Information commons at Brigham Young University: past, present, and future

Abstract

Advisory Council meetings and asked what students wanted and needed from the Library. The Faculty Library Council was reinvigorated and questioned about how the Library could better promote student learning. Further clarification of the changing needs of higher education students was gained by participation in the meetings of several organizations to which the Lee Library belongs, including the Utah Academic Library Consortium (UALC), the Greater Western Library Alliance (GWLA), the Consortium of Church and Library Archives (CCLA), and the Association of Research Libraries (ARL). All of these activities and interactions convinced the University Librarian that student collaboration, assisted by technology, had become increasingly important to student learning. With this in mind, the University Librarian drove the investigation and implementation of BYU's information commons. When the authors were undergraduates regular participation in collaborative projects was unusual. An occasional study group for an upcoming exam constituted the bulk of any group work outside of class. The environment has certainly changed. James Michael Kusack described the change well. "The solitary worker immersed in a very personal life of the mind is no longer the only kind of researcher seen in the library. Teachers in secondary schools, undergraduate programs, and graduate schools regularly ask students to prepare group projects, papers, and exercises. These assignments stem from the recognition that a higher quality of learning can result and the perception that this is the way the real world works and students must develop group skills if they are to be successful after graduation" (Kusack, 2002, p. 79). Kusack also noted that libraries can respond to this change in the areas of facilities, software, and "staffing, policy, and attitude" (p.81). Nearly every implementation of the Information Commons concept familiar to the authors, including the implementation in the Lee Library at Brigham Young University, addresses all three of these areas. Investigation and proposal In the initial stages of planning the Information Commons, the Harold B. Lee Library organized the Information Commons Project Team to investigate successful Information Commons. In addition, this team was to determine the best model for Brigham Young University to use in implementing its own Information Commons. The Information Commons Project Team in the Lee Library began its investigation in mid-February 2003 and was given less than two months to report to the Library's Administrative Council. Throughout the process, efforts were made to include non-library viewpoints. In addition to librarians, the team included representatives from the Faculty Advisory Council (BYU's faculty senate), the Office of Information Technology (OIT), the Center for Instructional Design, and the university's Student Advisory Council (SAC). Feedback was also sought from the entire SAC membership and various other members of the faculty. The team performed an environmental scan of best practi...

Development of Information Commons in University Libraries of Pakistan: The Current Scenario

“…1 demonstrates different types of Information Commons spaces which are being employed in various modern libraries of the world. Whitchurch, Belliston, and Baer (2006) have emphasized that "although collaborative learning spaces tend to foster a less rigid atmosphere. One area of concern with collaborative learning spaces is the noise, so care should be taken when placing these areas" (p. 265).…”

Library 2.0 versus other library service models: A critical analysis

“…Thus, it is a centralized place in a library where the common activity is to find, create, or use information. It is a place where research, group collaboration, community-building, and consultation can all be done with the help of appropriate technologies in support of the patrons (Whitchurch et al, 2006). The term has also been adopted to refer to a model of library service mainly embraced by academic libraries and emanating from the understanding that there are certain pieces of information which should be known by everybody as a common property of the society.…”

The Research Center: creating an environment for interactive research consultations

“…Avery et al (2008) also described a different approach with "librarians' office hours" that did not require RSR 38,1 patrons to make an appointment. Whitchurch et al (2006) mention consultation stations used in the Brigham Young University's information commons for research assistance and training near the reference desk. Informal learning spaces have been central to the literature on information commons which Milewicz (2009) defined as "a collaborative, conversational space that brings together technology, services, tools, and resources to support teaching and learning and encourage innovative ideas" (p. 3).…”