ALA TechSource Blog

Self-Service and Innovation at Boone Co. Public Library

Cindi Trainor — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:40:22 -0700

One of the beautiful library spaces I had the privilege of visiting this summer was the new main Boone County Public Library building in Burlington, Kentucky (map), in the northern part of the state. A big focus of the new space is to facilitate user self-sufficiency and self-service using technology: self-checkout stations are located in multiple areas of the library, listening and viewing stations are located near the media collections, wireless internet access is available throughout the building, and many seating areas throughout the building were located conveniently close to electrical outlets (also pictured at right).

Perhaps most impressive and innovative is the Teen Scene, complete with large-screen TV for movie viewing and game playing, restaurant-style booths, and computers that dedicated to teen use only once school is out for the day.

There is so much to love about this library: the fun and friendly children's area, the user-friendly collection displays, comfortable reading areas. It was difficult to capture it all!

Many thanks to BCPL Director Cindy Brown, other BCPL staff, and SWON Libraries for the tour!

In the Hub - The Information Commons at University of Kentucky

Michael Stephens — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:03:47 -0700

During the past few months, I've explored various in carnations of the student-centered learning and technology commons. I'm pleased to see this trend in academic libraries gaining more and more ground. We visited the IU South Bend Commons last time, an example of a smaller university library thinking big and applying the same concepts and strategies for student space and making it work. On a wind swept, rainy day last April, I toured the inviting Information Commons at Loyola University, where community, collaboration and connectivity guided the student- centered space. And this summer while in Georgia, we visited the Georgia Tech Library Learning Commons that features spaces and technologies to enable all types of student, faculty and staff interaction.

There's one more stop - and sadly, I haven't visited this outstanding example of student space in person but via the photos shared on Flickr. So I emailed Stacey Greenwell, Head of the Information Commons (The Hub) at the University of Kentucky to find out more about the incredible spaces and help desk I'd seen on Flickr. She obliged with this detailed interview:

MS: What was the genesis of the Hub?

SG: In fall 2005, University of Kentucky Libraries Dean Carol Pitts Diedrichs assembled a group of interested parties from across campus to discuss the possibility of an information commons. The timing was right, with an increased focus on undergraduate education on campus and the desire to improve student success and increase the overall retention rate. While the William T Young Library is a very impressive building that opened in 1997, the basement was largely underutilized except for two large computer labs and the audio visual services desk. The key players in this potential information commons collaboration (IT and the Teaching and Academic Support Center, along with Libraries) were intrigued with the opportunity to redesign the basement of the library to create a high-energy, student-focused atmosphere that could serve as a one-stop shop for undergraduate information needs.

The group wrote a whitepaper further exploring the topic, and by December 2005, the group had secured instructional infrastructure improvement funding to begin the project. I was extremely interested in the project from the beginning, and at this point I became directly involved by serving as a member of the working group to plan the information commons. The group included library staff, IT staff, an IT librarian (myself), as well as an architect and an interior designer. We spent an entire year planning the project—researching the concept, conducting site visits, and soliciting opinions from students and others on campus. I was appointed on an interim basis to become the director (and ultimately accepted the permanent position earlier this year). We opened the UK Information Commons—the Hub—in March 2007.

MS: What were some of the key features you wanted to include and how did you come to those decisions?

SG: While we sought student input throughout the planning process, we were already aware of several features we knew we needed in the Hub. Since the Young Library opened in 1997, staff had been frequently asked about the lack of a Mac lab in the building, as well as the need for in-depth help with computer accounts, laptops, and software. Early in our planning process, we all agreed that IT offerings needed to be expanded in the Hub. IT already had an excellent Windows lab in the basement which included over 200 computers equipped with nearly every software application that students would need. IT created a Mac lab in an adjacent lab space, and the 24” iMacs in the new lab were extremely popular with students from day one. IT also supported staffing the Hub’s central help desk with an IT customer service center staff member.

When the Hub opened in March 2007, IT staffed the central help desk 20 hours per week. The staff member could create accounts, reset passwords, answer general queries about software/campus systems, and assist with laptop problems, among other things. We kept careful statistics on what type of IT help was needed and when, and after our first year, we were able to show that IT support needed to be expanded. I’m delighted that we opened the fall 2008 semester with IT staffing Sun-Thu 1-10 pm and Fridays 1-5 pm. This effectively doubles the number of hours IT help is available in the Hub. In general, I feel that emphasizing the partnership aspect of the project was critical in getting the support and buy-in we needed to make the Hub the success it has become. A good portion of what was needed for the Hub had to be provided by IT, so it was essential that they become a key stakeholder in the project from the earliest planning stages. In addition to the Mac lab and the help desk staffing, we also needed a wireless internet upgrade and an upgrade which would allow cell phones to work in the basement. (Yes, that’s right—at the Hub we actually installed infrastructure to make it easier for students to use cell phones. We actually encourage cell phone use. Truly the Hub is a No Shushing Zone.)

