CIDDE's fourth major function makes its specialized resources available, as appropriate, to the broader University community. For example, the University's small photographic and electronic imaging staff is housed within CIDDE, but a significant portion of its work is non-instructional. Having these resources as part of the instructional development unit at Pitt has the advantage of enabling their strategic use for support of instruction. At the same time, these specialized services can be made available to the University community with far greater cost efficiency.

This section of the narrative describes some examples of the kinds of University support CIDDE provides that is not directly related to instruction. The instructional contributions of the staff mentioned here are addressed in the narrative and links of the first three CIDDE functions.

• Discovery Weekend offers a good example of the broad University services of CIDDE. For this special event, graphic designers, video producers, photographers, media services staff, engineers and others assisted in the design of presentation materials and the delivery and documentation of the event's high-profile activities.

• Another illustrative example of CIDDE in this broader University role is creation of the Technology Atlas for a New Pennsylvania. As part of Pennsylvania's Link-to-Learn project, staff from CIDDE's Video Production and Electronic Graphics and Design departments researched, wrote, designed, and arranged for printing over 50,000 copies of the report disseminated across the state and around the world by the Governor.

• CIDDE classroom engineers designed audio/video solutions for University meeting spaces such as the J. Wray Connolly Ballroom in Alumni Hall and for the William Pitt Union Ballroom and Assembly Rooms.
  

• CIDDE photographers and graphics artists collaborated to create updated multimedia web pages describing Pitt's Nationality Rooms, including virtual reality views of room interiors and audio descriptions of the room's history and features.

• CIDDE video producers have created dozens of videos documenting University events, such as the 9/11 memorial and United Way Day of Caring, and providing valuable staff information resources, such as an explanation of the Staff Classification System for the Office of Human Resources.

• CIDDE photographers collaborated with Frederick A. Hetzel of University Press to update and reprint works from Charles Morse Stotz's "Early Architecture of Western Pennsylvania," a WPA project, in a new addition.
  

Outreach

CIDDE staff welcome opportunities to exchange ideas with colleagues at other universities and to represent Pitt's many instructional achievements. For example, CIDDE supports the University's leadership role in the Learning Technology Consortium, a collaborative of nine universities initiated by Vice Provost Robert F. Pack. In addition to working on instructional technology issues with recognized colleagues at other universities, Pitt has contributed to two published volumes on instructional technology and is leading a research study involving faculty from seven of the nine institutions.

Staff at CIDDE are active in professional organizations and scholarly groups. The number of presentations and publications they contribute is extensive. A number of CIDDE staff members teach at Pitt or at other local institutions.

CIDDE staff have developed products that are of interest outside the University. Instructional video programs, such as Navigating the Sea of Information and Voices From the Classroom enjoy widespread distribution. A compact disk created by CIDDE for continuing education in social work now is marketed nationally to facilitate access to instruction on this important topic. Most recently, media services managers at the Consortium of College and University Media Centers (CCUMC) and EDUCAUSE conferences greeted CIDDE's OPUS system for scheduling and managing media services with enthusiasm.