Introduction
It was published in several library and Information science journal news about the success stories of information commons established in colleges and university libraries. This is a new space which is wildly popular with students and is putting libraries back at the center of campus life especially in developed countries. If your library does not have information commons, be aware that changes are good and that libraries should planning for one. Information Commons as a physical place as well as virtual space is an innovative concept embraced by academic libraries for over a decade. It is an integrated service facility which provides an environment for teaching, learning and practicing both information technology and information literacy. A dynamic vision of service that prompted both information resources of the library and information technology which combines energies that create unique service unit focusing on what students needs to succeed in the information age, new skills, access to information, flexible facility and help when they need it.
But what exactly is an Information Commons? Is it just a new name that an institution gives to renovate spaces? Or is it a library reference area that has been spruced up with new furniture and equipped with a large number of computer workstations? Is there something more?
According to Webster’s II New College Dictionary, 1995, p226 the word commons is defined as a section of land belonging to or used by a community as a whole. But Cowgill et al (2001) stated that definitions of “information commons” can vary, but a generally accepted meaning has been “a specific location designated to deliver electronic resources for research and production that is maintained by technically proficient staff”. In other words, an information commons is a centralized location where the common activity is to find, use and create information. It is a place where research, group collaboration and consultation can all be done with the help of appropriate technologies in support of the patrons. In an academic setting, it provides the ability to see a project (individual or group) from inception to completion.
Beagle (1999) also noted that the phrase “information commons” was used to describe both “an online environment in which the widest possible variety of digital services can be accessed” and “a new type of physical facility specifically designed to organize workspace and service delivery around the integrated digital environment”.
On the other hand, Haas (2004) stated that the Association of Research Libraries had identified three elements shared by most information commons. These are the availability of both research and computing assistance, a “one stop shopping” location for a variety of library services and a staffing model that includes “librarians, computing professionals and other public services staff”.
In Indiana University
In the University of Calgary Library
In Iowa State University, they describes commons as both information literacy program and a virtual space in which students, librarians and members of the teaching faculty explore new ways of integrating electronic resources and library research instruction into teaching and learning.
Information commons is a combination of two key concepts of shared space—a place that offers shared technology/work/study spaces and a place that supports the distribution of as much full text of published scholarly information as possible, research and special libraries can transform themselves into comprehensive Information Commons:According to Donald Beagle (1999), the challenge of information commons is to devise a continuum of service that provides the user with skilled staff consultation and an array of technological option for the identification, retrieval, processing and presentation of information in a variety of formats.
Concept
An Information Commons (IC) is an innovative concept adopted by many academic libraries to bring together in one location the technology and expertise necessary to support the information needs of the college community. The IC incorporates library services, computer technology and assistance, and media production services allowing students to pursue the entire research process from beginning to end in one supportive environment.
The concept of IC’s can be defined “as a conceptual, physical and instructional space that involves an organizational realignment from print to the digital environment. (Beagle, 1999)
Characteristics
- Pervasive technology (IC’s have drawn students by offering environments that address their needs, bringing together technology, content and services in a physical space that results in an environment different from a typical library. The technology in an IC’s is intentionally more pervasive than in most traditional libraries. Wireless access is added when the IC’s is developed. It also increased a hardwired internet connection where the students can access large files such as multimedia or offer an alternative to wireless during peak hours.
- Group spaces (In an IC’s space is configured for use by small group of students, reflecting students’ desire for collaborative learning and combining social interaction with work. IC’s frequently have furniture built to accommodate several people sharing a common computer and provide large tables where several students can use their own laptops while working together
- User services not just information services ( personnel assist with users technology needs, not just their information needs)
Planning an Information Common’s
There are three phases of planning process that must be consider for a library renovations and identifying areas for Information Commons and these are the concept development, design and implementation. To give us clear guidelines these are the factors to be considered in planning of IC’s:
Ø Develop a vision/mission related to learning
Ø Conduct a need assessment
Ø Develop goals
Ø Design an assessment plan
Ø Determine appropriate partners
Ø Define and gain resources
Ø Determine the location
Ø Define what you want users to be able to do
Ø Define services to Offer
Ø Determine the staff needs
o Appropriate staffing was a vital component to the success of IC’s
Ø Develop the floor plan
Ø Plan the technology
o Technical specification (network, hardware, software)
o Software selection (extensive than the available in typical libraries)
§ Word –processing
§ Presentation
§ Spreadsheet software
§ Statistical packages
§ Geographic information system
§ Multimedia production & editing capabilities
o Workstation
o Hardware
o User authentication
o Print/Scanning Services
o Wireless access
Ø Choose furniture (Most information commons furniture has wheels for easy mobility)
For the Planners of IC’s these are the Key Questions
Ø What is the purpose of the information commons?
