Construction of the Lied Library
| Published date | 01 March 2002 |
| Date | 01 March 2002 |
| Pages | 21-32 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830210420663 |
| Author | Myoung‐ja Lee Kwon,Kenneth E. Marks |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Construction of the Lied
Library
Myoung-ja Lee Kwon and
Kenneth E. Marks
Introduction
The official groundbreaking on 26 March 1998,
marked the beginning of the construction of the
302,000sq.ft, $58 million Lied Library at the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. In
this article, rather than chronicling the entire
construction process, the focus will be on the
technology-related aspects of the construction
process, after a brief overview of the
organization of the construction management.
One of the most difficult issues during the
planning process was how the new library
should best be designed to accommodate
emerging technologies without major
renovations in the future. The Library Planning
Group discussed many new technologies, but
discovered that either they were still in the
development phase or, if marketed, the
installations were not satisfactory. For example,
on networking infrastructure, wireless
technology was rather limited; in the media
services area, streaming audio/video was not
available in the production environment. No
matter what type of technology we adopted in
the future, we were convinced that the building
should have enough power, network
infrastructure, and user workstations with
built-in connections to adapt to change.
Overview of construction management
Any building construction for Nevada agencies
funded by the state are managed and controlled
by the State of Nevada Public Works Board
(SNPWB). While a significant amount of this
construction was funded by a private
foundation, Lied Library was a SNPWB
project, which meant we had to follow rules and
regulations set forth by the board. This
included the decision as to when the
construction documents would be distributed
to prospective contractors for bid. The
schematic design, design development, and
60 percent of the construction documents were
completed before the end of fiscal year 1996/
1997. During the first six months of fiscal year
1997/1998, the construction documents were
100 percent complete and the bid for the
construction went out in January 1998. At the
end of February 1998, the Tibesar
The authors
Myoung-ja Lee Kwon is University Librarian, California
State University, Hayward, California, USA. E-mail:
mkwon@csuhayward.edu
Kenneth E. Marks is Dean of Libraries, University of
Nevada, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. E-mail: kmarks@ccmail.
nevada.edu
Keywords
Construction management, Libraries,
Automated storage/retrieval systems
Abstract
Active participation in the Lied Library construction
management proved to be an interesting challenge as well
as a learning experience for library personnel. Problems of
architectural design flaws, change-orders, and other issues
were discussed during the project management weekly
meetings in which the library was represented. In order to
make the library technologically adaptable and extend the
life of the building, different types of infrastructure were put
into place, including an automated storage and retrieval
system. Unanticipated problems caused construction delays,
and the library administration had to remain flexible while
preparing for the move into the building.
Electronic access
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The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
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Theme articles
21
Library Hi Tech
Volume 20 .Number 1 .2002 .pp. 21±32
#MCB UP Limited .ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830210420663
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