up2date

future of info. commons in an age of mobile devices?

From the Chron.'s Wired Campus :

If Libraries Remove Computers, Will Anyone Come?

By Jeff Young

If iPads and other new mobile computers catch on, libraries might not need to offer rooms full of computers for students to do their research, writing, and Facebooking. But if that happens, will students have any reason left to visit the library?

...

The trend in the last few years was to add more computers to the library, creating spaces often called "information commons." And during that time, visits to the library have increased greatly. "I think the key to our current success has been the computers," Mr. Mathews says on his blog.

...

Improving the User Experience

From the ResourceShelf (note that it may be attended physically or virtually, as well) :

Improving the User Experience to Be Discussed at Upcoming NFAIS Workshop

NFAIS (National Federation of Advanced Information Services) has organized, Improving The User Experience – Part I., an all-day workshop, that will discuss improving the user experience online.

It’s scheduled to take place in Philadelphia, PA. on May 14, 2010. If you can’t make it to Philly, no worries. The workshop will be available live, virtually.

From the Workshop Website:

“While content itself continues to form the foundation of modern information solutions, the real differentiator is becoming the broader “user experience.” The Web, combined with sophisticated search engines and autonomous agents, has become the dominant worldwide search and retrieval system. It not only meets the information needs of its users, but also provides them with a highly satisfactory “experience” – from start to finish. The new generation of information seekers now expects a seamless, multi-sensory, interactive – and enjoyable – search experience that is their benchmark for an acceptable information retrieval service. Indeed, their product loyalty and satisfaction are “driven by a different set of values that goes beyond content and extends to the experience of using that content.”

They day will include four panels:
“What Users Want”; The Search Interface; Current Search Technologies; and New and Emerging Technologies

Information Commons Help Desk Transactions Study

From JAL :

Abstract

With the purpose of designing a training program for a new team serving at a technology service point, the author analyzed the transactions log using a new, multi-faceted, taxonomy. The resulting list of competencies and the methodology would be useful for managers of information or learning commons.

Designing the premier group study experience on campus: The Georgia Tech Library, 2West Project

Source: Designing Better Libraires blog

Stated their project with a mission statement and used a variety of techniques to get user input. The author also notes how valuable it was for him to use the space several hours a day ("going native") as a way of really understanding how the exisiting space did/did not work. 

Learning Spaces -- special issue of EDUCAUSE journal

(Thanks to the ResourceShelf for the tip) Articles in this recent issue that look particularly interesting to me include:

A Case Study in Master Planning the Learning Landscape Hub Concepts for the University at Buffalo
by Shirley Dugdale, Roger Torino, and Elliot Felix

Challenges in Technology Implementation for Learning Spaces in Higher Education
by Bryan Lewis and Gerald Starsia

Creating Learning Spaces Through Collaboration: How One Library Refined Its Approach
by Robert Fox and Crit Stuart

“Where Do You Learn?”: Tweeting to Inform Learning Space Development
by Elizabeth J. Aspden and Louise P. Thorpe

Collaborating with Users to Design Learning Spaces: Playing Nicely in the Sandbox
by Barbara Weaver

Learning Spaces as a Strategic Priority
by Gene George, Tom Erwin, and Briony Barnes

Aligning Learning Space Design and Student Work: Research Implications for Design Processes and Elements
by Andrea Lisa Nixon

Best Practices in Learning Space Design: Engaging Users
by Phyllis T. H. Grummon

Innovative Technology-Enhanced Learning Spaces (EDUCAUSE)

An assessment of some at UMN, thanks to EDUCAUSE:

Innovative Technology-Enhanced Learning Spaces: A Mixed-Methods Investigation

Title:
Author(s):	JD Walker (University of Minnesota) and Christopher Brooks (University of Minnesota)
Abstract:	Recent scholarship on learning spaces reflects a growing consensus that learning is significantly affected by the environment in which it occurs. While interest in innovative technology-enhanced learning spaces is high, and many institutions either have constructed or plan to construct such spaces, there is a paucity of systematic research examining the effects of these environments. In this presentation, we will describe grant-funded mixed-methods research that investigated whether, how, and to what degree learning was affected in selected classes that took place in innovative technology-enhanced classroom spaces at the University of Minnesota.

Learning Space

From EDUCAUSE (the 1st time I think I've seen them highlight a blog -- but this might be one worth following as we think "space"):

Title: The Learning Space
Author(s): James A. Jorstad (University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)

Abstract: The primary intent of this web blog is to provide an environment which offers mediated resources in teaching and learning, guidance in classroom design, instructional design, and digital media creation and display. This is an active and collaborative space to share ideas, to explore, and to ask "what if?"

& why do they come to the library?

Today's post on Designing Better Libraries touches on understanding the reasons readers come to the library and what they do when they're here -- portions of it that made me reflect on my own assumptions:

...
"The first thing that comes to my mind is that libraries think they are in the information business but they are really in the education or learning business."
...
"Each library differs somewhat with respect to its culture and community so the nature of defining the library’s business may be, to some extent, situational." [well, yes -- of course!]
...
"The bottom line, according to the Innovation Tools article is that you begin defining your library’s business by:

- ask the customers

- ask the people who consider your product but do not buy it

- observe your customers and see how they use your product

The point is that 'Unless you know exactly why prospective customers will buy your product (or use your services) you are unable to properly market or sell. Worse you will be blind to the alternatives, the opportunities and the threats which exist.'"

...

