Not a Library: Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center at University of Nevada, Reno

The new 295ksf building was conceived as a knowledge facility for the 21st century and is seen as "the beginning manifestation to substantial curricular change on campus, and a likely sea change in learning, I believe, in general." The former library had more than 1M books. The new facility has room for 3M, but is never expected to use the space for that purpose. UNR has several SCUP members, including director of facilities planning and analysis, Gary Bishop, facilities analyst Jed Hammer, executive vice provost Marc Johnson, interim associate vice president Stephen Mischissin, assistant vice president for planning, budget and analysis Bruce Shively, and vice president for administration and finance Ronald Zurek. We have several useful links for you:

• This article by Denise Harrison is in Campus Technology magazine.
• This link will take you to the MIKC's own, under construction, home page.
• From this link you can access a case statement for the MIKC, time-lapse photography of the project, and construction milestones and facts.
• The Facilities Services Department at UNR shows three large projects currently under construction and has links to several sets of guidelines: project development process, sustainability, and design and construction standards.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Mobile Libraries Blog

The Mobile Libraries blog will be of interest to many types of planners: technology, academic, facilities, strategic. It defines itself as:

[D]evoted to documenting any and all topics relating to services provided by libraries to patrons within mobile environments. Library mobile services are defined as any and all library services that are provided via mobile technologies.

While the posts often dig deep into the technology of new hardware and functionalities, on February 6 the post was about a recent article by John Dew in The Futurist. That article requires a subscription or a $3 fee to download a PDF, but the blog author has excerpted much of it and describes it thusly:

An educator and strategic planner outlines the trends leading to a long-forecast future for colleges and universities: Global standardization of education content and accreditation, greater diversity in the student body, and more options for where, when, and how learning takes place.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Top Tech Trends from the American Library Association

The 'Top Tech Trends' session at a mid-Winter ALA meeting convened five experts to share the latest trends and observations about what they call issues "affecting patron access and services." Joshe Hadro reports on it in Library Journal. Almost anyone would find this report interesting, but it is especially useful for those who do variations on learning space design. The categories discussed included:

• Discovery Systems;
• User Experience Across the Breadth of Library-Based Interactions;
• The Need to Embrace 'Mobile';
• Augmented Reality;
• End of Apps: "2010 is the year that the app dies."; and
• The Reinvention of the Book.

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Regional SCUP Events! Enjoy the F2F company of your colleagues and peers at one of three SCUP regional conferences this spring:

• March 14–16: Baltimore, MD
• March 24–26: Cambridge, MA
• April 5–7, San Diego, CA

Academic Libraries: 'Nothing More than Computer Labs with SOfas and Coffee?

Johann Neem posits that "across the country deans of libraries are giving up the fight and changing their mission rather than fighting to save an important academic institution. Rather than make clear why we need academic libraries, the library’s leaders are seeking instead to become vague learning environments which, when boiled down to their essence, are nothing more than computer labs with sofas and coffee." He sees a dual threat to academic libraries and other support areas: Declining funding and the campus professionals more tied to their "fields" - such as library science - than to the core purposes of the library. (He sees similar problems in student affairs and higher education administration in general.)

The Chronicle of Higher Education's 'Buildings & Grounds Blog' Update for 9/11/09

Here's what's relatively new at the Buildings & Grounds Blog: 

• Ohio State U.'s Library Renovation Is 'Stupendous,' Says a Leading Consultant
  
• Yeshiva U. Opens First New Building in 20 Years (a 500-seat, two-level study hall)
  
• 1881 Observatory at U. of Wisconsin at Madison Gets Makeover
  
• Jay Pearlman: The Humble Utility Log Can Help Promote Sustainability
  
• Director Returns to Mount Wilson Observatory as Fire Danger Diminishes
  

OSU's Main Library Re-Opens After Three Years and $109M

This nice article includes a photo tour/slide show. Ohio State University's main library has undergone more nips, tucks and enhancements than an aging beauty queen trying to hang on to her youth.

