UC Berkeley has a wealth of resources and services available to GSIs in their instructional roles. In this section of the Teaching Guide you will find libraries, museums, gardens, and other places that can enrich your students’ learning experience.

Libraries, Museums, and Demonstration Spaces
Digital Collections
Data Systems and Licensed Software
Offices Providing Assistance in Teaching and Learning
Remote Teaching and Learning Resources

For a comprehensive list of resources related to equity, working with students with disabilities, sexual harassment, academic misconduct, and other ethical or policy questions about working as a GSI, please see the Annotated Campus Resource List from the GSI Online Ethics Course. For a briefer list of campus policies and services, please see Must-See Policies and Resources for GSIs.

Libraries, Museums, and Demonstration Spaces

Museums and Collections links to information about many of the 40+ non-book collections at UC Berkeley.

The UC Berkeley Libraries consist of the main libraries (Doe, Moffitt, Bancroft, and dozens of subject specialty libraries), a number of affiliated libraries, and departmental libraries. GSIs will find a wealth of information available to them in these collections, though it should be noted that these libraries are decentralized and keep different hours. It is best to check the library’s website for hours and borrowing policies before your visit.

The Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archives (BAMPFA) hosts a collection of around 25,000 works of art and 18,000 films and videos. It also hosts an extensive online database of film-related media, CineFiles. Entry is free for Berkeley students. Special guided tours and curriculum-specific tours are free for UC Berkeley classes and can be booked ahead here.

The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden, which houses a diverse, global collection of plants, can be used free of charge by UC Berkeley instructors for educational purposes. Be sure to inform the Garden staff using the College Course Use Request Form in advance of your visit.

Blake Garden in nearby Kensington supports teaching and research in UC Berkeley’s Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design. The 10.6-acre space is open to the public.

The Berkeley Natural History Museums (BNHM) website contains information, events, and data resources on the six natural history museums and affiliated field stations on the UC Berkeley campus.

Digital Collections

The Berkeley Language Center’s Lumière Library of Film & Clips provides instructors with a cataloged and tagged collection of clips that are available to use as part of foreign language instruction.

UC Berkeley’s Media Resources Center is a library of audio and visual material. GSIs may make arrangements to borrow materials for same-day classroom use on the Berkeley campus or for overnight previewing. With enough notice, the MRC can also provide streaming links for most films in its collection for use in courses.

Students and instructors have access to the Kanopy film streaming service through the UC Berkeley Library. Films are available for both personal and classroom use.

UC Berkeley’s Webcast and Legacy Course Capture channel features an archive of video lectures from a variety of departments. (Videos of current lectures are available only to UC Berkeley students and instructors via CalCentral.) This site is fully searchable by semester and department, and links to lectures available on iTunes and YouTube.

Data Systems and Licensed Software

CalCentral is an online portal that provides centralized access to a variety of campus services and resources such as bConnected tools, bCourses, registration and financial information, etc.

bCourses is UC Berkeley’s Learning Management System (LMS). You can learn more about using bCourses on the Digital Learning Services’ (DLS’s) About bCourses page.

Technology @ Berkeley supports many components of the campus’s information-technology infrastructure. Many issues can be resolved using the online IT Service Catalog, which offers answers to frequently asked questions, as well as tips and tricks.

Software downloads are available to UC Berkeley students at Software @ Berkeley. Many software products, such as Microsoft, Adobe Creative Cloud, and security software are available free of charge to students.

The UC Berkeley Computer Use Policy outlines policy for appropriate use of campus computing, networking, and information resources.

bConnected gives you access to the campus’s instance of Google Apps for Education (email, calendar, documents, contacts, etc.), making it easier for you to communicate and collaborate with students and colleagues.

Offices Providing Assistance in Teaching and Learning

The GSI Teaching & Resource Center is an academic unit of the Graduate Division that provides resources and services for graduate students as they develop their professional skills in teaching in higher education. We also work closely with faculty and their departments to assist them in the mentoring and training they offer graduate students in teaching.

The Center for Teaching and Learning offers support to UC Berkeley faculty members. GSIs may find some of the CTL’s web resources to be useful in their teaching.

The UC Berkeley Library’s page on Teaching and Learning as well as its Guides for Faculty, Instructors, and Graduate Students offer a number of resources that would be of use to GSIs. GSIs can, for example, place course materials on reserve, consult the subject librarian for their discipline, and collaborate with a librarian to create a research workshop (non-R&C courses only). For R&C courses, the library offers three options for integrating library research – you can read about them here.

Berkeley Information Technology (IT) provides an array of technologies supporting teaching and learning, including classroom equipment and training in the use of technology. A comprehensive and searchable list is published in the IT Service Catalog. 

Berkeley Research, Teaching, and Learning (RTL) offers services and programs in various digital technologies for research, teaching, and learning (Zoom, Kaltura, Course Caption, DataHub, etc.). You can find a list of these services in their RTL Catalog.

Digital Learning Services (DLS) provides a wide range of services in support of teaching and learning on campus, including assistance with bCourses, Ally, and Kaltura. A comprehensive list is published in the DLS Service Catalog.

Remote Teaching and Learning Resources

Many of the campus resources developed to aid in the switch to remote teaching and learning in 2020-2021 remain helpful following the return to in-person instruction.

Digital Learning Services (DLS), in consultation with the Center for Teaching and Learning, has developed a self-directed Remote Instruction Guide in bCourses. 

The Graduate Division’s GSI Remote Teaching Hub contains a curated set of training guides on remote instruction tools, best practices created by GSIs, and support options for GSIs.