University Libraries
The mission of the Ball State University Libraries is to serve users by providing access to resources intended to satisfy informational needs related to and consistent with the university’s teaching curriculum, research mission, and service programs.
The University Libraries, comprised of the Alexander M. Bracken Library and the Architecture and Science-Health Science branch libraries, offer convenient access to more than 1.5 million books, periodicals, digital resources, DVDs, CDs, microforms, software, government publications, maps, manuscripts, music scores, archival records, and electronic databases.
Bracken Library, the main library on campus, is open more than 120 hours weekly during academic semesters. The library’s arrangement into separate service, collection, and study areas facilitate access to information sources. Library personnel are available in each service area to assist library users.
CardCat, the Ball State University Libraries’ Web-based catalog of resources, is accessible via the Libraries’ home page at cms.bsu.edu/Academics/Libraries.aspx
The home page also provides access to indexes of journal articles including full-text databases, course reserves, online tutorials, interlibrary loan, library information and much more. Assistance finding and using these resources is available at the Reference Desk, Bracken Library, First Floor West, 765-285- 1101, or via with research librarians, is also available.
Digital equipment, including laptops, data projectors, camcorders and video cameras, webcams, power cords and adapters, and more are available for use from Educational Resources. Bracken Library features multimedia workstations for video editing, GIS, and other intensive computing applications. Wireless connectivity is available throughout. Scanners, a large-format printer, and standard-format color and B&W printers and photocopiers are available. Bracken Library hosts the Bookmark Café, featuring hot and cold beverages and light snacks.
The Schwartz Complex in Bracken Library offers a viewing room and learning pod room which connect to a variety of digital media assets, provide access to international news broadcasts, and are available for group projects. In addition, group study rooms are available for use throughout Bracken Library and may be reserved
A limited number of scholar carrels are available for use by graduate students in Bracken Library. Applications are availabl candidates working on their dissertations.
48
Follow the University Libraries on
Sponsored Programs Office
The Sponsored Programs Office (SPO), the service unit of Ball State University, is responsible for assisting those in their pursuit of grant funding.SPO services include:resources in identifying potential funding opportunities; guidance (together with a student’s faculty mentor) in developing proposal components; and submissionof grant applications to agencies or sponsors.
SPO also coordinates ASPiRE, the Internal Grants program. ASPiRE student awards fund supplies and expenses associated with research, creative projects, dissertations, or theses. ASPiRE also supports travel to professional meetings for invited presentations or performances.
An annual campus Student Symposium offers students the opportunity to present their research or creative projects in poster sessions during a gala campus event.
Graduate students are invited to visit the Sponsored Programs Office, where a friendly staff is eager to answer questions and to brainstorm about funding possibilities. Explore SPO programs and services at
Applied Research Institute
The Applied Research Institute, operated by the Center for Information and Communication Sciences, supports applied research endeavors on information and communication issues. Research projects, many of which are cross-disciplinary, are conducted within the institute and in conjunction with the center’s faculty, graduate students, affiliated programs, and industry.
The institute manages the four laboratories in the center featuring state-of-the-art information and
communication systems devoted respectively to voice, data, video and imaging, and wireless applications. The institute also oversees research projects based on campus, at various locations throughout the state of Indiana, the nation, and other countries. Students in the center’s Master of Science in Information and Communication Sciences program use the laboratories and projects extensively in their professional preparation.
Faculty and graduate students from any discipline are invited to explore mutual research interests in this field with the director of the Applied Research Institute, Robert Yadon, or the center’s director, Steve Jones, Room 221, Ball Communication Building.
Human Performance Laboratory
The Human Performance Laboratory (HPL) at Ball State University was founded in 1965 and has a rich history of applied exercise physiology research and training graduate students at the master’s and doctoral level. The HPL has been involved in a variety of applied research topics since its inception including carbohydrate metabolism, heat stress, fluid balance, over-training and tapering in athletes. This applied approach continues today with the focus on limits of human performance and clinical investigations of aging, space flight, bed rest, children, and metabolic health to name a few. The majority of the research has been supported by external funding sources (National Institutes of Health, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, American Heart Association, industry and private agencies) and has resulted in more than 500 scientific publications.
