The Monroe Library’s worth increased by a quarter million dollars.
A new G4 computer lab, a multimedia creation, is now located in the back of the library on the first floor. The G4 is a type of Apple computer.
The music business department is already the primary user, holding five classes in the lab. The lab will be running music technology, analog and digital recording, multi-media production and computerized music notation, according to Scott Fredrickson, professor of music business and chair of the music business program.
Members of the communications department, Information Technology, College of Music and the department of graphic arts spent two years working to set up the lab.
“Working together we were able to get something individuals were not able to get,” Fredrickson said.
The G4 lab is open to students who have been trained to work at the workstations. A teacher’s assistant will monitor the lab while it is open.
The facility also consists of 18 eMac computers outside the lab. The eMacs, which are an upper-level completely inclusive system, will be equipped with piano keyboards, headphones and most of the same software as the computers in the lab. The eMacs are open to public use.
The communications department will use the new eMacs for QuarkXPress, a publication and design program, and two-dimensional design.
Fredrickson has been a key in working out negotiations and meetings for the grants.
He received two grants for the program. The Gheens Foundation, an organization which donates money to promote a more educated workforce, donated $110,000 for the 18 eMacs located outside the lab and the computers inside the lab. The Louisiana State Board of Regents donated $165,000.
The music industry also donated several $100,000 for discounts, free gear, and software such as the some of the hardware in the lab.
There are two main goals for the new facility, Fredrickson said.
“We’re trying to become a Pro-Tools training center, macro-media for Apple and Yamaha and also for hardware companies,” he said. “Yamaha told us there is no facility like this in a seven state region.”
The second goal, from the Board of Regents, funded by taxpayer money, is to make the facility a community-training center over the summer.
The G4-lab opened three weeks ago, although there is still wiring and infrastructure to be done. Fredrickson said that the additional work will take a couple of months.