But as sometimes happens, some work done in the past to serve a growing student body compromised the magnificence of the original building. . . . 'People will actually see and feel the building, and the furnishings get more contemporary as they walk west,' said Wesley L. Boomgaarden, preservation officer of Ohio State University Libraries. 

See more here:

http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/08/03/OSU_library.ART_ART_08-03-09_A1_5NEL3IU.html

29 Reports About the Future of Academic Libraries

Thanks to SCUP executive director Jolene L. Knapp, who spotted this excellent blog post with links to hours of reading.

ACRL/LAMA Guide For Planning Higher Education Library Spaces

This guide - Guide For Planning Higher Education Library Spaces - from the Association of College & Research Libraries and the Library Administration and Management Association compiles a number of "guidelines" and links to specific resources as well as to sets of related resources. It is a must-bookmark resource for architects and designers in higher education. "In response to frequent inquiries for information about planning academic library buildings, [we] provide a basic framework for architects, planners, and librarians embarking on planning and design of libraries for higher education."

Library Case Studies from 'Learning Spaces'

Because we have a great webcast coming up soon about libraries (See The Engaged Library
Strategies for Building Vibrant Learning Communities, Friday, September 12.) we thought we'd bring you - courtesy of the bibliographies at the National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities (NCEF) - a nice set of links to some comprehensive case studies and other related information that are originally from Learning Spaces by Diana Oblinger:

• Center for Integrated Learning and Information Technology, Michigan Technological University (PDF). Profiles this linked library addition and computer science hall that together provide an integrated learning environment, group study rooms, wireless networking, high-tech instructional spaces, and flexible labs. The chapter also describes how these spaces are used, what makes them successful, how technology is used, design principles, and what is unique about the project.

• Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, University of British Columbia (PDF). Profiles this blend of new and refurbished space that serves at a library addition for the University. The building houses collection, meeting, and social spaces, including a lecture hall, classrooms, seminar rooms, cafe. These spaces host programs for the faculty, staff, and general public. The chapter describes the spaces and how they are used, what makes them successful, how technology is used, design principles, and what is unique about them.

• Perkins Library, Duke University (PDF). Profiles the expansion and conversion of this outdated, but ideally located library. The concept of the building's transformation from a "gatekeeper" to a "gateway" function that now serves as an "information commons" for the institution. The chapter also describes what makes the project successful, how technology is used, design principles, what is unique about the project, and includes one reference.

• Peter H. Armacost Library, Eckerd College (PDF). Profiles this new library that features 72 carrels wired with power and data connections, eight of which have multimedia stations. Several open lounges and a screened patio serve as casual settings for individual or group study, a 28-seat meeting room permits users to connect with remote sites worldwide, and a 30-person multimedia instruction lab provides multimedia training to augment instruction, research, and writing. The chapter also describes what makes the project successful, how technology is used, design principles, what is unique about the project, and includes one reference.

But . . . Where Are the Books?

Subtitled "As academic libraries evolve beyond information storage, institutions turn to space-saving automated retrieval systems" and written by Melissa Ezarik, this University Business report addresses the current evolutionary path of college libraries. It includes case studies from Santa Clara University (CA) and the University of Louisville (KY).

The evolution of libraries to meet a range of needs leaves librarians in a quandary. If space must go toward so many things besides books, where is the ever-expanding print collection supposed to fit?

“A knee-jerk reaction of putting everything on single shelves seems indefensible,” says Ron Danielson, vice provost for information services at Santa Clara University (Calif.). No one has the space for that.

“Shelving no longer drives planning,” explained consultant Scott Bennett, principal of Urbana, Ill.,-based Library Space Planning, during a session at a SCUP regional conference held at Yale in March. Bennett is also seeing libraries become less transactional and more instructional.

A Provost and Librarian Walk Into a Meeting . . . How to Approach a New College Official

This article contains insightful advice for anyone who has to approach a newly-hired senior academic official.

During 'The Art of Persuasion: Strategies for Effective Communication with Chief Academic Officers,' organized by the Association of College and Research Libraries [ARL], the provosts and vice presidents for academic affairs on the panel shared a list of their do’s and don’ts when approaching new college officials in their positions.