The key features of the Hub involve more than just technology, too.

MS: I'm looking at the photos you've shared - the shots of the library help desk are great - and I've used them in my talk "The Hyperlinked Library" for some time.

We wanted to create a library help desk in the center of the space, using a very non-traditional style of service desk to hopefully make students more comfortable approaching us. We also knew we had to get away from heavy, wooden, difficult-to-move furniture. It is beautiful furniture that truly makes our upstairs reading rooms grand, but it is not very conducive to collaborative, energetic, all-night study sessions. We also wanted to bring food into the library—while one of the nicest restaurants on campus is housed in the Young Library, patrons must go outside to visit the restaurant. This isn’t feasible for late-night study sessions (or in bad weather!) so that’s how Grub @ the Hub was born.

MS: What do you think is the next step for student-centered library space on college campuses? Where do we go from "The Hub?"

I keep coming back to this, but conversation and collaboration are essential for continued success. What do students and faculty need from library spaces--we have to keep asking questions and keep the conversation going with our clientele. We also have to continue building partnerships with other essential student services on campus, particularly IT. We're going to have to address students' increasing use of mobile devices and cloud-based applications, and with IT develop ways to meet these changing needs and provide support. One of the things we've just started looking at is virtualizing our labs-- basically students could come to our space with a mobile device and get temporary access on their device to the software they need. It is truly an exciting time to continue expanding the information commons!

On The Internet and the New Dark Age

Daniel A. Freeman — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 13:38:47 -0700

There’s been an interesting discussion going on lately about the Internet. Some leading thinkers and scholars have postulated that for all the convenience and expediency that society gets from the Internet, we may actually be surfing ourselves into a new Dark Age. While this idea has been discussed quietly in bars, coffee shops and at dinner tables for some time now, the public debate really took off with this recent article Nicholas Carr did in The Atlantic Monthly.

Carr, citing personal experience and a wealth of anecdotal evidence, theorizes that the Internet, with its quick and easy access to endless amounts of information, has created an intellectual laziness that is reverberating throughout our society. He argues that the web, while it may have us reading more, has us concentrating less, thinking less and relying on machines for functions that should be carried out by our brains.

The idea that our minds should operate as high-speed data-processing machines is not only built into the workings of the Internet, it is the network’s reigning business model as well. The faster we surf across the Web—the more links we click and pages we view—the more opportunities Google and other companies gain to collect information about us and to feed us advertisements. Most of the proprietors of the commercial Internet have a financial stake in collecting the crumbs of data we leave behind as we flit from link to link—the more crumbs, the better. The last thing these companies want is to encourage leisurely reading or slow, concentrated thought. It’s in their economic interest to drive us to distraction.

Wired shot back with this piece, which characterizes this criticism as a sky-is-falling approach that is desperate to find a fatal flaw in the digital revolution, whether there is one or not. Author David Wolman argues that those who blame the Internet for the prevalence of misinformation, misconception and intellectual laziness are merely ignoring the fact that these problems existed long before the Internet.

It should be obvious that I side with Wolman—if I didn’t I probably wouldn’t be a blog editor—but this got me thinking about the library community. There can be no question that librarians as a profession have had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to the Internet revolution. The Internet has given us multitudes of new and better ways to serve and connect with our patrons. The Internet has helped us tremendously, and I think most librarians would agree with that even while acknowledging that technology has cost some of us our jobs and forced others to learn a completely new set of skills mid-career.

Frankly, in my corner of the library world, we’re so pro-Internet that I wonder if there is anyone in our profession who might share the sentiments voiced in Nicholas Carr’s piece. So I put it to you, my fellow librarians—how has the Internet had a negative effect on your job? In what ways is the Internet having a negative impact on our profession as a whole?

I know that I, for one, am looking forward to the continuation of this debate.

The Kindle's Impact on the Book Publishing Industry

Daniel A. Freeman — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 09:48:11 -0700

New York Magazine has been providing some fantastic coverage of the changes in the book publishing industry that Jason is discussing. In a fantastic series on the current state of book publishing, they are pondering whether current trends could spell doom for the entire industry, but also covering the different ways that publishers are trying to re-invent themselves.

I <3 my Kindle

Jason Griffey — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:05:58 -0700

In the past year or so, there has been considerable discussion here in libraryland about ebook readers. Still, the actual personal ownership of them is still reasonably low. So we don't have a lot of actual user feedback on how people like the devices, what they find useful, and what users really experience when reading on one. I thought I'd make an attempt to remedy that as much as one person on one blog can.