Graduate programs include master’s degrees in Exercise Science (MS) and (Clinical) Exercise Physiology (MA or MS), and a PhD program in Human Bioenergetics. The Exercise Physiology and Human
49
Bioenergetics degrees are research intensive, and students receive hands-on training for all phases of the research process. The Clinical Exercise Physiology degree involves working in a community-based adult physical fitness program, laboratory testing and research, and cardiac, pulmonary, and oncology
rehabilitation programs at Ball Memorial Hospital. In all cases, graduate student training in the HPL involves working closely with faculty and other graduate students to accomplish the goals of the student, the program, and the laboratory.
Neuropsychology Laboratory
The Neuropsychology Laboratory was established in 1984 as a research, teaching, and clinically facility. The Clinic serves the larger community in assessing, diagnosis, and remedial planning for adults and children with potential neurologic disorders. Research consists of understanding brain mechanisms responsible for simple and complex patterns of sensory motor and intellectual dysfunction. This includes memory, emotional, cognitive disorders, and various childhood illnesses.
The Neuropsychology Laboratory also provides support for neuropsychology courses and the Certificate Program in Clinical Neuropsychology and provides specialization training in neuropsychology online. The laboratory is also a site for internships in the school psychology doctoral program. This training takes the form of service to the community—staff members see patients referred by medical practitioners, public schools, and other agencies.
Raymond S. Dean, ABPP, FACPN, George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of
Neuropsychology, is director of the Neuropsychology Laboratory at Teachers College, Rooms 903–905, 765-285-2289.
Outdoor Laboratories
The Ball State University Field Station and Center for Environmental Education (FSEEC) collectively manages approximately 420 acres in the five field areas known as Christy Woods, the Cooper/Skinner Field Area, Ginn Woods, Hults Environmental Learning Center, and the Donald E. Miller Wildlife Area. Collectively, these outdoor laboratories include most habitat types found in East Central Indiana and provide excellent opportunities for the study of ecosystem processes.
Christy Woods, in the western part of campus, is an 18-acre tract that includes a forest, native plant gardens, and greenhouse facilities. Ginn Woods, a 160-acre nature preserve in northern Delaware County, is the only old-growth forest of comparable size left in East Central Indiana and the second largest old- growth forest in Indiana. As such, it has exceptional value as an educational resource and a research forest.
The Hults Environmental Learning Center, near Albany, Indiana, serves as an outdoor classroom and research facility. Most projects on this property deal with sustainable land-use and energy. The Miller Wildlife Area is a 16-acre parcel within the city limits of Muncie, that contains a flood-plain forest and a remnant oxbow of the White River. The Cooper/Skinner Field Area is a 130-plus acre property that contains forest, prairie, and wetlands. This property is used extensively for educational and research purposes and features a straw-bale building powered by a wind turbine and photovoltaic panels.
Ball State Weather Station
The Ball State University Weather Station, operated by the Department of Geography, consists of an onsite meteorological station, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrator (NOAA) Cooperative Climate Substation, and a meteorology library. The Ball State Weather Station provides students with education and training experiences in the area of weather data collection and analysis.
50
Primary operations of the weather station include the recording of weather observations, compiling and summarizing weather data, communicating severe weather information to the public, and providing short- and long-range weather forecasts. Data collected and archived by the weather station are used for
reference by business and local government and for research purposes by both students and faculty.
Public Health Entomology Laboratory
The Ball State Public Health Entomology Laboratory (PHEL) comprises two research laboratories (rooms CP 148 and CP149), a small library, and offices of the director Robert Pinger (room CP 189), in the Cooper Science Building. Administered under the Department of Physiology and Health Science, the laboratory is equipped for studying insects and other arthropods affecting public health. The laboratory is known in Indiana and the northcentral United States for its past accomplishments in mosquito research and its current research on ticks and tick-borne diseases.
The PHEL provides opportunities for graduate students to participate in established research programs and to pursue research projects of their own design. Laboratory operations are supported by internal and external funding. Visit the PHEL Web site at