Ø What faculty and student needs will be addressed?
Ø What programs will we put into place that will emphasize a link to learning?
Ø Which campus units will be involved, and how will they work together?
Ø What kinds of hardware, software and seating configuration are needed?
Ø What kinds of staff are needed?
Ø How will we promote the link of the information commons to learning?
Ø How will we measure success?
In an information commons the underlying philosophy is to provide users with a seamless work environment so that they may access, manage and produce information all at the same workstation.
Creating New Library Space
Academic, college or department libraries may transform all or part of their facilities into Information Common’s as what occurred in other libraries abroad. (Eg. Vanderbilt University Peabody Library, University of Iowa Hardin Library, University of Texas at Austin
The reconfiguration they made requires new furniture and a new model of staffing with more highly trained staff available to assist with students needs.
In other universities, Information Commons are developed with specialized areas or features that can offer comfortable seating, current print & electronic newspapers, web access to many electronic news resources and a large display screen featuring news from around the world. Other organization might also develop group study rooms for graduate students, incorporating electronic thesis and dissertation (ETD) software, guidelines and other resources. Information commons will encompass new models and variations with a wide variety of names but it will support learning by integrating technology content and services in physical space.
Transforming the entire library into the information commons model may be particularly suitable for institutions serving primarily undergraduates. In addition, individual components of the information commons model may adopted in college or department classroom building such as at Georgia Tech, where some departments have replicated the practice presentation room pioneered in the library’s information commons.
The library can also develop web links and virtual displays to connect in-person events to resources available in the library and on the web. This type of programming can provide informal learning opportunities for students and others on campus.
With careful planning, an information commons can be a collaborative learning space, not just a glorified computing lab; it can be a place to access, use and create information, not just a reference area with rows of computers and it can provide transparent user services, not fiefdoms of service points. Information commons require a large commitment of campus resources to develop and maintain. Clearly articulating the information commons’ link to learning and then developing the requisite services and environment can help justify that investment and create a popular and mission-critical space on campus.
Linking the Information Commons to Learning
It is very important that a vision or mission statements of an information commons are directly address with the relationship to the learning mission of the university. A key purpose of an information commons is to leverage the intersection of content, technology and services in a physical facility to support student learning.
Ex. The University of Alberta Libraries Knowledge Common
In today’s student mix academic and social activities, the information commons creates an environment that nurtures learning activities outside classroom like reading, exploring, creating and communicating by providing content in a variety of formats, technologies that might be affordable to individual students and spaces built to encourage collaboration and interaction.
The Information Commons web pages could foster the close connection of its resources to learning by emphasizing how the content, hardware, software and space that it provides are useful for course projects.
A librarian can seek out likely courses and work with the faculty to forge a closer relationship between the resources available in the information commons and course assignment. For example, in a course where students do oral history projects, the librarian could work with faculty to develop a guide to sources of context (newspapers, books, image collection, diaries) that would assist students in shaping their projects and then offer a class or online tutorial to help them use equipment and software to record and edit oral histories that they capture themselves, providing the tools they need to develop a narrative presentation.
Information on the hardware, software and services offered in the information commons that would be useful for course projects could be embedded into a course management system as well.
Providing new types of technology can also help the information commons enhance learning.
Reference Services in the Commons Environment
With the advent of new technology and providing new services and spaces in the library, the role and function of the reference librarian and the user services or circulation librarian might also changes. Its day to day operations has challenges and opportunities as a whole. Training and support activities should be identified to ensure and develop the competencies of staff members. In a reference desk, there is also a need for an expert that can assume the responsibility in a specialized skill in a specific area. For example, one of the librarians has extensive experience with Adobe Photoshop or scanning. She could then be designated as the expert and could be a primary responder to a patron with scanning or image manipulation question. The need for the continuing training of the staff must be provided that keep them up to date which include in-services, one-on-one “refresher” sessions and self study opportunities. With this provision, the information and technical skills of reference staff will be enhanced and the ability of providing fundamental service support as well as the technical assistance that user needs will be develop.