In short: I Love my Kindle. I love it the way I haven't truly loved a piece of technology since my first iPod, and for many of the same reasons. It allows me to carry the media that I love with me everywhere I go, in a form that makes it easier to organize and consume.

The iPod comparison is often made-- the press often refers to the Kindle as "the iPod for books". While in many was this is an apt comparison, in my experience there is definitely a point where the similarities stop.

The iPod succeeded in part because of the Compact Disc, and the ease with which CD's can be digitized. When combined with the emergence of the MP3 codec for digitizing music, it suddenly became possible to transfer your previous music purchases into this new format. This is not the case with books. There is no easy way of digitizing your book collection, and moving it onto a portable device. This is not a small problem, and it has hurt the uptake of ebook readers. Still, I think that the benefits of the Kindle outweigh this drawback.

So what's to love? There are a number of things, but primarily it's the screen. The e-ink screen is visable in any light, unlike the more traditional LCD screen. In bright sunlight, the screen is magnificent, crisp and clear, and very closely replicates the resolution of the traditional ink-on-paper. It took just a few hours for me to completely forget I was reading on a screen at all.

The wireless connectivity is what separates the Kindle from other readers like the Sony’s device. The Kindle comes with an EVDO modem that connects to the cell phone network to access the Internet. The access is included in the cost of the Kindle…yes, you heard me correctly, you do not pay any monthly fees for wireless access. There is an experimental web browser, but it is very limited. The real key to the wireless access is that it gives you full access to the Amazon Kindle bookstore. Within minutes, you can be reading any of the 175,000 books available there. You click “buy”, the book is purchased, and it shows up magically on your Kindle in less than 5 minutes. That is an amazing experience, and it opens the door to some seriously reckless book purchases.

The Kindle also has the ability to bookmark, take notes, search text, look up words, and access Wikipedia articles. All of those features are useful in their own way, and add value to the reading experience on a Kindle in ways that the physical book can't.

What are the other advantages of having an electronic reading device like the Kindle? The biggest advantage that I see right now is the almost obsecene number of free books being made available online. After all, you don't just have to buy from Amazon. The Kindle will read text files, html, and Mobipocket files, or Amazon will convert Word or PDF files for you for free.

For the sci-fi or fantasy reader, a Kindle will pay for itself in just a few months if you do nothing but grab all of the free ebooks from Baen and Tor, two leading publishers who have fully embraced the idea that giving away books means more sales. These two publishers have given away many, many dozens of books, and there are hundreds more from individual authors around the web. Cory Doctorow, for instance, gives away free electronic copies of all of his work on his website. When you combine these sources with the public domain books in Project Gutenberg and ManyBooks (Jules Verne, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Jane Austen and H.P. Lovecraft, to name a few), you have more books than you could read in a lifetime.

In the 6 months that I've owned a Kindle, I have actually started to prefer it to reading physical books. I now check to see if a book I want is available for the Kindle before I'll think about buying it in paper, and in some cases I have purchased both the paper and the Kindle version (for example, I bought Anathem by Neal Stephenson in both formats...paper for my "Neal Stephenson First Edition" collection, and Kindle to actually read).

The Kindle has changed the way I look at, consume and enjoy reading. What more could you ask for? This is the future of reading, and whether the Kindle comes out the winner for the hearts and minds of the world's readers or not, it is a brave and significant first step.

SOPAC for the Smaller Set

Kate Sheehan — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:48:25 -0700

The Darien Library’s new website and SOPAC 2.0 have been live for just over a week, during which time we staffers have had a chance to reflect on our wonderful new online presence. John Blyberg offers a thorough explanation of the technical details at his blog. The impact of SOPAC on the larger library world has been under exploration by much of the biblioblogosphere. Behind the scenes, it's been just as exciting.

The transition to a new website can be a major undertaking for any library. Even if your previous website is terrible, staff are used to it. Like a family trying to sell their house, librarians and webmasters don’t see their own clutter, poor layouts or lousy artwork. However, like a new house, a new site is an opportunity to start fresh, to pick new paint and claim a new room to set up just the way you like.

All images created by John Blyberg for the new DarienLibrary.org

Our staff of active bloggers were undaunted by the prospect of a CMS-based site that would involve of lot of user and staff participation. Having lived through Moveable Type 3.0, we welcomed Drupal 6 like a box of popsicles in mid-July. Our blogs , however, remained old school (yes, blogging is old enough to have an old school iteration) and were separate from the site. The home page linked to the blogs regularly, but postings updated only the blogs, not the website.

