Visual Arts Resource Center

Mission & Policies

Mission

The mission of the Visual Arts Resource Center (VARC) is to provide visual arts faculty with resources and technology so that they may provide students a superior education opportunity and promote the visual arts as a vital human experience.

 

Policies

1. Purpose: The Visual Arts Resource Center provides visual materials and presentation support to the visual arts faculty and staff. The center is open at least 30 hours per Monday-Friday week, allowing faculty, staff, and students to browse through items such as books, magazines, videos on art, posters, and slides. Only Kennesaw State University employees are allowed to check-out items. (*see policy 11)
2. Attended Hours: (subject to change without notice)
   Monday - Thursday while classes are in session (see hours)
   (please call 770-423-6557 for confirmation)
   
3. Access: Since the Visual Resource center holds so many valuable resources and equipment, access to the room is limited in the following ways:
   • Only visual arts employees (including some student assistants) have key access
   • Students may enter only when the door is open and VARC personnel are attending the room
   • Students must sign-in at the clip board on the receptionist's counter upon entry to the room.
4. Courtesy to others: The room may only be used for quiet research and study—no meetings. Conversation must be kept to a minimum.
5. Service requests: All requests by faculty and staff for services must be made in writing on the forms provided on the receptionist's counter, through Email [smcdona4@kennesaw.edu] or through the following online forms:
   • Orders for books, periodicals, or media to be held in VARC
   • Slide or image scanning
   • Copywork (photographing artwork or images from books)
   • Reservation of equipment for a specific time
   • Printing and design help for any KSU College of the Arts matter
   • Announcements to be posted in halls and on the Visual Arts website
     (Email Shane McDonald [smcdona4@kennesaw.edu] with specifics for design services.)
6. Equipment check-out is done on the "Equipment Check-out" clipboard (located on the reception counter.) Equipment check-out is limited to 2 week days unless special permission is requested in writing by Email or submission of check-out extension form.
7. Periodical check-out is done on the "Periodical Check-out" clipboard (located on the reception counter.) Periodical check-out is limited to 2 weeks unless special permission is requested in writing by Email or submission of check-out extension form.
8. Poster check-out is done on the "Poster Check-out" clipboard (hanging next to the poster flat files on the large wooden shelf unit.) Poster check-out is limited to 2 weeks unless special permission is requested in writing by Email or submission of check-out extension form.
9. Book check-out is done through the use of circulation cards that are held in pockets of each shelved book. The faculty/staff member must sign the card and place it in the designated bin on the reception counter. Book check-out is limited to 2 weeks unless special permission is requested in writing by Email or submission of check-out extension form. (To better serve our students, the majority of the Visual Arts Book collection was moved in 2009 to the main circulation stacks of the Sturgis Library for checkout.)
10. Video check-out is done through the use of circulation cards that are held in pockets of each shelved DVD or VHS. The faculty/staff member must sign the card and place it in the designated bin on the reception counter. Video check-out is limited to 2 week days unless special permission is requested in writing by Email or submission of check-out extension form.
11. *Student Checkout Exceptions: Nothing may be taken out (or checked-out) of the VARC by a student unless:
    • A signed and dated note is supplied by a faculty member assuming responsibility for the item. The faculty member must also give verbal permission for student to check-out items under the faculty member's name.
    • The student is enrolled in an Art Education class and has has completely filled-out the special Student Teacher form provided by the professor. These forms are kept on file in the VARC and all items checked-out are listed on the form.

Resources

Resources are available for all studio concentrations, graphic design, art history and art education classes. Our collection is constantly growing, and currently includes:

• 48,000+ images
• 670+ books (many more are currently in circulation of the Sturgis Library)
• 350+ videotapes
• 100+ video DVDs
• 30+ audio CDs
• 20+ digital media applications

We continuously strive to expand and improve our collection and to better support our faculty, staff, and students. Please use our order request page to request items to be stored in the VARC. Faculty who wish to request items for the Sturgis Library to hold for student checkout, please use the Sturgis Library's Online Request Form.

 

Regents Guide to Understanding
Copyright & Educational Fair Use

The Board of Regents' guidelines on copyright & educational fair use can be accessed online at: http://www.usg.edu/copyright/ Following are two excerpts from that publication that apply to classroom use of photographic images: "Based upon our initial review of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") (PDF - 330KB), we do not believe that the act affects the guide's fair use analysis."

Classroom Presentation SCENARIO:

A teacher or student prepares and gives a presentation that displays photographs. Permission was not obtained to use the photographs.

QUESTION: Can the photographs be included in the initial presentation, if it is in a traditional classroom?

ANSWER: Yes. The copyright fair use provision explicitly provides for classroom use of copyrighted material. Instructors and students may perform and display their own educational projects or presentations for instruction.

 

VARC Services for Faculty & Staff

• Request Printing Services
• Request Scanning & Documentation Services
• Order VARC Resources

Library Search

• General Sturgis Library Search
• USG Galileo Interconnected Libraries Search
• Galileo Scholar Search
• Electronic Journals
• KSU Image Databases

Other Resources

• The TRAC Center of Kennesaw Hall (building #1 of the campus map) offers many poster printing, binding, laminating, and paper cutting options.
• Digital camcorders, and audio-recording devices are available for student checkout at the department of Audio Visual Technology Services in the Pilcher Building (room 112 of building #18 of the campus map).
• The Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL) (house #54 along Campus Loop Road) provides programs and support for faculty. This office also offers free poster printing for KSU faculty teaching/learning projects.