The Digital Studio encourages the exploration of software and digital tools. For the best interests of our users and our workspace, we adhere to a screening process to ensure each request is suitable for our public machines.
Staff will install software on computers in the Digital Studio that will be used for teaching and course support, research, and/or projects. In order to ensure that Technology Consultants receive adequate notice to evaluate and test software installations, please review the following criteria before making a software request.
A. Boston College faculty, graduate/teaching assistants, Library and ITS staff.
A. Software may be requested to support a course, research or project use.
B. If the software will be used by students during the course it may be considered for addition to Citrix or Canvas.
A. 6 weeks for review, purchase, installation, and testing.
B. If requesting for a course, it should be made in the previous semester:
1. By mid-July for fall semester.
2. By early-December for spring semester.
C. Requests placed after these deadlines may be handled on a case by case basis and a timeframe will be determined once software is evaluated for purchase.
D. Depending on need and timeframe, software may be designated for installation on the experimental use machine.
A. If the software is available at no cost, staff will review the request and determine whether it can be installed safely.
B. The person requesting software that requires a fee or cost must identify a funding source. Other sources of funding might include:
1. Your department. If you purchased the software through your department or research/grant funding you can provide us with the link or key (etc).
2. Boston College Libraries. Contingent upon funds and approval.
3. ATAB grants
C. The original funding source is expected to pay for ongoing subscription, maintenance, or upgrade costs.
A. If original funding source can no longer fund ongoing costs (see IV.C.)
B. If software was requested by faculty who are no longer employed at Boston College.
C. If software was for short-term course use and is no longer necessary.
A. Staff from the Digital Scholarship Group, Digital Studio, and ITS with input from other units as necessary.
Please note that software requested for general use by the public for purposes other than instruction and research, will be taken on a case-by-case basis and will generally be implemented during the summer months. We will not provide minor version upgrades to software for general use (email, browsers, iTunes, etc.) during in-session periods.
Software installed on Digital Studio computers will be reviewed and assessed annually based on criteria identified in the policy.
Software must be compatible with current operating system(s) in the Digital Studio.
Software must not conflict with existing software or security settings on computers in the Digital Studio.
Once the software is installed, the instructor’s students can use the software without special assistance from Library staff or student employees