The change to a CMS and SOPAC 2.0 has had a tremendous impact on our library, particularly on the area of the site devoted to children, which has blossomed in just two weeks. I spoke with our Head of Children’s Services, Gretchen Hams, about the new site, writing on the web for children and virtual worlds.

KJS: You and your department have done such a wonderful job of creating content on the site. How is the web different for kids?

GH: Kids use the site in a very different way. Kids are searchers. They aren’t going to look and browse. They want to search for their answers. There’s a lot of research out there with kids using eye-tracking software: they don’t read a page like adults do. They start in the middle and then they jump around and look for what’s relevant to them. We tried to keep our categories and options as simple and as connected to their needs as possible. In the Kids section, we only have four categories. In the First Five section, there are more because it’s really for the parents.

KJS: How does that work out in your interactions with children at the desk?

GH: I never use the staff interface to search when I’m working with children. On the new site, I can use keywords and string together words and I get much better results on the site than I do on the back end. We can use more nuance in our search on the site, we can even use parts of the call number- ER for Easy Reader, for example. When working with our patrons I can constantly teach informally with that experience. I’m not doing something only I can do, where I’m the expert and they can’t get to the same information I can. I’m modeling how to do it, which is a big part of childhood development- modeling behaviors.

KJS: How about the staff’s relationship with the web? Has that changed?

GH: When the blogs were a separate function of the old site, they were disconnected from our online presence. Blogging was doled out as a staff responsibility to one or two people. When we first started working in the staging site, I encouraged everyone to participate, which took some adjusting to for most of the department. There are a couple of staff members who discovered with the new website that they had a great voice and lots of really interesting things to share. Part of what makes any library staff strong is having varied experiences and bringing a wide range of voices to the table and sharing that range is a way to reach out to the community. Many of the staff are feeling invigorated with this new aspect of their jobs, especially part time staffers. I’m really happy to encourage it because it’s so wonderful. This is just like when you are learning to play the piano and you have to practice. The more you do it, the better it gets. In the two weeks since we’ve been live, they’re posting more and more and their posts are getting better and better.

KJS: I’ve been surprised by the difference between blogs and a Drupal-driven site. Even though it seems like they’d be similar for the staff--log in, write something, click publish--it’s very different.

GH: Yes, we can respond immediately to things that are happening in our community. With any challenge we’re facing--even a parent who can’t find a certain type of book or something ordinary like that–we can respond immediately to help that person. Since we’re posting online, we’re helping those who aren’t stopping to ask us about books they can’t find or for homework help. The bonus of being able to respond immediately has a flip side: children’s librarians are ALWAYS BUSY. This creates another obligation for us, but if we think about it in the right way- as another service point- it moves up the priority list.

KJS: What’s at the top of your priority list now?

GH: I feel like we still have work to do--part of having this electronic conversation needs more work, particularly in the First Five section. That age is much more dynamic than we can do even with the site as it is. We need to add podcasts and videos of us doing rhymes and songs and stories. What’s special about this site is that it will be US doing it. It’s frustrating because we aren’t there yet, but it’s wonderful because we will be doing that. The reason it’s so essential is that we have these tools is that for really small children, early literacy development is not just reading books to them. All of the motor skills and development are part of that and those don’t just happen when the library is open. Parents can put books on hold after 9 pm, but what about that mom who has a fussy baby who’s trying to get to sleep at 1am and she’s trying to remember lullabies? She can go on the library’s website and get them… we’ll be able to provide 24 hour library service for this really bit part of our population. Children, especially small children don’t have Monday- Friday 9-5 schedules.

KJS: So, what’s next?

GH: One of the most popular websites kids use is Club Penguin. Kids will sit right next to each other and hang out on Club Penguin. They’ll be communicating in both the physical and virtual space. Sites like Club Penguin and Webkinz are what kids expect to see online. They’re fun but they’re not made with a lot of mediocre clip art; they look good. We'd love to use this site to be able to create something similar where kids and families can communicate through the physical and virtual space under the umbrella of the library's mission and vision. So we’re working towards message boards and forums for Darien families to communicate with each other. Why not have it come through the library website?

Meeting Technologies

Tom Peters — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:51:48 -0700

How many meetings do you think occur every weekday in the United States involving staff members from libraries and library-related organizations? For our purposes, let’s define a meeting as a real-time interaction between three or more people for a stated purpose. Two people have a conversation; three or more people have a meeting. I realize that excludes two-person meetings like annual performance meetings and that some library-related meetings occur on weekends but the definition above will keep things in this context neat, clean and clear.

