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Resources for advanced study at Northwestern University are outstanding. Numerous research libraries, including the Main Library and five branch and special libraries on campus, contain holdings totaling 4 million volumes, 3.5 million microforms and 40,000 current journals and other serial publications. The library's electronic resources in education and psychology are extensive. In addition, students are provided access to the University's mainframe computer and to microcomputers housed within the School of Education and Social Policy.
 In the fall of 1993 the School of Education moved into the newly constructed neo-classical four-story limestone building on the central Evanston campus overlooking Lake Michigan. Named Walter B. Annenberg Hall in May 1994, the building houses faculty and administrative offices, a student commons, "smart" classrooms and the cutting-edge Tarry Center for Collaborative Teaching and Learning.
Dedicated in 1999, the George W. and Edwina S. Tarry Center has been described as one of the most thoughtfully designed spaces in the country for scientific study and improvement of educational practices. The center, which occupies the entire third floor of Annenberg Hall, contains two 1,500-square-foot classrooms equipped with extensive multimedia software systems. The studios are used by researchers, students, in-service teachers and visiting educators to test new teaching concepts.
The studios contain 30 Internet-connected laptop computers that provide flexible arrangements for individual activity and coordinated teamwork. Each laptop is networked to all of the others, and a large video screen displays work in progress for group discussion and problem solving.
Part of the Tarry Center, this facility features 15 computer workstations where students, research assistants and faculty can analyze video recordings that capture the dynamics of learning and effective teaching techniques. These workstations are connected to high-speed networks that make it possible to store and retrieve an extensive library of video clips and other resources.
Also part of the Tarry Center, this facility enables teachers, students and researchers to create professional-quality videotapes to communicate exemplary teaching practice, to evaluate teaching techniques and to display interactive classroom environments. Researchers can produce video to incorporate into research materials, curricula, software and for external relations.
Perhaps most important, the Tarry Center brings together under one roof the researchers who formulate designs for use in the classroom and the teachers who daily breathe life into those designs. The Tarry Center demonstrates how seamlessly computing and networking technologies can be integrated within the classroom as an enhancement to learning.
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