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View the Digital Signage Gallery. 

UC Merced Digital Signage Policy [PDF]

The library accepts content for display on digital signage in the library from academic divisions, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Office of Communication. Send submissions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Announcements from student organizations must be submitted through the Office of Student Life by emailing This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The library may consider proposals for digital art exhibits on one or more monitors following the same guidelines as other exhibits. Exhibitors must submit a proposal [PDF form] with electronic files adhering to the file types outlined below to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Files should include the title and sponsoring organization on all slides or images to be displayed.

Submit content files at least 1 week in advance of posting. Indicate dates for posting and removal.


Technical Guidelines and Specifics

For optimum viewing, submit image files with the dimensions w1280 x h768-pixels. Video files should also be w1280 x h768.

Text should be font size 18 or larger.

The digital signage can display images, video, and sound. The following file types are supported:

  • Video
    • Animations: AnimGIF
    • Movies: AVI, MPG plus SWF (Flash), WMV, MPG (MP2 and MP4 work but are not recommended)
  • Image: JPG (preferred), TIF, GIF, PNG, WMF, MPG
  • Sound: MP3, WMA, and WAV

PowerPoint users: The default dimensions in PowerPoint are not compatible with the library's digital signage. To address this, the library has created a PowerPoint template sized to 1280x768. Please use the provided template if you are planning on using PowerPoint to create your digital signage. ppt PPT Template 


Suggestions for Creating Content

Keep content brief and to the point: what, who, when, where, how. Limit one announcement, event, or feature per slide. Each slide for display should have a headline. Keep in mind that each slide is displayed for a number of seconds and people will view them in passing.

There should be a balance between text and graphics. If a sign contains a lot of text, simple graphics are a better choice than very busy graphics. On the other hand, if your sign has minimal text, pairing that text with intricate or high-impact graphics can add interest to the sign (just make sure that your graphics don’t overwhelm your text). That said, the digital signage works best with minimal text and interesting/colorful graphics. If you are creating text for a sign, state your message in as few words as possible- a text-heavy sign is visually overwhelming and few people will stop to read it.

Tip: Outlining your text can help it stand out against the background.

Copyright Issues

When using someone else's creative work, whether it be a font, a photo, or a song, look for license or copyright info. When that information isn't clearly posted with an item, that does not mean there aren't restrictions; therefore, it's best to only use media that has availability and restrictions information clearly posted.

Be aware of copyright and permissions restrictions when using files from the web. Do not use media that have obvious use restrictions unless you have been given express permission by the legal owner. This includes most music, film, logos, book/movie/tv/game characters, etc. Proceed with caution when using any media that directly references a commercially produced item, for example an illustration from a Harry Potter book or an image of Johnny Depp from Alice in Wonderland.

Stanford says it best: “Assume It's Protected: As a general rule, it is wise to operate under the assumption that all works are protected by either copyright or trademark law unless conclusive information indicates otherwise. A work is not in the public domain simply because it has been posted on the Internet (a popular fallacy) or if it lacks a copyright notice (another myth).”
-- http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter6/6-a.html

 One solution: Creative Commons can help you find find media (http://search.creativecommons.org/ ) with clarification on what you can use and how you can use it.

Examples