The James G. Harlow, Jr. Room is located within the History of Science Collections on the 5th floor of Bizzell Memorial Library. The Harlow Room offers an attractive venue for colloquia, special events and classes using rare books from the University of Oklahoma Libraries special collections.

The Department of the History of Science offers a colloquium series in the Harlow Room many Friday afternoons throughout the fall and spring semesters. See the Department website for a colloquium and special events calendar.

The Digital Humanities Working Group at OU offers a brown-bag workshop in the Harlow Room on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of many months.

To reserve the Harlow Room, the Gaylord Room, the Bass Lobby, or to schedule a special event, consult with the Curator or Librarian. The calendar below may help you anticipate scheduling conflicts, but be forewarned that these spaces may not be available on a given date and time, even if they appear available on this calendar.

Instructors:

• Caveat: The Harlow Room is scheduled at the discretion of the Dean of University Libraries. It is not a centrally-scheduled classroom, but is used for special events. All other classes and events scheduled to meet in the Harlow Room are subject to cancellation. We will try to provide at least several weeks notice when a scheduled class or event must be pre-empted, but please keep a back-up plan in mind.
• Scheduling: To request use of the room for a class, contact the Curator or Librarian of the History of Science Collections. Many classes request use of the Harlow Room both as a regular meeting place and for special class visits; it may not be possible to approve all requests. For use as a regular class meeting place, priority will be given to classes that make frequent use of special collections materials and which concern the mission of the special collections. Instructors must note the caveat above. We particularly urge instructors of classes which meet for several hours, only one time each week, to maintain a backup location to use in the event of cancellation, or to arrange for another room to use regularly and meet in the Harlow Room only on those days in which they will actually be using special collections materials.
• Policies: Please acquaint your students beforehand with the policies and procedures listed on this handout (pdf).

  

• We encourage you to send your students this link before the first class:
  http://ouhos.org/2010/08/21/guide-for-classes-meeting-in-the-harlow-room/
• You may rearrange the tables and chairs as best fits your class, but before the students leave please ask them to help you return the room to the same configuration as you found it. Make sure all sticky surfaces are clean, if there were drinks or food.
• The Epson PowerLite 1775W data projector currently provided in the Harlow Room accepts VGA, RCA and HDMI video inputs. A provided HDMI cable can be used to connect to the data projector from either (1) your laptop; (2) the AppleTV; or (3) the Document Camera (see below for descriptions of the AppleTV and the Document Camera). Just connect the HDMI cable to whichever video source you wish to project. Or, if your laptop does not have an HDMI out, you may use the provided VGA cable. If your laptop does not have either HDMI or VGA, then be sure to bring your own dongle to convert to either HDMI or VGA out. The projector does not have a DVI input.


Epson Data Projector inputs/outputs



• The data projector is equipped with an AppleTV. Connect the AppleTV to the data projector with an HDMI cable (provided). Then the data projector will project video mirrored to the AppleTV from your MacBook Pro or iPad. That is, you may project wirelessly, from anywhere in the room, from an iPad 2 or later, an iPhone 4s or later, or a Mac with Mountain Lion. The wireless projection has several advantages, including:
  • Teach untethered, with unhampered mobility. You’re not restricted to the podium, but can range among individuals or small groups and meld projection with active learning experiences.
  • Share the screen with students who have their own compatible devices. Projection need no longer be instructor-centric.
  • The new smartboard: Since what you see on your Mac or iPad is what everyone sees on the big screen, the AppleTV is more versatile than smartboards. Seamlessly switch between web pages and apps as needed. Think outside the PowerPoint box: it’s no longer necessary to package everything that shows on screen into a presentation app. When an AppleTV-equipped projector is used in conjunction with simple notes and drawing apps, the combination is as easy to use as a chalkboard, while being more versatile than a smartboard. The next two points give two examples of presenting with apps.
  • With a simple drawing app like Penultimate, the projector becomes a more versatile chalkboard. Change color, erase, undo with the touch of a button; when finished, email the “chalkboard” to all the students directly from the device. Inquire about available styli at the front desk.
  • Use FaceTime or Skype for impromptu videoconferencing, since audio is sent along with video to the Apple TV.

  Ask at the front desk for the Apple TV password; to share the screen, you may give out this password to your students.

  Here’s a video demonstration of wireless projection from a Mac (first video) and from an iPad (second video):

  
  Note: At this time, wireless projection is only compatible with recent Apple devices. If you do not have a compatible device, you may, of course, still connect your laptop or device to the projector using cables, as in the past. (HDMI and VGA cables are provided; please bring your own DVI-to-VGA or DVI-to-HDMI adapter, if needed.) When wireless projection becomes possible for Windows and Android devices (as with the Google Nexus Q, announced July 2012 but not yet shipping), we’ll add that hardware capability as well. To schedule an appointment for a demonstration and training, call the Collections and ask for Tim Corbly.

• A small number of iPads are available for checkout. Advance notice is recommended.
• An Elmo TT-12 document camera is particularly useful for sharing close-up views of books and texts on the projected screen.
  

  Connect the document camera to the data projector using the provided HDMI cable. The TT-12 camera features 12x optical zoom, plus an additional 8x digital zoom, which can enlarge images up to 96 times to display minute details. The TT-12′s 3.4 megapixel image sensor captures text and shaded drawings in 1080p HD, projecting in real-time. Raise, lower or rotate the adjustable camera arm to focus attention from above or from the side. Turn the zoom dial to zoom in and out. Control the Document Camera from across the room with the remote, and mask or highlight specific areas of the screen. Bring your own SD card or USB flash drive to record photos or videos for later use (e.g., to compare with the next book). Watch the Elmo Basics video for a quick orientation. Cf. other Elmo training videos at youTube: Remote; Operating Panel, Set-up. To schedule an appointment for a demonstration and training, call the Collections and ask for Tim Corbly.


Elmo Document Camera inputs/outputs

• The Harlow Room has a phone jack to facilitate teleconferencing. The number is written above the jack. Teleconferencing equipment may be arranged with sufficient advance notice; please inquire.
• Vanity Fair caricatures: To encourage your students to examine the Vanity Fair portraits on display in the Harlow Room and the adjacent hallway, feel free to reproduce the following brochure (pdf).

James G. Harlow, Jr. (1934-1996), served as president of Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and chair of the board of trustees of the OU Foundation. A $1 million James G. Harlow, Jr. Chair in Business Ethics and Community was established at OU in 1997. Jim and his wife, Jane, played a founding role in the establishment of the Bizzell Library Society for the support of OU Libraries.

The more than 1,000 volumes of the James G. Harlow, Sr. Collection in the History of Science Collections include a 1513 edition of Boethius, De philosophiae consolatione.