7 Classrooms: library as pedagogical incubator

By Brian Mathews

Interesting post from The Ubiquitous Librarian blog!

I, library robot

Connecticut library has acquired two fully-automated, walking, talking robots to provide independent assistance to its patrons. The robots, set to begin their duties at the Westport, Conn., library Oct. 11, will teach computer programming skills, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The robots, Vincent and Nancy, stand just shy of 2 feet tall. They walk, grasp, move around walls, talk, listen and have facial-recognition software. They speak 19 languages.
But library robots Nancy and Vincent will not be shelving books or explaining the Dewey Decimal System -- at least, not at first.

 Reported October 1 2014 by Carolyn Kellogg of the Los Angeles Times

Planning library spaces and services for Millennials: An evidence-based approach

Library Management

Volume 34, Issue 6-7, 2013, Pages 498-511

 Planning library spaces and services for Millennials: An evidence-based approach

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine undergraduates' perception and use of two distinct library spaces - social and communal - in an academic library in order to provide more customized services. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted at D.H. Hill Library at North Carolina State University, including structured questions on perceptions and use of the library, perceptions of library layout and design, and respondent demographics, as well as open questions on the advantages and disadvantages of social and communal spaces. Findings: Undergraduates frequently use the physical library. Their usage patterns mirror common characteristics of Generation Y by going there mostly on weekday nights, with friends or in a group. Both communal and social spaces appear to be well-used for many different activities ranging from solitary academic work to technology-driven collaborative work and socializing. Some demographic variables, such as ethnicity and gender, are found to affect aspects of perception and use. For example, African American and Asian students tend to engage in activities that involve library technology, tools and resources, while White students simply use the spaces. Despite their excitement and appreciation of the social spaces in the library, students consider the quiet communal spaces integral to their experience of the library and stress the need of quiet space for academic work. Originality/value: This is one of a few systematic empirical studies on end-users' use of library space. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Embracing Change (in Academic Libraries)

Serials Review 1 August 2013

The Internet, Google, e-journals, packages, e-books and patron driven acquisitions have all been perceived as “a threat to libraries as we know them.” Yet, in spite of these developments and under the weight of chronic budget pressures, the typical academic library now offers more users better access to more content and services than ever before. In this session we will look at how librarians and the vendors that serve them have responded to these “threats” to their future to create new and improved services ...

 

several areas of change.

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The collection: moving to electronic

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The library as a place (physical and virtual)

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Services available from the library

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Librarian's role in curating and managing data sets

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Discovery tools and access to content

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How and where users can be reached

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Library's role in exposing the institution's research and knowledge assets on a world stage.

 

University libraries and the postgraduate student; physical and virtual spaces

University libraries and the postgraduate student; physical and virtual spaces

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Document Information:

Title:	University libraries and the postgraduate student; physical and virtual spaces
Author(s):	Colin Beard, (Freelance Consultant), David Bawden, (City University London)
Citation:	Colin Beard, David Bawden, (2012) "University libraries and the postgraduate student; physical and virtual spaces", New Library World, Vol. 113 Iss: 9/10
Article type:	Research paper
Publisher:	Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Abstract:	Purpose - This study examines the library/information issues affecting graduate students, both those on taught courses and those undertaking research. It focuses specifically on their perceptions of the value to them of physical and digital resources and spaces, and how well their needs were being met. Design/methodology/approach - An online questionnaire survey of students was complemented by a series of face-to-face interviews with library staff. Findings - This group of students are different from undergraduates, whose information behaviour has more often been studied. They require silent study space, are enthusiastic book borrowers, and have limited interest in social media in the library. They have a strong requirement for digital resources and IT support, and are not inclined to ask for assistance from librarians. Research limitations/implications - The study is limited to three English universities, although they are sufficiently varied nature to make the results more widely applicable. Practical implications - It provides evidence for librarians in universities and colleges serving graduate students as to the best form of provision, and for any library seeking to make best use of its space as resources become increasingly digital. Originality/value - It is one of the few studies to examine the information behaviour and needs of advanced students. It contributes to the debate on the future of the library as place in a digital age.

At Libraries, Quiet Makes a Comeback

by Jennifer Howard


The buzzing of smartphones, the clacking of computer keys, the chatter of study groups: Academic libraries aren't the quiet temples to scholarship they used to be. Personal portable technology takes some of the blame. So does the current pedagogical emphasis on group work. In response to students' devices and habits, many libraries have installed coffee shops and embraced the learning-commons model of design, creating wired spaces where groups can gather and plug in...

Tomorrow's Academic Libraries: Maybe Even Some Books

Imagine a library that is not only bookless but is not necessarily tied to a building, one that takes its personnel and services to patrons rather than expecting them to come to it. Two projects—one now under way at the undergraduate level and one well established at a medical library—suggest where the untethered library is headed. One approach focuses on space; the other on librarians.

Academic libraries have been beset by changes that have led some observers to wonder whether they have a future at all. Their budgets have been hit hard even as the cost of buying and storing information—whether print monographs or journal databases—continues to climb. Search engines have replaced librarians as the go-to source of information for most researchers. And students headed to the library now are more likely to be in search of a cup of coffee than to be looking for a book. If they do want a book, it might have been moved to remote storage because the library has run out of room.

At Johns Hopkins U., embedded librarians like Victoria H. Goode work in classrooms and labs to help health-care students with their research needs.