According to ALA calculations there are roughly 123,000 libraries in the U.S. Many of those are one-person libraries, so we can estimate that on each working day there are approximately 100,000 meetings involving librarians and library staff. Of course, at large libraries the number of daily meetings will be high. With approximately 250 workdays in a year, that yields an annual estimate of 25 million library-related meetings in the U.S. alone.

We could call a meeting to discuss whether or not that estimate is too high or too low, but all we need is a ballpark figure. Whatever the actual number of meetings, it is pretty safe to assume it is a very large one. Many librarians and library staff members spend a fair chunk of their average workday in meetings, and I imagine that isn’t news to most TechSource readers.

Let’s consider all these library-related meetings a market – the Library Meeting Market (LMM). My question is: What percentage of the market does each LMM technology currently have, and what are the trends? Huh!? Meeting technology? What the heck am I talking about?

Every type of meeting relies on some fundamental technologies. In-person meetings rely on the technologies of modern architecture, HVAC systems, tables, chairs, whiteboards, even flipcharts. Telephone conference calls rely on the technologies supporting our telephone systems. Webconferencing meetings rely on the technologies that support the Web. Meetings in virtual worlds add another layer of technologies, and meetings held via videoconferencing systems rely on that suite of technologies.

Of those five basic types of meeting “venues”, how much market share does each have, and what are the trends? My hunch is that in-person meetings have the lion’s share of the LMM market, with telephone conference calls in second. Webconferencing, videoconferencing, and virtual world meetings scramble for the crumbs. The trend may be to have the three “also rans” pick up market share at the expense of in-person and teleconference meetings, but it is a slow process.

Several years ago I attended an in-person meeting with about twenty academic librarians and teaching faculty members. We were trying to decide whether to purchase something, I don’t remember what. It wasn’t expensive, but it touched an institutional nerve. The discussion became somewhat hot and heavy, as academic discussions are wont to do. Many people felt this was an important decision for the university library.

Because this was a public university where salaries are part of the public record, the debate dragged on. I pulled out my PDA and began calculating the cost of this debate just in terms of the salaries of the people involved. I didn’t try to factor in benefits, the amortized cost of the meeting space, electricity, heat or so many other expenses that were produced in the process of this discussion. Remember, neat and clean.

After a while it became clear to me that the cost of the debate was about equal to the cost of the potential purchase being debated. Most meetings probably are more costly than we like to think. Yet I’ve never seen a library budget with “meetings” as a line item. Despite their ubiquity, meetings are a largely hidden and unexamined cost to libraries.

When it comes to choosing between the five basic technologies for holding a meeting, most librarians don’t give the decision much thought, especially when it comes to which technology will be most cost-effective. One of the facts of the four not-in-person meeting options is that it is easy to multi-task while attending these meetings. Mute your audio input to that conference call, switch your telephone set to speaker phone, and munch on a sandwich and write a blog post while you listen to the meeting conversation. Yikes, I’ve ratted myself out. It is possible to multi-task during an in-person meeting, but that may annoy the other attendees.

The funny thing is that webconferencing meetings and virtual world meetings may be the least expensive, on average, to conduct (once you invested in the infrastructure) yet they seem to have only a tiny sliver of the LMM. The in-person meeting and the telephone conference call are entrenched. The social, nay, tribal aspects of library-related meetings still trump the cost factors and multifaceted technological options currently available to meeting planners. The next time I hear librarians complaining about the woeful state of the library’s budget, I’m going to ask them if they have seriously examined the costs of meetings and all the new meeting technologies options available to them.

The Space had to say "Wow!" - The Hammes Information Commons at IUSB

Michael Stephens — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:52:50 -0700

I recently had the chance to visit with long-time colleague and friend Michele Russo, Dean of Library Services at the Franklin D. Schurz Library at Indiana University South Bend. We've known each other awhile--she taught reference classes while I was in the MLS program. While at SJCPL, Michele and I would have lunch occasionally and catch up on our library-related conversations. I was glad that she and I reconnected this summer, because a couple of years ago she had told me about her plans for bringing an information commons space to the library. After visiting the spaces at Loyola and Georgia Tech, I was intrigued to see a commons at what I consider to be one of my "hometown" libraries."

We had lunch and chatted about the processof designing and reconfiguring the space. She also gave me some background about the project:

Indiana University South Bend is a primarily commuter campus offering undergraduate and graduate degrees to approximately 7500 students from north central Indiana and southwestern Michigan. The six-story, 86,000 square foot Schurz Library was built in 1989, just prior to the dawn of the age of the Internet. The reference room was located off the main lobby in an enclosed room with two doors which channeled users either to the right or left of the reference desk. It was designed to house an almost entirely print collection and to provide a quiet, subdued space for individuals to research. Over time, of course, computers were retrofitted into the space to allow access to library databases, but students had to move to the computer lab in another part of the building to use the productivity software to write their papers. As the Library created more of a virtual presence, the “library as place” was becoming less important to students, particularly as they increasingly valued social learning. This was a situation that we wanted to turn around.

