Learning beyond the Classroom: Envisioning the Information Commons’ Future: Conference Report
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07419050410577514 |
| Published date | 01 December 2004 |
| Pages | 4-6 |
| Date | 01 December 2004 |
| Author | Donald Beagle |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Learning beyond the Classroom:
Envisioning the Information Commons' Future:
Conference Report
Donald Beagle
4LIBRARY HITECH NEWS Number 10 2004, pp. 4-6, #Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 0741-9058, DOI 10.1108/07419050410577514
On September 16-17 2004, Leavey
Library at the University of Southern
California hosted the conference
``Learning Beyond the Classroom:
Envisioning the Information
Commons' Future.'' The two-day event
overlapped USC's 7th annual
conference on Teaching and Learning
with Technology (TLT), giving both
librarians and faculty a unique
opportunity to explore the collaborative
agenda presented by new academic
technologies. Thursday featured all
library/IC sessions, while Friday's
schedule featured a joint keynote
address by Joan Lippincott of CNI,
followed by breakout IC and TLT
tracks.
The event also celebrated the tenth
anniversary of the opening of the
Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Library as
``... a high technology environment
that offers skilled personnel and
services for the promotion of teaching
and learning.'' Along with the
University of Iowa, Maricopa
Community College District, and one
or two others, USC was an early pioneer
of the IC concept and implemented it as
part of the vision of Leavey as a
``teaching library.''Attendees gathered
Thursday morning on the Leavey
Library terrace, and several USC
librarians took us on small group tours
through the facility and its downstairs
and upstairs IC's. The tour guides
offered spontaneous and unrehearsed
comments on the IC experience which
emphasized the central role the IC's
have played in the Leavey model of
service delivery. One noteworthy
comment concerned strong student
interest in having access to networked
workstations in all collaborative study
rooms. It is also striking how fresh and
new the entire Leavey facility still looks
with an annual doorcount of over one
million. The influence of the local film
industry on the campus and curriculum
was evidenced by the IC's contingent of
high-end Macintosh multimedia
workstations and associated software
tools, in addition to the usual armada of
Windows-based IC machines. The
opening remarks were given by Anne
Lynch, who welcomed us with a
discussion of Leavey's mission
statement, which includes: ``...student-
focused academic center for learning
and intellectual discovery and
exploration outside the classroom.''
Anne's handout amplified the theme of
``a mandate for innovation,'' and rather
than isolating the IC's as computer labs,
she stressed the integration of IC
services within the larger fabric of the
library's role on campus:
Chief among its primary roles is that of
an intellectual center for undergraduates,
whereby full access to the wealth of the
internet and a rich collection of mono-
graphs and current periodicals are com-
bined with individual and group study
space, hands-on learning rooms, and
expert research consultation and instruc-
tion programs. In the role of a leader in
bringing information technology into the
classroom, Leavey supports several
innovative teaching and learning pro-
jects, including a computer- and time-
based art project, a visual anthropology
workroom, a western civilization course
that invokes multimedia images in each
of the instructor's lectures, and course
that combine digitized images, digitally
scanned course readings, and e-mail and
listserv capabilities for student and
faculty use during and outside class
meetings.
The Information Commons
Roundtable followed. June Koelker of
Texas Christian University lead off
with an interesting facilities model
relating individual and group spaces to
computing and noncomputing
environments. She also offered useful
insights into TCU's IC management
structure. (A presentation on TCU's IC
planning experience by University
Librarian Robert Seal (Spanish
introduction; English text) can be found
at: www.ictlab.udlap.mx/servicio-
digital/programa/seal.html).
Crit Stuart from Georgia Tech
described how three reference service
points were collapsed into one, and
discussed the resulting challenges of
blending library and IT staff. One
highlight of Crit's talk was his
description of their very successful
``presentation rehearsal studios,'' that
students could reserve to polish their
multimedia presentations. These
studios incorporate the same
presentation technologies found in
actual multimedia classrooms, and are
now seeing heavy demand. Stuart also
discussed ``game night,'' when normal
IC operations are suspended and the
space is turned over to gaming. (And I
see some serious potential here, as
game interfaces offer potentially
interesting ideas for future knowledge
search, retrieval, and online learning
tools).
Geoffrey Harder of University of
Alberta discussed use of blogging
software to create an ongoing peer-
support journal of IT issues and
information needs within their
Knowledge Commons. From
University of Washington, Kathleen
Collins described the Computing
Commons, and provided special
insights into staffing and staff training
issues. She also shared their impressive
daily use profile, typically including
9,500 students, faculty, and staff, and
5000+ logins. Darleen Warren
discussed University of Calgary's dual
Information Commons and Learning
Commons, with their LC integrating
instructional technology as a special
focus. Darleen also mentioned student
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