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Barbara Tierney
Presentation
The Learning Commons service model in North America [Invited Speaker]
Japan Assoc. of National University Libraries (JANUL) Symposium, Univ. of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) Jan.29 (2016)
  • Barbara Tierney, University of Central Florida
Abstract

Part one:  What is the LC model in NA (North America)?
  • New emphasis placed on the expanded role of the library in supporting student learning
  • One-stop shopping that offers students a wide variety of digital resources, services, staff, and collaborative learning spaces as well as academic support services (such as Writing, Tutoring, Academic Advising, Career Counseling, etc.)
  • Information Literacy is the curriculum that librarians teach within the LC

Part two: Why is the LC at the forefront of 21st Century Library construction and renovation in NA? 
  • In order for academic libraries to survive in the 21st Century they must reshape their spaces, services and resources in support of technology
  • Traditional libraries have collections at the core of their existence and are used for knowledge seeking by individual researchers
  • The Learning Commons has student services at the core of its existence and is used for knowledge creation by students collaborating with each other 

Part three:  What does a LC look and feel like?
  • Spacious, open, warm, inviting, comfortable…. in a high speed wireless environment
  • Physical collections have been reduced and the reclaimed space is used for collaborative environments
  • Pods of computer workstations supporting multimedia projects; clusters of high-backed chairs surrounding work tables; flat screen monitors; semi-private and private collaborative work spaces; food, beverages, and talking permitted
  • Physical components include: integrated or adjacent service desks offering librarians and IT staff; computer workstations arranged in clusters or pods; collaborative learning spaces; digital studios; presentation practice rooms; electronic classrooms; visualization lab; gaming lab; academic support units; café and lounge areas; spaces for meetings and cultural events.

Part four:  How does a library plan spaces that are student-centric (student-focused)?

  • Rochester (New York) University:  Foster’s & Gibbon’s (2007) “Studying students:  The Undergraduate research project at the Univ. of Rochester
  • Univ. of North Carolina, Charlotte:  Hiring an anthropologist to study how students use the library; establishing a “Personal Librarian” program; merging service desks
  • Univ. of Central Florida:  Establishing a Subject Librarian program; using  “Framework for the Engaged Librarian” model; Mobile Librarian program

 Part five:  Historical Context of the LC in NA (North America)

  • The Learning Commons service model has been driven by several forces including:  changes in user needs/expectations; changes in teaching theory and instructional design; changes in technology; changes in society.
  • In the early 1990s, the emergence of the internet & world wide web caused the inceased use of online search engines and databases
  • The increased use of databases encouraged libraries to create student computer labs in or near their reference departments to provide increased access to databases
  • Libraries also created special units (such as Media Services) to assist students with new media formats & technologies
  • In the 1990s & early 2000s, the Information Commons (IC)  model began emerging as a new service delivery models in academic libraries
  • The IC went beyond the "access & retrieval" of traditional reference service & supported the full range of information literacy activities, helping students to access, evaluate, manage, integrate & create knowledge
  • Beginning about 2005, the IC model began to evolve into the LC model, shifting the focus from information retrieval to learning; shifting from being library-centric to collaborating with student support services such as tutoring, writing, academic advising, career counseling, etc.


Keywords
  • Learning Commons,
  • Information Commons
Disciplines
Publication Date
January 29, 2016
Citation Information
Barbara Tierney. "The Learning Commons service model in North America [Invited Speaker]" Japan Assoc. of National University Libraries (JANUL) Symposium, Univ. of Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan) Jan.29 (2016)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/barbara-tierney/4/