Recent Publications and Presentations by Janet Swan Hill, Associate Director of Technical Services
Janet Swan Hill, professor and CU Boulder library associate director for technical services, made several presentations this spring. “You Are the Most Important Tool You Have” was the keynote address at the Ohio Library Council Technical Services Retreat.
She delivered the conference summary and an invited paper titled “The Radical, the Not-So-Radical, and the Next Steps” for the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control.
Hill also gave the keynote, titled "Entering an Alternate Universe,” at the New England Technical Services Librarians Annual Conference in Worcester, MA, At the Massachusetts Library Association, she presented an invited paper on the “Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control – What’s Happened, and What Can You Do?”
In addition, her refereed article, “Is It Worth It? Management Issues Related to Database Quality,” was published in Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, and “A Winding Path to Cataloging Leadership” was published in Library Resources and Technical Services.
Hill was co-editor and one of the authors of “On the Record: Report of the Library of Congress Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control,” published on the web.
The Government Publication Library's Subject Guides Featured in Resource Shelf
Resource Shelf, a blog dedicated to resources of interest to information professionals, educators and journalists, named the Boulder library web page Subject Guides from the UC-Boulder Government Publications Library resource of the week in its March 24 issue. Jennie Gerke, Katie Lage, Stephanie Alexander, and Rick Losoff created the database, which was described as a”large and beautiful collection of government-oriented subject guides covering everything from Acronyms to Worldwide Demographic Information.”
Change is Coming to Norlin Library!
A new “Learning Commons,” will be the first stage of a gradual renovation process that will bring Norlin up to date and provide services in keeping with user’s needs and expectations. The Learning Commons will be located on the first floor northeast side of Norlin in the current reference department space. It will include features identified from a tour of some of the nation’s most sophisticated and successful academic library learning facilities.
Construction on the 15,050 square feet, technologically-sophisticated, academic, study, and social area will begin in May of 2008 and be completed in spring or summer 2009. The renovated space will remain open beyond regular library hours, perhaps on a 24/7 basis. A coffee shop facility will be moved from the first floor west to the Commons area and expanded. Modifications to the east entrance of the building include patio seating.
The renovation aims to create a learning library that integrates technology in a flexible innovative design, and user ease and flexibility will be emphasized in every aspect. Group study areas in the Commons will feature furniture and equipment that can be reconfigured for different sized groups. The consolidation of group study space in the Commons area will also return other space in the library to quiet, single-reader space.
The Learning Commons is a joint project of the University Libraries and Information Technology Services. The blending of ITS and the Libraries will give students comprehensive assistance with information sources and productivity tools. Through the merging of content, technology, and services the new space will enable the full continuum of student learning and discovery with flexible individual and collaborative work spaces, team technology rooms, a “hot topic” reading area, a technology classroom, and the coffee shop.
The estimated cost of the project is $5.2 million. $1 million of this budget comes from student computing fees over three years. The budget includes remodeling of the current third floor northwest Mac Lab into a new graduate student study area because the older fifth floor graduate facilities are extremely outdated and insufficient.
As a first step, the current reference and second floor periodical services will be reconfigured to increase and enhance access to electronic resources and research services. The second floor east area will be converted to a Research area, including facilities for research consultation, a central reference desk, the reference and periodical collections, and new instruction classrooms. The Learning Commons and the Research floor will work together to meet the research and information needs of the campus community in a new revitalized library.
In preparation for this restructuring, Libraries bibliographers and subject liaisons are reviewing the collections and services of Reference and the Periodicals Room. They are working with faculty to determine which print collections may be moved to other locations, usually our off-site storage facility, PASCAL. Although approximately 50% of each collection must be moved or transferred to accommodate the remodel, all content will be maintained. We will continue to provide desk top delivery from PASCAL for journal articles that are less than 50 pages and one business day delivery on print materials.
The Writing Center, operated by the Program for Writing and Rhetoric and now located on the first floor east of Norlin in E156, will continue to be available in the first floor area, with only a minor adjustment to its location. The Libraries works closely with the PWR first year writing classes, providing information literacy instruction and research support. The continuation and strengthening of this collaborative effort demonstrates the type of student access along the continuum of learning that the Commons and Research floor will support.
In order to further improve existing reference services and determine desired services for the Learning Commons itself, the Libraries is conducting focus groups with undergraduate and graduate students, as well as faculty and staff. We look forward to creating state-of-the-art learning environments for today's students and scholars.
The architects are H & L Architects and JBA Incorporated. Additional technical consulting, planning and design is provided by the Sextant Group.
News, updates, and photos of the construction are available at the renovation web page. The Program Plan is available online. Questions may be directed to library liaisons or the Associate Director for Public Services, Susan Anthes at 492-6897.