After lunch, we toured the space. The reference room I remember was long gone! I was so impressed, I asked Michele if she might tell us about the transformation. Happily, she agreed.

MS: I vividly remember working on my weekly reference assignment in 1993, sitting on the floor in the huge row of book stacks with various social science books. Now, those stacks are smaller, with more space for seating, computers and other technologies. What were your goals for transforming the space?

MR: Working with Instructional Media Services and Information Technologies, we envisioned making the Library a true teaching-learning-research center by creating an Information Commons where content, technology, and services provided by reference librarians, technology assistants, and multimedia specialists were available to students and faculty in one place. We wanted to create a space where students could work individually or in groups – at computers or in comfortable seating areas and for this to be a gathering place open to everyone where they could access and create knowledge and where they could their share ideas. We wanted this to become the place that students would choose to spend their unscheduled time. And to do that, we knew that this space had to say Wow!

We shared this vision of what would happen in the space with our design firm, Maregatti Interiors (out of Indianapolis) in January 2007 who quickly grasped the concepts that we were describing. They also brought to our attention other important factors that should impact the design. First, they believed it important to respect the vision of the original architect and to recognize that the renovated space would still be an integral part of the rest of the library building which is in a very traditional style. While it could have a much more updated look, the design would have to complement its surroundings. Our designers were also committed to issues of sustainability and kept this in the forefront as they recommended furniture, carpeting, and lighting.

Maregatti translated our words into a design that not only met our needs but far exceeded any of our expectations. Anyone walking into the Hammes Information Commons immediately senses the openness and vibrancy of this space and "Wow!" is a word we hear often from people who see the space for the first time.

MS: That's what I said when we arrived at the library for the tour after lunch! I could see the attention to making the space inviting and more open. The ceilings actually had light panels that looked like clouds. I advocate for library spaces to be encouraging, comfortable and exciting. You really captured it. What changes did you make?

MR: To send the message that this was a welcoming place, the wall separating the room from the lobby was removed. The stacks were turned 90 degrees which allowed natural light to flow from the windows between the aisles to the center of the room.

The new service desk was also designed to send a welcoming message. It allows space for librarians, IT consultants, and multimedia specialists to work at one of two levels. The counter-height level allows service to people as they walk into the Commons, while the lower desk-height permits one to work at eye level with students in a wheelchair or with those who want to be seated as they receive more in-depth assistance.

The sense of vibrancy comes, in part, from the use of bright colors and patterns in the carpet. The use of “clouds” not only provide acoustical treatment and help define space, they also contribute to the Wow! factor.

MS: Like other Commons spaces I've visited this year, it seems the almost every aspect of the space and its contents were carefully planned as well as focused on students and their needs.

MR: Yes, the area also offers a variety of workspaces to allow for a diversity of learning styles of our students. There is a “computer bar” with ten workstations and a café height area with four computers for students working alone. We use the Herman Miller Resolve system for an additional twenty-eight workstations. This system is accurately described as providing “open, friendly work spaces” which “encourage people to connect for interaction and collaboration.” The Resolve system separates each work area with screens which defines a sense of privacy while being located in a very open space. Each work area provides space for individuals or groups to work comfortably. In addition to computer workspace, the Commons also has a variety of large and small tables which allow students to spread out their materials while studying or researching. There is also an abundance of comfortable soft seating.

While the feeling of vibrancy is an important aspect of the space, the room also feels warm and inviting. This is accomplished, in part because of the use of a warm blue paint on two walls. The variety of pendant and cloud lighting also add to the warmth.

The designers also took special care in planning the Adaptive Technology Room for use by students with disabilities. The color pattern on the carpet continued into that space and appropriate comfortable and attractive seating and workspaces were selected.

MS:How has the response to the new space been? What have you observed?

MR: We opened the Commons in mid-September 2007 and the positive responses from our students and faculty have been overwhelming. Our gate count and the number of reference questions have increased as has the use of printed reference materials. There is seldom an empty seat anywhere. Students work individually or together in small groups. The room buzzes with energy – the energy of learners engaged with each other, engaged with cutting edge technology, and engaged with knowledge.

We conducted an informal survey in the spring and the results clearly show that this has become the place that students choose to spend their unscheduled time. More than 80% of the respondents said that the Hammes Information Commons was their preferred study spot on campus. More telling is that there is seldom an empty seat anywhere. We receive nothing but positive comments such as these:

**The new improvements are wonderful. I love the thought-out variety of workspaces.
**Great place to work and do homework. Comfortable, convenient, helpful.
**Looks great. Makes me feel welcome.
** Great help; I now have all that I need to get my assignments done in one place.

