deleted starting Thursday, December 15. This includes all files stored on our computers.
- All files (other than the assignment drop boxes) on the lab server will be deleted starting Thursday, December 15. The assignment drop boxes will be retained until January 2.
Card Access
- Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will have card access to both Labs until the University is closed (i.e., until the end of the day on December 22).
- Anyone who has been granted access to the building during the holiday closure (Dec. 23 – Jan. 1) will still have card access.
- Card access for students who were not majors but were enrolled in a Lab class this Fall will have access until December 20.
Services
- In-person services are available Monday through Thursday until December 15.
- If you need services during the week of December 19, please contact us. Staff will be working on Winter course preparation and may not be available (or on-site) at various times.
- Services are scheduled to resume on Monday, January 2. Note that both labs are booked during Block Week (January 3-7 for the Main Lab and January 4-6 in the Small Lab), so access to services will be very limited.
Spring Cleaning
Just like the physical cleanup happening in the building, we will be doing our regular cleanup of files and systems over the next month or so. Here’s what you need to know:
Deleting Student Files
- Files stored on the IAML Server will be maintained until April 29. After that date, you should expect any files stored on the server to be deleted.
- We expect to erase all the computers in both labs in May or June. After April 29, you should always save a copy of your files elsewhere (e.g., OneDrive, USB stick, emailed to yourself) to avoid loss of your data.
Card Access
- Students who had access to the Labs due to a lab class will have their access deleted on May 2. Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will continue to have card access to the Small Lab during the Spring and Summer and can use the Main Lab when it is open.
Services
- The Head Technician will be working from home at times (1-2 days per week) and will also be taking vacation time this Spring/Summer. If you need in-person services, contact us in advance before making a special trip to campus to ensure services are available.
Reading Week and Beyond
Reading Week is upon us! The University will be closed for the Family Day Holiday on February 21 and the Labs will be “card access only” for most of the week. If you need in-person services on Reading Week, please contact us, otherwise Lab Staff will be mostly working from home.
We expect most classes booked in the Labs to be returning to in-person learning the week of February 28, but please check with your professor/instructor just to make certain what the plan is for your class. We will be providing on-site services on those days where classes are using the Lab(s), likely Monday through Thursday.
End of Term Cleanup and Services
Now that scheduled classes have ended for the Fall, we are in the process of preparing for Winter classes. Here’s your guide to the next few weeks in the IAML (updated 2021-12-21).
Deleting Student Files
- All user accounts on Lab computers will be deleted starting Monday, December 20. This includes all files stored on our computers.
- All files on the lab server will be deleted on Monday, January 3.
Card Access
- Majors in Art, Music, Drama, and Dance will have card access to the Small Lab until the University is closed (i.e., until the end of the day on December 23).
- Anyone who has been granted access to the building during the holiday closure (Dec. 24 – Jan. 1) will still have card access.
- Card access for students who were not majors but were enrolled in a Lab class this Fall will have access until December 20.
Services
- If you need services during the week of December 20, please contact us. Staff are on vacation but may be on campus at times to complete Winter course preparation.
- Services are scheduled to resume on Thursday, January 6. (Note: The Block Course originally scheduled to be held in the Main Lab has been cancelled.) Should the University institute a Work from Home order, contact us if you require any in-person services.
