Whether you’re a design student, a student with big ideas that you don’t know how to start or a community member looking for a boost to your personal projects, College of DuPage’s (COD) Media Lab provides almost anything you could ask for. The Media Lab, located in SRC 2030 on the lower level of the library, houses several maker spaces as well as over 150 items that can be checked out and brought home.
COD’s Media Lab provided students with access to technology, software and creative spaces for more than a decade. It began in a corner of COD’s library in 2015 before expanding into its own space in 2019.
Danielle Oakes, Media Lab supervisor, affirmed the Media Lab’s commitment to helping the students of COD.
“We try to cater to all the different departments across campus,” Oakes said.
COD students who are currently enrolled for at least one class can check out items from the Media Lab’s equipment catalog. Popular items include Wacom tablets, digital cameras and iPads — which come loaded with a variety of software. Most items are available for checkout for one week at a time, except for the VR headsets, which are available for three-hour periods and must be used in the Media Lab.
Oakes said that unlike other resources that are available through the school such as Wi-Fi hotspots, students aren’t required to use them for class projects.
While most items are free to be checked out at any time, according to Oakes, some items are considered “intermediate cameras or equipment” and require training before they can be lent. These one-on-one training sessions last 30 minutes and can be booked through the Media Lab’s consultation request form. These consultations can also be used by anyone looking for a walk-through for any of the equipment or software that the lab provides. Equipment guides for much of the Media Lab’s tech are also available online.
The Media Lab also carries a variety of models for certain equipment, such as digital cameras and GoPros. This means students are free to use what they like, either to find the perfect fit to check out again or to find out what technology works best before buying.
The Media Lab runs a digital literacy program every month for those looking to learn more before getting started. These literacy programs are passive and take the form of a printed handout that visitors are free to take throughout the month. Over the summer, the Media Lab is running a wrap-up of the previous year’s programs, covering a variety of topics such as camera selection, green screen removal and Photoshopping.
Anyone with a valid COD library card — which is free to those living in Community College District 502, is welcome to use the Media Lab’s maker spaces. These include a sound booth, a recording studio and a film production studio equipped with green screen.
Perhaps most prized of all are the Mac workstations, which are also open for community members with a COD library card. The computers are equipped with a wide variety of software, from the Adobe Suite to Unreal Engine 5.0. Students can reserve any of these spaces through the library’s workstation reservation page.
The Media Lab works hard to stay up to date with technology and software. Every year, the Media Lab requests a list of new technology based on their research from conferences, readings and user requests. Oakes said people can make requests by emailing the Media Lab at [email protected] or stopping by the front desk.
The Media Lab is open five days a week over the summer, from Sunday to Thursday, and seven days a week during the Spring and Fall semesters. The Media Lab’s hours can be viewed via the COD library hours calendar.