It was gratifying to witness a student showing the Commons to his father and proudly telling him this is the place that he now “hangs out” between classes. The Commons has also received much attention in the community. Once at a checkout line at a local store, I overheard the young clerk tell her colleague that she would be starting classes at IU South Bend in January. When I mentioned that I worked at the Library, she told me that she had heard that we had a “really cool new place.”

MS: That's exactly the kind of stories we want being told about the library. Thanks for sharing your planning process and ideas for student centered, welcoming soaces, Michele!

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About the space:

The Hammes Information Commons houses the Schurz Library's 10,000 volume print reference collection, along with nearly 50 workstations to access to the Library's digital collection of over 150 databases and nearly 30,000 electronic journals. There is also productivity software students need to complete their projects. Many of the spaces for workstations are large enough for students to work collaboratively and for faculty to coach them. There are also informal learning spaces to encourage small groups of faculty and students to continue conversations begun in the classroom. The Hammes Information Commons also hosts technology to facilitate production of multimedia. Additionally, there is a large flatbed scanner and a 42" mobile plasma display monitor for use by faculty or large groups anywhere in the Hammes Information Commons. There is also an Adaptive Technology Room with specialized software for students with disabilities. Wireless network connection is available throughout. The Hammes Information Commons is named for the primary benefactors, Jerry and Dorene Hammes.

Hot Games for Fall 2008

Jason Griffey — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 10:20:41 -0700

The titanic battle of musical rythm games happens this Fall, when both Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band II will be released. Both are sequels to hugely successful games, and both games up the ante in their own way. Guitar Hero World Tour eschews the solo guitar as the ideal of rocking and adds the rest of the band--drums, microphone, and bass. The game setup is similar to Rock Band but there are now 4 instruments to rock out on. Guitar Hero World Tour is adding additional complexity to the game--it includes a touch-pad on the new guitars that allows for note variations, sliding tones and a variety ofother effects. There is also a more complicated drum set that is velocity sensitive, an improvement on the binary sensitivity of Rock Band I.

Rock Band II will be an evolutionary successor to Rock Band, but probably not a revolutionary one. Similar to the original Rock Band, it follows the 4 instrument model, with updated controls similar to Guitar Hero World Tour. The biggest difference between the two games is the actual content--the music you play during the game. Both sets of developers have been pounding the pavement to ensure that there is a tune in their game that you can't live without playing. Here's a short list of the standouts in each:

Guitar Hero World Tour	Rock Band II
Beat It - Michael Jackson Eye of the Tiger - Survivor The Wind Cries Mary - Jimi Hendrix No Sleep 'til Brooklyn - Beastie Boys Hotel California - The Eagles Rebel Yell - Billy Idol	Pinball Wizard - The Who Give It Away - Red Hot Chili Peppers Float On - Modest Mouse Peace Sells - Megadeth That's What You Get - Paramore Alabama Getaway - The Grateful Dead

Both have already announced dozens of songs with lots of standouts. Metallica has announced that they will release the entirety of their new album for Guitar Hero World Tour when the album hits store shelves. Some people are saying that Rock Band and Guitar Hero may be the saviors of the music industry, with an entirely new way to monetize old content...several classic albums (Blood Sugar Sex Magic by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nothing's Shocking by Jane's Addiction) are being released in their full form, playable on one of these games.

Both games are going to support some level on online play. Whether it is competitive (whose band rocks most!) or cooperative (two bands in two different locations playing the same song to a virtual crowd), both games will allow you to collaborate. Both also are promising some type of "free play" aspect, where you can create your own music using the game's instruments.

I'm betting that the major non-musical release of the season will be Spore by Wil Wright. Wright is the brain behind SimCity and The Sims so naturally Spore is a simulation game. But it's a simulation game of a new scale, where you create a lifeform and then play it through evolutionary steps. According to the game's literature it is possible to play from a single-celled organism all the way to interstellar travel, with different play styles at each level of organism. Spore is not going to be available on consoles (xbox360, Playstation 3, or Wii) immediately, but it will make its way there from the PC soon after release.

Spore has another interesting thing going for it. Although how it works in practice isn't going to be clear until the game is released, Wright calls the game a "massively single player" game. This is a play on the genre of massively-multiplayer games that are common these days. In a massively multiplayer game (often called an MMO), gamers are tied together on a server, and coexist in the "world" of the game, interacting with one another in various ways. In Spore, groups of players will all inhabit the same world, but will not interact in the same way as in an MMO. How this works out in gameplay is yet to be seen, but with Wright's pedigree in game design, this one is likely to be the casual gaming hit of the year.

