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The library as place. Author: Peter Hickey
The document discusses the evolving role of libraries as central places for learning and collaboration in academic settings, highlighting the shift from traditional holdings to accessible resources and collaborative environments. It emphasizes the importance of modern technologies and a student-centered approach in library design and function. Key challenges include meeting diverse departmental needs and fostering effective collaboration among various stakeholders.
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The library as place. Author: Peter Hickey
- 1. The Library as Place Peter Hickey UCD Library Leabharlann UCD Health Sciences Centre Ionad Eolaíocht Sláinte UCD
- 2. Constructive Alignment Theory John Biggs Learning & Teaching activities and Assessment Methods and Intended Learning Outcomes
- 3. Key Drivers a. Shiftfrom holdings to access b. Developments with technologies c. Fostering learning and collaboration d. Student centred and student friendly
- 4. a. Shift fromholdings to access • Compact shelving • Warehouse storage • Collaborations • Risks
- 5. b. Developments with technologies • Personal computing • RFID • Self service • Access control • Outsourcing
- 6. c. Fostering learningand collaboration • The Shift from the Formal Classroom • Student centred activities • Small group teaching • Problem based, evidence based learning • Messy and ill defined activities • Need for spaces to meet and congregate
- 7. Why the Library? •Classrooms traditionally buildings & services • Other players, IT Services, AV Centres, Administration, Exam offices, etc • Devolved budgets to Faculties/Colleges
- 8. ‘Significantly, the librarymust serve as the principal building on campus where one can truly experience and benefit from the centrality of an institution’s intellectual community’. The Library as Place: Changes in Learning Patterns, Collections, Technology, and Use by Geoffrey T. Freeman
- 9. d. Student Centredand student friendly • Accessible • Welcoming • Relevant and usable
- 10. Accessible - Convenient - Visible - Compact
- 11. Welcoming –Ambience – Environment – Quality
- 12. Relevant and usable – Variety and choice – Connectivity – Adaptable – Manageable
- 13. Challenges of collaboration • New Builds • Branches, needs of dept, school, • Collaborative learning centres, conflicting needs and ethos • Being at the right table • Being recognised as an equal client • The informal channels, builders, etc. keep it simple
Editor's Notes
- #2 10 minute presentation at Conul Colloquium 5 Feb 2008
- #3 We all know Academics and universities are increasingly engaged with the shift from teaching to learning . Biggs talks about the importance of constructing alignment for truly effective learning to occur. In a nutshell you can state your intended learning outcomes but you will not have effective learning if you use teaching and assessment methods which do not facilitate that process. Lack of alignment. We can that this a step further and say that true alignment is impossible without recourse to the physical environment, the spaces where the learning is expected to happen. This is our big challenge, We need to look at the pedagogies of our institutions and their teaching and learning objectives when planning new builds or refurbishments. First question1 How can we know or measure how truly aligned we are with overall university objectives Starting to see significant changes in approaches to planning where the focus is less about operations, collections and services and more about user needs and learning styles.
- #4 Number of key drivers informing planning decisions, interlinked Greater recognition of the value/cost of space. Library space is prime space, usually in great central locations. Universities are demanding greater accountability for space allocation Questions, You’ve allocated space for a particular purpose. Whats the return, could you have a better return by using the space for a different purpose How well is your use of space contributing to the overall learning objectives of the uni?
- #5 This is the key, With electronic, many of our physical print collections lightly used Maximise space by Tightening up collections on floors with publicly assessable compact shelving. Moving collections to warehousing facilities,. Tradit strength of academic libraries is the scope of collections. Moving materials to remote access at time when user more accustomed to instant retrieval. Look at scanning and delivering materials electronically from warehouses. Staffing and resourcing implications. Not cheap but measuring against the benefits of released spaces for other functions. Question: What's the point of library as space if we move collections off the floors. Where's the value added experience Should we establish separate specialised researcher libraries, and pull all the low usage/high value research materials together.
