Beyond the Classroom: Developing Nontraditional Learning Spaces in an Academic Library

2020 ◽  
pp. 125-146
Author(s):  
Abigail Moore ◽  
Beth Caruso
Keyword(s):  
Academic Library ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Nontraditional Learning

Commons consent

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 570-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Storey
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Dynamic Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Learning Commons ◽  
Prime Movers

Purpose – Constructing academic library learning spaces involves ad hoc groups of agents often with fuzzy inter-relationships. Librarians and their user communities are initially hailed within these groups as prime-movers in realizing projects. Librarians bring to the table contagious ideas generated from their own profession in the hope of securing appropriate funding and planning pre-requisites. All other agents, be they internal community representatives or external architects, assist them in making sense of each other’s standpoints to co-create dynamic learning spaces in “commons consent”. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Using the community culture in The Chinese University of Hong Kong as existed in 2012 as a case study, this paper examines the reality of this process in terms of a new library for learning, teaching and research. Findings – Can librarians hold sway over the priorities of other individual agents, particularly architects, to gain consent to build their initial concept of the commons which they are vigorously promoting as professionally valid and educationally potent? In the co-creation of a building, individual preferences and organizational power structures in ad hoc groups drawn from the university’s distinct cultural environment fuel compromise and even tension around the librarians’ and architects’ original visions. Research limitations/implications – Many other case studies of library building learning commons projects would be useful to add to these findings in sensemaking, co-creation and community cultures. Practical implications – Assists library managers in their management of large buildings projects. Originality/value – An original case study of a major Asian academic library learning commons project which involves sensemaking, co-creation and community cultures ideas imported from construction science.

scholarly journals Beyond books: the concept of the academic library as learning space

2016 ◽  
Vol 117 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 308-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Fallin
Keyword(s):  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
User Engagement ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Learning Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spatial Approach ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Conceptual Paper

Purpose The paper aims to explore the issues surrounding the user conceptualisation of academic libraries. The paper will solidify the role of academic libraries as learning spaces and problematise how libraries are conceptualised by users. Design/methodology/approach The paper is a literature-based conceptual paper and draws on a wide range of literature to challenge the concept of academic libraries and presents how they are becoming reframed as different spaces. Findings The paper argues that the concept of a library is at risk. While libraries have undergone substantial changes, the concept of a library has lingered. This paper demonstrated that libraries need to proactively engage users in this debate. Originality/value The spatial approach taken by this paper demonstrates the complicity behind the user conceptualisation of libraries. Developing an understanding of this process is an important foundation for libraries to develop their user engagement.

Re-Envisioning the Millersville University Library

2013 ◽  
pp. 230-247
Author(s):  
Marilyn McKinley Parrish ◽  
Greg Szczyrbak
Keyword(s):  
Design Process ◽  
Planning Process ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
South Central ◽  
Central Pennsylvania ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
New Facility

A scheduled infrastructure upgrade to an academic library building offered the opportunity for library faculty and staff at Millersville University to consider and implement a vision of a re-imagined library for the 21st century. With dramatic changes in learning spaces in higher education facilities since the building was designed and built in the 1960s, education, advocacy, and collaboration became central components of the planning process. This case study examines the design process of a library renovation project at a mid-sized regional comprehensive master’s-granting institution in south central Pennsylvania. The building of new partnerships, positive and persistent communication, and interdisciplinary collaboration strengthened the design process and set the stage for innovative uses of the new facility.

scholarly journals Managing In-Library Use Data: Putting a Web Geographic Information Systems Platform through its Paces

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Godfrey ◽  
Rick Stoddart
Keyword(s):  
Information System ◽  
Geographic Information System ◽  
Geographic Information Systems ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Physical Space ◽  
Pilot Project ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Web Gis ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Library Use

Web Geographic Information System (GIS) platforms have matured to a point where they offer attractive capabilities for collecting, analyzing, sharing, and visualizing in-library use data for space-assessment initiatives. As these platforms continue to evolve, it is reasonable to conclude that enhancements to these platforms will not only offer librarians more opportunities to collect in-library use data to inform the use of physical space in their buildings, but also that they will potentially provide opportunities to more easily share database schemas for defining learning spaces and observations associated with those spaces. This article proposes using web GIS, as opposed to traditional desktop GIS, as an approach for collecting, managing, documenting, analyzing, visualizing, and sharing in-library use data and goes on to highlight the process for utilizing the Esri ArcGIS Online platform for a pilot project by an academic library for this purpose. 

Inspiration Space

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Milene GONÇALVES ◽  
Katja THORING ◽  
Roland M. MUELLER ◽  
Petra BADKE-SCHAUB ◽  
Pieter DESMET
Keyword(s):  
Learning Environments ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Expert Interviews ◽  
Learning Spaces ◽  
Causal Graph ◽  
Physical Environments ◽  
Creative Learning ◽  
Design Students

Building on the assumption that the physical environment can have an influence on the creativity of designers and design students in particular, the aim of this paper is to provide theoretical propositions and evidences for this relationship. We develop various propositions about the influence of physical environments on creativity, based on eight expert interviews and supported by literature. A particular focus was given to the environments of design educational institutions. We present a summary of the main insights and visualize the developed propositions as a causal graph addressing how space influences creativity. These propositions can be regarded as a first step towards a theory of creativity-supporting learning environments and they can serve as a reference when designing or adjusting creative learning spaces.

Shhh! No talking about retention in the library!

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heidi Blackburn
Keyword(s):  
Student Retention ◽  
School Administrators ◽  
Academic Library ◽  
Student Attrition ◽  
Retention Rates

Student retention rates have long been a topic among school administrators, but it is an issue barely mentioned in library circles. This article will discuss the role the academic library can play in increasing and maintaining student retention rates on campus. By focusing briefly on four main topics, including reaching out to students early and often, getting them in the library door and getting them to stay, the reader will be able to see the broad picture of how crucial libraries are to fighting student attrition.

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