Future academic libraries: a UTS view

Editor's Notes

1. In this slide the image used is from a workshop we ran in the Library (September 2010) for year 7 & 9 students so that they could tell us what the liked, disliked and would imagine for a library of the future that they might be using. Some of the outcomes from that workshop are listed on Slide 16.
2. This map is the UTS Campus Redevelopment Masterplan. Projects currently underway include the Student Housing Tower, an underground Multi-purpose Sports Hall and a new Broadway Building for the Faculty of Engineering & IT. Building 14 will be a Frank Gehry designed building for the Business school and soon we kick off the preparatory work for the Library Retrieval System with excavation to begin in 2012. The UTS Library will be relocated in two stages from its current location in Building 5 of the Haymarket Campus: Stage 1 is the occupation and operation of our Library Retrieval System (LRS) to be installed under Alumni Green. It will be operational in 2014. Stage 2 is the occupation of the redeveloped Library building or Learning Commons in what is currently Building 2. Currently that is envisaged for 2016. UTS Student vision film http://www.youtube.com/user/UTSLibrary From restricted opening hours -> towards 24/7 services
3. Film of an ASRS at work (in Utah) http://www.flickr.com/photos/malbooth/4118722777/in/set-72157623121781717/ Our future library will not be designed as a book storage facility. About 75-80% of our collection will be housed in a Library Retrieval System like the one shown. From book storage facility + a website -> customised physical spaces & personalised web services/apps From books & journals -> multiple media formats & games
4. The LRS will take away the ability to serendipitously bowse the entire physical collection. We will replace that with improve browsing online of entire covers of “virtual shelves”, suggestions and recommendations (like Amazon & StumbleUpon), an opt-in “Genius” like service that can list books you might be interested in based on your browsing and use patterns. We are also looking at the application of social bookmarks to the collection (e.g. Using something like Delicious or Diigo) as well as offering users the ability to tag catalogue entries. We are also talking to UTS visual communications staff to look at visual ways to represent the vast amounts of data we have about our collections, their attributes and their use in terms of datavisualisation.
5. Primary uses: Access Tracking Transactions processing & self-service Also: Location Making library smarter Assisting IL? We’d like to explore the possibilities currently being applied and tested with RFID but not inside the library or academic sector. The retail, transport and logistics industry offer us some different applications of RFID technology and these could be combined with the standard library applications by a smart systems integrator in the second phase of our RFID deployment/implementation.
6. We believe that a sense of place and space will be important in our new library. With less books on display that is easier to deliver in a given space. Even current school students have recently reminded us of the importance of an appropriately welcoming space to first enter for the Library. They recognised the critical importance of that space in reminding you about the purpose of the institution you are entering. The use of appropriate orientation spaces has been well recognised in the museum world and in well-designed new libraries such as the one shown here in Salt Lake City. From restricted opening hours -> towards 24/7 services From desks/counters/signs/screens/boards -> orientation spaces
7. Clever design can assist us in designing out undesirable behaviour (like theft, excess noise, vandalism, etc.) and in encouraging appropriate behaviour like reading, study, collaboration, self-service, reference assistance, etc. We are already working with 4th year design students on projects such as Designing Out Crime to explore the possibilities offered by RFID and mobile computing platforms as well as more traditional solutions to be found in spatial and furniture design. We believe it is very important to have our current and future students participating in the conceptual design stage. As a university of technology our design, engineering, and IT students and researchers also have much to offer us from their own expertise. From GATES, DON’T! & SHUSH! -> Welcome, how can we help? & influencing behaviour (theft, vandalism, inappropriate behaviour/food/drink) by design
8. From website -> applications and open development with our content/data From catalogues -> Google, Amazon, iTunes (interfaces) From face-to-face classes -> ubiquitous learning From Library (only as a location) -> mobile services across the campus (people & virtual) From passive consumers of technology -> active trend-setters and explorers through partnerships in research & publishing
9. From passive “collectors” -> more active collectors, publishers, creators & co-creators
10. From book stacks & desks -> sound studios, editing suites & collaborative learning spaces Spaces need to be provided for all of the functions on this slide. Some need to be dedicated and others need to be flexible and easily adaptable to suit different purposes. Should we be looking at more ephemeral design in some spaces? Maybe more robust in its nature and spaces we are less precious about? Is it “our” space or “their” space. How can we encourage their “ownership” & care, even if it is only temporary? Shown above is an experimental “create Space that we set up in the current library to “play” with different furnishings, interactive white-boards and white-board paint and glass panels in stead of white-boards on the walls. It has been very useful for us to observe what students do in such spaces and what they prefer to use these spaces for.
11. From “Lending” “Research Help Desk” “Access” “Security” “IT” “Information literacy” -> triage HELP & expert consultancies We like the Apple model that is more generic and helpful than ours is at present.
12. From waste -> GREEN (& that means the building, our operations, our procurement, & sustainable relationships)
13. From mere service provider -> cultural, learning & community hub Our library will serve as a cultural & learning hub within our university.
14. From controlled bureaucratic structures -> trusted agile & adaptable teams, constantly evolving to meet new needs. Library staff should be more visible in the Library and across the campus. That means in both the physical and digital realms.
15. Everything we offer must be intuitive. Some of the most common feedback we get in the library world is that our clients don’t know what to make of our signage, classification system, collections arrangement, web structures, and catalogues. If we were Amazon we’d have gone broke ages ago.
16. These points are what the year 7 & 9 students told us they wanted in a university library of the future after a half day informal workshop in our current library in September of 2010.
17. http://www.youtube.com/user/UTSLibrary#p/a/u/2/iLelhZHb3G8