The installation of a new Information Commons in the Van Pelt Library in the next several years will showcase the collaborative efforts between the library and the School of Arts and Sciences.
Initially conceived by a former dean of the College and the past director of the library, the project is now being carried on by current College Dean Rebecca Bushnell and newly appointed Director of Libraries Carton Rogers. They will continue to plan the project around feedback their predecessors collected from students and faculty.
"This has been quite some time in the making," Bushnell said. "The idea came out of a collaboration between former Dean Richard Beeman and the library, and we are working hard to bring it forward."
When plans for the Information Commons were originally discussed, SAS and the library joined to host several forums featuring both students and faculty in order to determine what University needs should be met, as well as where something like this could be housed, said Ira Winston, director of SAS Computing and project manager of the Information Commons.
At the time, organizers "tried to come up with a building to house this space, and everything went back to the library," Winston said. "It is the physical center of the University, and it has the hours and capabilities for something like this, and the people there were also looking to do something with the empty space on the first floor."
As the design is still being worked out, one principle issue is how much space to allocate for group study space versus individual study spaces.
"Our next big step is more focus groups to determine student and faculty preferences," Winston said.
The College is also investing time into researching similar programs at other schools across the country, like the University of Chicago.
"These facilities exist elsewhere in the country, and we're not the first to do this," Winston said. "We are hoping to learn from what other schools have done, what worked and what didn't, and pick and choose aspects of their programs. Ours will essentially be a second-generational Commons."
The Information Commons, which was originally supposed to be titled the "Collaboratory," will serve as home to a number of multipurpose group study areas, as well as a digital media center and outposts for the Writing Center and the Communication Within the Curriculum program. Staff well-versed in all of these subjects will man the Commons.
"Say you're a student assigned a complex research project. This new space will be somewhere you can go to find people to work with you in all phases of your project," Bushnell said. "It will also support students who want to integrate technology into their projects."
Bushnell also mentioned that one of the many goals of the project is to increase research opportunities for undergraduates.
"We hope this will be a wonderful forum combining both teaching and learning," Bushnell said. It's "a result of the shared mission between the College and the library."
