Academics & Research
Welcome to Olivet University, where future leaders and scholars are equipped to change the world for Jesus Christ.
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Research & Development
Olivet University is home to the Center for Information Technology. Founded in 2005, this institution works to achieve excellence in Christian higher education and evangelical organizations through research and development projects and programs that reflect the University' s commitment to service. In collaboration with key partners Geoff Tunnicliffe, head of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), Ralph Winter, founder of the United States Center for World Mission (USCWM), and David J. Jang, Olivet University chancellor and founder of Olivet Center for World Mission (OCWM), the Center of Information Technology works with Christian institutions of every caliber to enhance leadership, administration and support of mission outreach programs and services. Today, its work support mutually beneficial networks and linkages among Bible-based institutions on six continents, especially the countries of Asia. With generous help from donors the Center for Information Technology at Olivet University is helping prepare future generations to meet the challenges of fulfilling the Great Commission in an increasingly complex, technology-driven world.
About the Center for Information Technology
The Center for Information Technology emphasizes two strategic initiatives in its program, which complement and often overlap one another: support for training and leadership development and support for linkages and networks among Christian organizations and Biblical higher education institutions.
The Center for Information Technology accomplishes these objectives in three ways:
- by Administering programs that are primarily planned and implemented by the Center for Information Technology: these require significant staff and financial support
- by Partnering with Christian institutions: the Center for Information Technology provides high technology instruments, as well as vision, planning, and assessment for information technology programs for international collaboration and exchange
- by Supporting research and development projects: these are conceived and implemented primarily by partnering institutions.
What We Support
The Center for Information Technology supports the efforts of Christian institutions with technologies and research that:
- Strengthen information literacy and information technology
- Enhance leadership
- Encourage collaboration and the exchange of ideas
- Provide opportunities for applied learning
Our projects support the training and development of individuals - professionals, administrators, and faculty - as well as programs, in order to further strengthen our colleague institutions.
News and Updates
October 2008: Olivet University e-Library Re-vamped and Now Open
Olivet University's R&D team announced a major breakthrough last week regarding the development of the new e-Library. After nearly a year of development, the e-library development team finished the final touches of version 2.0 of the new Olivet University e-Library, which is a complete re-engineering of the previous e-Library that Olivet had been using.
The new e-Library is developed under the name of the Ralph D Winter Library Project. With the significant University resources that has gone into this new library, the goals of the e-Library was to make it something that other Christian organizations can benefit from. The project aims to work with Christian publishers to make their content available online, and with Christian organizations to provide a versatile platform for accessing quality resources.
The e-Library re-opens with access to 8 collections, including 3 licensed collections. Those collections are the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (800+ Christian e-books), Theological Research Exchange Network (7000+ Christian dissertations), and EBSCO (4,600+ academic journals and 7,000,000+ full-text articles). The other collections are primarily public-domain content and constitute over 20,000 audio and e-books. All of the content is cataloged using the MARC21 library standard.
rientation on the new library is being scheduled this week and next week for all students. Parties interested in contacting the RDWLP staff, or to get a demo access to the library can visit http://www.rdwl.org/contactus.htm.
April 2008: Ralph D. Winter E-Library Project Update
The Ralph D Winter e-Library development is receiving added consideration thanks to the university community’s feedback. Following a special presentation of the e-Library plan last month to stakeholders, key university leaders, as well as members of the staff and student communities, the library issued an online survey soliciting comments and suggestions about its development efforts.
Several themes from the e-library development plan have caught wide attention according to survey results, including digital content-gathering, technology platform renovation, and partnerships in the Christian library movement.
“We will be working together with Christian organizations, libraries, and publishers so that digital content can be made available to Christian end-users around the world,” explained Research & Development Director Mark Li, who directs a team of researchers in his role as e-library director. “There is a lot of development necessary on the business side…and we will be working on new models to encourage digital distribution.”
The March presentation emphasized technology priorities in the e-library development plan. The process and schedule for mastering of XML ebook standards and platform development were especially well received, according to an initial review of survey responses. A continuing concern is content-building, which the plan addresses with several approaches – namely, creative partnerships and publishing – all positively received by survey participants.
“We have received encouragement from leaders in the digital Christian library movement already,” reported Li. “We believe that our work will be useful not just for our University, but for fulfilling the Great Commandment of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
April 2006: IT, R&D Meet E-Library
An academic library is not an end in itself: it supports the mission of the institution. Olivet library and information technology personnel have partnered to ensure that the school' s library will develop and evolve with the changing teaching and learning needs of students preparing for missions in the 21st century.
“In the end, it's about making sure Olivet is meeting students' needs with quality learning resources and services,” said director of Olivet College of Information Technology Mr. William Wong. “Then, rather than focusing on the impact of technology on the library, we're looking at the longer-term issue: how technology will influence what our students expect and do at our library.”
Wong was recently appointed to head a team of Olivet R&D, library and information technology personnel charged with reinforcing the collection of electronic titles available in Olivet' s e-library. The team' s goal is to examine and implement ways to enhance the University' s existing resources with additional eBooks, electronic journals, digital reference databases, eAudiobooks, and a variety of online tools.
Olivet University' s Center for Information Technology, the site of the University' s R&D unit, is providing special input for building a new information infrastructure for the E-library supported by technical development and new business models.
These efforts are part of a University-wide library development initative to strengthen Olivet' s entire collection of learning resources, in accordance with the school' s institutional growth and accreditation goals.
October 2005: University Holds Dedication Service for Information Technology Center
The oohs and ahs could be heard echoing through the attractive, spacious rooms as a group of Christian leaders joined Olivet University administrators and students for a tour of the renovated newly opened facilities that will house the Olivet University Center for Information Technology.
The guests arrived on the afternoon of October 15 to take part in dedication ceremonies for the center. Also honored were the 30 full-time professionals in information technology and graphic design selected to staff the research center, located on the main campus of Olivet University in downtown San Francisco, CA.
Olivet University President Dr. David Jang was one of the keynote speakers, along with Dean of Olivet Theological College & Seminary (OTCS) Dr. William Wagner, and faculty member Dr. Raymond Tallman.
“The Center for Information Technology is the answer to many prayers,” said Jang. “God has allowed us to become the university that He can use preciously.”
The center will serve a myriad of research and development functions supporting the University' s core mission to equip men and women for Christian ministry in the 21st century. Its establishment reflects Olivet' s sensitivity to the importance of keeping pace with technology in order to accomplish this mission among today' s population of young men and woman, who comprise what has been termed the “Network Generation.”
“We hope to connect vast numbers of people with the Gospel message using the Internet tools we develop here,” said Chief Operating Officer Walker Tzeng speaking on behalf of the University' s administration. “ The Center for Information Technology at Olivet University will also support Christian ministries and parachurch organizations with services that will extend the impact of their work, while strengthening communication among Christian bodies worldwide,” he added.
Organizers of the new venture at Olivet are exploring relationships with several worldwide Christian organizations interested in partnering with the University on major projects to digitalize their information systems.