ARCHIVED: In which IUB STCs can I find removable media devices?

The Indiana University Bloomington Student Technology Centers (STCs) offer a wide variety of removable media options. However, in order to offer the broadest possible selection in most STC locations while facilitating a timely transition to newer storage technologies, some technologies are available only in Mac STCs and some only in Windows STCs.

On this page:

• USB flash drives
• Multimedia card readers
• CD drives
• DVD drives

USB flash drives

All Windows and Mac workstations are equipped with front- or keyboard-mounted USB ports. The accessibility of these ports makes it easy to transport and access your data using USB flash drives. You can purchase these solid-state devices in a wide range of capacities and at prices comparable to or below those of most other reusable removable media. Because these services are ubiquitous throughout the STCs and because USB flash drives are highly reliable, they present a convenient choice for casual storage and transportation of data files.

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Multimedia card readers

UITS is phasing out support for multimedia card readers in favor of personal USB devices (e.g., flash drives). External multimedia card readers remain available in selected locations:

• Fine Arts 137 (seats 01, 04, 06, 08, 09)
• Wells Library
• Lindley Hall 026 (seat 07)
• IMU 098 (seat 07)
• Fine Arts 215 (selected 24" Dell multimedia monitors have card readers)

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CD drives

Note: You can record all recordable CD media types in the STC DVD drives.

Because of their high capacity and low cost, compact discs (CDs) have been the mass-storage media of choice for both Windows and Mac STCs for many years. With a useful storage life of twenty years or longer, and a capacity of 650-700 MB, CD media include:

• CD-ROM (read-only, pre-recorded; includes music and software CDs)
• CD-R (write-once, suitable for long-term storage of file backups)
• CD-RW (rewritable, suitable for transferring files between systems)

Duplicating Services performs CD duplication for campus departments; call 812-855-9337.

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DVD drives

Cosmetically indistinguishable from CDs, DVDs offer up to 4.7 GB of data storage on one side of a disc. Media types include:

• DVD-ROM (read-only, pre-recorded, including movies and software)
• DVD-R (write-once, suitable for long-term storage of large backups)
• DVD+/-RW (competing re-writable standards, suitable for transferring large files between systems)
• DVD+/-R DL (competing dual-layer, write-once standards for high-volume storage, up to 8.5 GB)

The Mac STCs offer the widest availability of DVD recording tools, including iDVD software from Apple, allowing creation of DVDs up to an hour in length. iDVD uses video in several formats, including QuickTime and multiplexed (also called muxed) MPEG. Apple also offers DVD Studio Pro to record DVD video, but this application is not yet available in the STCs. You can record DVD data using the Toast Titanium software on the workstations. For more, see Apple iDVD.

To bring your video files to the STC workstation, you can download the video file from an online source, create it on the workstation, or import your video file from an external source (such as a DV camcorder or one of the analog VCRs connected to the multimedia computer).

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