Software available at Brooklyn College

Both Academic Information Technologies (AIT) and Information technology Services (ITS) distribute and support a wide variety of software applications, some free, some that need to be purchased. The following are the categories of software licensing that are available.

AIT DISTRIBUTED/SUPPORTED SOFTWARE

Shareware
Shareware is distributed freely. You are allowed to use it for a brief evaluation period at no charge. If you find the software useful and plan to continue using it after the evaluation period, you are expected to honor the author's request for payment. The author retains all rights to the software, and you may not distribute a modified version of it. ( WinZip is a popular shareware program.)

Freeware
Freeware is distributed freely and you are permitted to use it for an indeterminate period of time at no charge. The author retains all rights to the software and you cannot distribute a modified version of it. Note that with freeware, support is minimal or non-existent. ( Logo for MS Windows is a popular freeware program.)

Public Domain
Public domain software is distributed freely and usable for an indeterminate period of time. The copyright is neither owned nor enforced by any one party. (Some versions of LINUX , a UNIX derivative, have been placed in the public domain.)

Site Licensed
Site licensed software is software licensed by an organization. In the case of the college, it is licensed by either CUNY or BC for use by faculty and students in academic pursuits. Some site licensed software may be used only on campus or on computers purchased with BC funds. Other site licensed software may be available for your home computer as well.

Brooklyn College and CUNY provide an exhaustive collection of software programs free of charge. Click here to view a list of software available.
Contact Academic Information Technologies (AIT) or Information Technology Services (ITS) for the latest software acquisitions and information about obtaining software.

All faculty members are advised to consult Information Technology Services (ITS) or Academic Information Technologies (AIT) if they wish to buy software. Each department can offer both information about prices and access to Site Licensed software, which may be free of charge or available at a discount.

You must contact ITS before placing new software on the campus network, to determine the program's compatibility with the college's systems. Both ITS and AIT can advise faculty and departments about software purchases for installation on BC equipment.

Contact ITS to request acquisition and installment of software for student use in labs. Often, shared-use software is funded centrally. Software requests must be evaluated and the process may require several months. All new software purchases are evaluated based on the number of the students and courses that will be served by the proposed acquisition. To begin an evaluation requires a formal request from the Department Chair containing the following information:

• Number of courses, sections, and students
• Is the software network compatible?
• Cost Estimate: is a site license available?
• Are there any critical issues to be resolved before start of class(es)?

One term lead-time is required to evaluate, budget, and procure the software. Lead time is also required to install the software on the networks. Software is generally not installed during the semester.

While not all site-licensed software is free, most is available at a discount for faculty. These purchases must be made with the vendor by the faculty member.

Academic Edition software is the full equivalent to what you can purchase at a computer store, but it is made available at a substantial discount at the Campus Bookstore. The
bookstore is located in the basement of Boylan Hall.