- #6 The pace of change is rapid, Laptops cheap. Wireless Online access from anywhere mandatory laptop ownership policies, laptop lending The shift away from banks of PCs in dedicated information commons, Redevelopment of these spaces Putting in these spaces, keep an eye to redevelopment in 3-6 years. Ie 2 IT equipment cycles Losing a core attractor Possible Gains in staff space from Outsourcing, less bibliographic storage spaces reqd, Move to self service technologies, automate the routine. Possible space and staff savings. Rfid, automatic sorting carts for book returns. New spaces being realised but in usable spaces? Former staff zones New demands, Systems, digitization projects
- #8 Ask the question Looking at increased competition from other players such as… Potentially losing key attractors, ie with resources online, collections offsite, IT labs, less need for physical proximity to library Can be reading rooms anywhere Devolved budgets, cost of supporting centralised library services. And spaces. Lets build our own research spaces, with rooms. Build our own communities of practice. Want t& l spaces on own college bldg. Own resource centres Key challenges, However equally know Colleges short of space for researchers opportunity for libraries to take ownership of this service. need to move quickly. Question: Is there a role for Conul in advocating the best uses of space for researcher support Creating a strategy to inform best practice What added value do libraries offer in supporting this role,
- #9 Libraries offer the value added. sum greater than the parts If losing attractors, how to keep library relevant Key trend, repositioning library as the Community hub, social centre of the university. Home from home, Their personal space, refuge, indispensable social/work place of the student. Why: long opening hours, and service, access control and security systems, centrality, neutrality. Trend: Stock up with attractors: Social spaces, coffee shops, breakout zones, tv rooms. Games zones. exhibition space, showcasing the universities achievements and outputs, draw in the academics and administrators, Make it the indispensable location of choice. One stop shop. Question: You might want to ask yourself is this the way you want to go?
- #10 Expectations are a changing. Utilitarian not enough, expect something more, bit of wow. Key concepts
- #11 It must be Accessible, be at the heart of the student experience, Questions; Is it convenient, visible and easy to access, 24/7 Can you linking between formal/informal learning spaces Seeing more and more landmark buildings, reflecting the status of the uni and part of the marketing strategy in attracting new students. Questions: How far do you go; What are you prepared to pay in terms of costs. Not just financial , practical costs. The wow, the costs in terms of noise, etc.
- #12 Has to be a place where students feel welcome and comfortable in and want to return to, repeatedly, and take Ownership and feel proud Wow factors, emphasis on atriums, natural light. Stimulating and uplifting, move away from utilitarian Important to Look to the user needs, first & foremost Questions Expensive and quality or Cheap and simple, disposable or both Staff desks, are they facilitators or barriers to communication Is noise really an issue? Tradition to moderate noise on open plan floors with quietest zones at extremities. Policing . Move on. Accept the hum of activity and provide closed off cloisters/rooms for those that like silence Does one size fit all. Will different types of user require different spaces, age gp, cultures, spaces for all? UNdgs like collaboration, researchers need solitude, Back to earlier point, specialised spaces of library for researchers, diff quality, lockable desks, booking systems? Are you a minimalist or a clutterer. Is less sometimes more to effect productive learning
- #13 Change will be inevitable. Plan for it. Movable walls and furniture keep spaces refreshed and up to date, painting Floor load weighting, for shelving and Compact shelving Need to be able to adapt to change requirements more quickly many libraries of recent decades are modular, yet reconfiguring can be difficult. Mindset need to be flexible and adaptable as well Questions, How truly flexible are our spaces. What limits flexibility, Shelving, signage, how we organise and label our collections etc. Those major summer projects Limitations of shelving, why not move the shelves with the content. Unbolt, roll, rebolt?. Green features
- #14 Landmark buildings, views of architects, donors, schools, university Key: How will your library space contribute to fulfilling the institutions objectives. Branch development risky as susceptible to demand for space for other purposes, not principle client, school views at odd with library wide policies Question: How can Conul help? Lots of experience in the country Guidelines for best practice Building specs Advice on negotiations Case studies on approaches to bid for projects Small remodelling projects Larger extensions/builds