Designing Library Facilities for a High‐Tech Future
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb047712 |
| Date | 01 April 1987 |
| Published date | 01 April 1987 |
| Pages | 103-111 |
| Author | Jon Drabenstott,Wilson M. Stahl,James J. Michael,Rick Richmond,Gene Robinson,James E. Rush |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Consultants' and Vendors' Corner
Designing Library Facilities for
a High-Tech Future
Edited by Jon Drabenstott,
with contributions by Wilson
M.
Stahl,
James
J.
Michael,
Rick Richmond, Gene Robinson, and James E. Rush
Typically, library building projects
are undertaken to accommodate a
library's needs for the foreseeable
twenty years or more. With major
changes in information technologies
occurring at intervals of less than
five years, it should be assumed,
within its twenty-plus years of
initial service, that a library
building will have to accommodate
a series of changes in order to
support currently unknown technologies.
Issues related to the development of
library facilities that will meet
current and future needs are discussed
by three prominent consultants and
representatives of two vendors:
Wilson M. Stahl, James J. Michael
(Data Research Associates),
Rick Richmond, Gene Robinson (CLSI),
and James E. Rush.
The development and implementation of auto-
mated library systems has had a major impact on
how library buildings are designed and used. For
example, automated systems create immediate archi-
tectural demands. New computer equipment requires
specially equipped facilities for environmental and
security control, and new furnishings need to be
ergonomically designed. However, in addition to
these technical considerations, librarians face many
larger architectural issues when implementing new
automated systems, whether in existing or newly
designed buildings. For example, how does the
infusion of new technologies affect the library
organization in terms of changed functions and
services, changed staff requirements, and changed
staff inter-relationships? How do these organizational
changes translate into new architectural requirements?
Usage of automated systems has generally been
restricted to the physical structure containing the
library. We are now approaching a generational
change in the development of automated systems
in which libraries are being linked to other libraries
and information users outside the library building.
What are the implications of this shift in terms
of building design and use?
These are complex issues that many libraries
are facing for the first time. In this column, three
consultants and two vendor representatives provide
an initial discussion of these architectural issues
that are likely to become more problemmatic as
technological innovations continue to change how
libraries operate and serve their users.
Drabenstott is Associate Dean for Library
Services at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti,
MI.
ISSUE 20 103
To continue reading
Request your trial