SPEC kit: Graduate Student and Faculty Spaces and Services

Table of contents and executive summary: http://www.arl.org/bm~doc/spec308web.pdf.  Ours doesn't seem to be here, yet.

EDUCAUSE: Learning Environments Derived from User-Centered Discovery Techniques

Title: A Space of One’s Own: Learning Environments Derived from User-Centered Discovery Techniques

Author: Crit Stuart (Association of Research Libraries (ARL))

Abstract: Academic libraries are committed to delivering new or improved learning spaces for students. Information/learning commons are de rigueur for libraries seeking to refresh and deepen their engagements with undergraduate learners. The most noteworthy learning environments provide enhanced productivity capacities; exposure to collections and digital information; skills training for knowledge creation; and development of information, verbal, written, and multimedia fluencies.

While it is tempting to mimic learning space solutions delivered by other libraries, such appropriation circumvents staff-owned discovery processes that create a deep understanding of, and commitment to, what is being built.

Smart preprogramming assessment techniques that tap into user wisdom, learning habits, and research needs provide a helpful framework for identifying needed solutions. This presentation will review a number of user-centered programming assessment techniques that are field-tested, easy to modify and extemporize on, and reliable in producing excellent data for constructing informed building programs.

Commons, info. & otherwise

This post on the ALA TechSource discusses the concept of commons, the trips to various info. commons taken by author Michael Stephens  (and already mentioned on this blog) in light of

'... "The Comedy of the Commons," Dr. Carol M. Rose describes the commons as a place where each person adds more value. In our LIS701 course here at Dominican, we use Rose to illustrate the potential and usefulness of common spaces in relation to different types of libraries and what they might mean to their users. According to Rose,  "The more who join and use the commons, the greater the enjoyment of each participant." '

EDUCAUSE: Emerging Learning Spaces

EDUCAUSE:  Emerging Learning Spaces

Author(s):

AJ Kelton (Montclair State University), Joan K. Lippincott (Coalition for Networked Information), Linda A. Jorn (University of Minnesota), and Crit Stuart (Association of Research Libraries (ARL))

Abstract:

The library information commons. Technology-enhanced classrooms for projecting multimedia. Labs to support team-based projects and student-generated content. These examples continue to inform campus learning space design decisions. Best practices from these spaces can also point to strategies for assessing next-generation space needs and designing discipline-specific spaces and might help us understand effective design in virtual learning spaces.

EDUCAUSE: Bringing the Information Commons Home

EDUCAUSE:  Bringing the Information Commons Home

Author(s):	Philippa Levy (University of Sheffield) and Martin J. Lewis (University of Sheffield)
Abstract:	The $50M Sheffield University Information Commons embodies new thinking about learning space design. It also encourages new thinking about the design of learning spaces and facilitation of learning by embedding a nationally funded learning development and research center in a university. How does it work? And why is it the first information commons in the United Kingdom?

learning spaces (3 from EDUCAUSE)

Title: Designing and Assessing Formal and Informal Learning Spaces
Author(s): Mary Jo Gorney-Moreno (San Jose State University) and Menko Johnson (San Jose State University)

Abstract: The San José State University Academic Success Center opened in October 2006 with a goal to increase student success by providing 21st-century technology, informal and formal learning spaces, and the services and support. The objective was to build an integrative center that provides students with an innovative space and technology tools for collaboration and promotes faculty pedagogical innovation through the use of our Incubator Classroom, winner of the 2007 Campus Technology Innovators Award. By combining physical space, technology tools, and an intensive professional development program, the ASC exemplifies a new synergistic model for the campus. Now SJSU has turned its focus to creating an assessment program to help guide the next phase of the project. Join us to discuss the challenges and opportunities in assessing learning spaces and making a connection to student outcomes. We will outline the SJSU assessment program and discuss and share the instruments we have used.

from:  http://connect.educause.edu/Library/Abstract/DesigningandAssessingForm/47367

Title: Learning Space 3.0: When Real and Virtual Spaces Collide
Author(s): Mark S. Valenti (The Sextant Group, Inc.)

Abstract: Demands for flexibility, collaborative learning opportunities, and access to digital information are resulting in a new design paradigm for learning space that transcends academic disciplines. Concurrently, technology enables the development of highly specific and realistic simulation environments for education, business, the health sciences, and other disciplines. Maturing technologies such as wired and wireless networks, low-cost projectors, flat-panel displays, and productivity software are integral components of a traditional modern-day educational facility. New and emerging technologies such as collaboration software, personal broadband networks, virtual environments, and 3D displays are creating opportunities to rethink the learning space-what and where it is-and what happens inside it. This session will explore developments in technology, classroom design, and concepts for future facilities and their transformative impact on the teaching and learning process.

from: http://connect.educause.edu/Library/Abstract/LearningSpace30WhenRealan/47370

Title: Designing Learning into Learning Spaces
Author(s): Malcolm B. Brown (Dartmouth College)

Abstract: An important goal of all learning space design is to make students and faculty successful in the practice of learning. The shift in focus from just classrooms to the more inclusive concept of learning spaces is at least five years old. Much has changed in our thinking about how to design spaces for learning, and today we face a new set of design challenges (for example, furniture selection and whether to use mature or emerging technology). Amid such considerations, it's important not to lose sight of two core issues: how people learn, and the practices we employ to foster learning. In this session we will review constructivist learning theory and its impact on learning space design. We will also look at how learning space design must be informed by learning practices, and how these practices need to both shape and evolve with all our design efforts.

from:  http://connect.educause.edu/Library/Abstract/DesigningLearningintoLear/47365