There are, of course, tons of other games on the way...these are just the three that I'm watching. Library decisions about programs and collections are local decisions, so choose your games wisely!

Digits are Mightier than the Sword, and the Buck

Tom Peters — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:41:13 -0700

The last half of August is a transition period. For many people it is the end of summer as a human experience, regardless of how summer is defined in national holidays, meteorological averages or the wobbling of the earth on its axis. It's time to get back to school and buckle down--time to work.

I've found that a transition period can be a good time for reflection. During much of the year we are caught up in the "sturm und drang" of programs, policies, procedures, personnel, and pecunia, but occasionally a few days crop up when you can think about larger issues, trends and opportunities.

During these last days of summer, as I have been strolling down the straight and narrow lane (it truly is straight and narrow) that leads to my house, I keep coming back to the same thought: Ultimately, inevitably, digits are mightier than the sword and the buck.

I’m convinced that the digital revolution has resulted in a quantum leap in the accessibility of information. Over the past 30 years, worldwide access to information objects of all types – text, audio, still images, and video – has increased at an astounding pace and in ways never before thought possible.

Still, the digital revolution is not complete. All digital information is not yet available worldwide, nor do most information systems foster or encourage digital copying. I don’t know if information “wants” to be free, but when information is distributed worldwide and making copies of digital information is easy, affordableand simple, humans who create and use information will be in a much more desireable position than we are today.

Yey many balk at the idea of a complete implementation of a “free to copy, with worldwide distribution” model for all digital information. We are all subtle saboteurs of this vision, throwing clogs into the cogs of networked information systems.

The main sources of our reticence seem to be our notion of intellectual property rights, the needs of the current information economy, and to a lesser extent, the desire of some (okay, all) governments to control access to information. The primary way to protect intellectual property is to protect and control making copies of information that conveys that intellectual property. Copy prevention made sense when the technology needed to create copies was rare and expensive. In the current age where making copies is both simple and integral to networked digital information systems, we need to find a better way to foster and protect intellectual property, assuming that we continue to agree that fostering and protecting intellectual property is something we need to do.

Whenever information objects are treated as a commodity an information economy emerges. Individuals and organizations make money trafficking in information. I make money trafficking in information, as does Elsevier, although on different scales. The needs and interests of the stakeholders in the current global information economy take a dim view of a future scenario where all digital information is offered via a free to copy, with worldwide distribution model. If suddenly, miraculously, all citizens and organizations in the world decided to liberate all information, the current information economy would topple faster than the Berlin Wall.

Now don’t get me wrong--I’m not claiming that the fact that digits are mightier than the sword and the buck is an unqualified good thing. It just seems inevitable to me that sooner or later all digital information will be free to copy, with worldwide distribution. The resulting human condition will not be some utopia, nirvana, or even the summer of 1968. There are many potenially serious problems that could arise in this situation.

First, we know that fast, easy, inexpensive access to lots of digital information can have a destabilizing effect on our social fabric. During this final fortnight of August I have begun reading Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s provocative book, The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. Based on my reading of the first few chapters, I must report that this book is as unsettling to my professional pride as a librarian as was David Weinberger’s book, Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder.

Taleb defines a Black Swan as an event that lies beyond the realm of regular expectations, has a major impact on the human condition, and is retrospectively predictable. Taleb notes that free global information and communication systems often create "unpredictable planet-wide winner-take-all effects." He states that "We live in an environment where information flows too rapidly, accelerating such epidemics.” Lives awash in free-to-copy global information systems may be enriched immeasurably, but such a situation also may create harrowing problems for humanity.

Another potential problem has been explored for at least 15 years by Vernor Vinge in both scholarly articles and science fiction novels. What happens, Vinge ponders, if the digital information revolution results in the emergence of a new type of superintelligence? Not necessarily human intelligence, but intelligence in the computer network itself. When this type of “singularity” event occurs the effects will be disruptive. Plain old human intelligence may not be able to make sense of – or perhaps even be aware of – this new, faster, more powerful superintelligence. And the superintelligent computer network may show little interest in human intelligence, in much the same way that we treat the intelligence of ants as a minor wonder, or how some animals seem capable of sensing oncoming storms or tsunami long before they actually arrive.

Although an information environment where all information objects are free to copy with worldwide distribution may not be all cakes and ale, as librarians I think we need to become and remain staunch advocates for this vision. It seems to be an inevitable outcome sooner or later, despite all the DRM schemes, ranting, ravings, and saber rattling that humanity throws at it.