The Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science describes information commons as “A new type of technology-enhanced collaborative facility on college and university campuses that integrates library and computer application services (information, technology, and learning) in a single floor plan, often equipped with a wireless network and, in some cases, equipment for multimedia production. Most ICs are designed to support librarians engaged in assisting individual students and in teaching research skills to groups, teaching assistants helping individuals and groups of students with class assignments, and individual students and groups independently accessing information in print and online.”
For the past two decades, academic libraries have used the information commons model as a platform on which they construct their library service delivery systems. (Halbert, 2010, P. 67). Yet information commons can vary in size and shape and range from the construction of a new facility to the alteration of existing space.
The information commons I envision is small on a physical scale but could have a large impact on how we provide services to our customers and what those services are. It will be developed based upon input from our users and will require adjustment by library staff and cooperation between departments in order to ensure we meet the needs of our patrons – the students, faculty and employees we serve.
As Halbert (2010, p. 73) noted, information commons is an elastic term and can represent wholesale change through the reconfiguration or reconstruction of the library or more subtle alterations that come about through changes in policies. I envision something in between.
Click on the "Our Current Facility" page to find specific information about what our library currently offers, as well as what we hope to offer under the informtion commons model.
Below, you'll find links to information about academic libraries who have transformed their reference services areas using an information commons model.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte - This website, compiled by Roger Williams University Professor Susan McMullen as part of her project, The Learning Commons Model, Determining Best Practices for Design, Implementation and Service, describes the transormation of UNCC's library and features pictures of study rooms and the reference area.
Duke University - This site features Prof. McMullen's description of the transfomation of the Perkins and Bostock Libraries at Duke University. The picture of the "reference consultation table" is particularly notable as it depticts one way in which we could make the reference area more "user friendly" and less intimidating.
Norwich University - This excellent article from College and Research Libraries News describes the transformation of the reference desk at Norwich's Kreitzberg Library. The before and after pictures do a good job illustrating how reducing the space between patron and librarian, providing seating to promote face to face interactions and fostering a less formal atmosphere can make the reference desk a more welcoming space.
Click on the "Our Current Facility" page to find specific information about what our library currently offers, as well as what we hope to offer under the informtion commons model.
Below, you'll find links to information about academic libraries who have transformed their reference services areas using an information commons model.
University of North Carolina at Charlotte - This website, compiled by Roger Williams University Professor Susan McMullen as part of her project, The Learning Commons Model, Determining Best Practices for Design, Implementation and Service, describes the transormation of UNCC's library and features pictures of study rooms and the reference area.
Duke University - This site features Prof. McMullen's description of the transfomation of the Perkins and Bostock Libraries at Duke University. The picture of the "reference consultation table" is particularly notable as it depticts one way in which we could make the reference area more "user friendly" and less intimidating.
Norwich University - This excellent article from College and Research Libraries News describes the transformation of the reference desk at Norwich's Kreitzberg Library. The before and after pictures do a good job illustrating how reducing the space between patron and librarian, providing seating to promote face to face interactions and fostering a less formal atmosphere can make the reference desk a more welcoming space.