To increase student use of library reference services and research collection as part of a broad collaborative set of information and technology services the academic and research libraries should designed new services in respond to student learning styles and must provide collaborative spaces for small group study and research. According to Baldwin (1999), librarians should observe that students need a place where they can work together on project and have access to computer as well. Students may allow pulling their chairs together around for group study and booking study rooms solidly until closing. This will provide much needed work space for students. With this scenario, the nature of reference service has also changed knowing that students have become more skilled at navigating the library resources. The questions that they will ask are now more advanced and require more discussions. The Reference desk staff now may answer questions related to web browsers, proxy authentication and the file formats, in addition to service and resource inquiries.
The existence of Information Commons as a collaborative space will mean more students are coming to the library and they will become more aware of different resources and services which will also result of more question ask by the students about the resources and services where the librarian & library personnel will experience more “teachable moments” during one-on-one instruction. While more patrons are approaching the reference desk with questions about inserting page numbers into their word processing documents, information seekers’ need are becoming more intricate. Reference staff struggle to keep pace with the information availability with the knowledge of which single resource out of hundreds will satisfy any given need. In addition, library instruction instructional sessions have morphed from a tool based curriculum to the more conceptual foundations of information literacy, requiring reference librarians to shift their teaching methods and redesign their approached to library instruction.
As the year 2000 approached, resources &; services such as wireless access, e-books and virtual reference become a fundamental service support provided by the university library. The expectation of the students and faculty changes as well. The university that has an added service like wireless access can be connected not only to their personal laptop but as well as with their mobile. The configuration of library website that may also provide a feature of ask a librarian or chat with the librarian can be also utilize by the students which make the librarian has teachable moment online. With this new technology they may answer question or reference question using their mobile phone that are activated and connected with the web.
Summary
The design of an Information Commons as an integrated service facility to support the learning needs of the user is a great idea that administrators of library may adopt. It is a place where the collaborative relationship of the information resources and Information Technologies began with a vision of creating unique service environment where the user is able to acquire new skills and have access to information and help when they need it, in an environment that is creative, stimulating and welcoming.
As the information commons continues to develop, a strong desire to expand and enhance the services available to library users and the advancement of information literacy skills especially for the undergraduate students must be a key goal of the library. The Information Commons must have a join forces with the Colleges and department faculty members for effective integration of information resources into comprehensive assignments. This is a collaborative effort that will designed to increase competency in the identification and evaluation of information, analysis and manipulation of data and the creation and presentation of products used during tests and examinations. This focus will further enhance information use and cultivate an atmosphere of integrated learning.
In addition, I would like to share with you that libraries’ reports on the availability of Information Commons as new spaces are overwhelmingly popular with students and easy to understand because the this model recognizes and nurtures the ubiquitous nature of student’s relationship to technology, the need for connectivity and the desire to multitask. The model also facilitates collaborative work, an increasingly common choice for class assignments. And it builds upon and supports our faculty’s increasing use of technology and course management software.
Information Commons may seem so far fetched and not possible with many of the academic and college libraries in the world, including libraries here in the Philippines, but what we need is to assess, modify, and renovate the existing spaces that we provided for accessing electronic information and digital format and of course the training or identifying the staff that will handle the new services. We need also to collaborate with the other unit and offices of our university such as the information technology center, facilities office and other libraries providing the same services for the effective and full implementation of services.
References
Beagle, Donald. (1999) "Conceptualizing an Information Commons." The Journal of Academic Librarianship 25.2 : 82-89.
Chuck Malenfant.(2006) “The information commons as a collaborative workspace.” References Services Review. Vol. 34, no. 2 : 279-286Cowgill, A. et al. (2001). Implementing an information commons in a university library. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 27, 432-439.
Dallis, Diane. (2006). Reference Services in the common environment. Reference Services Review, Vol. 34, No.2:248-260
Freeman, Geoffrey T. "The Library as Place: Changes in Learning Patterns, Collections, Technology, and Use." Library as Place: Rethinking Roles, Rethinking Space Ed. Council on Library and Information Resources. Feb. 2005.
Gregory, David & Nixon, William J. (2003). The Instruction commons : an information literacy initiative at
Ludwig, L. & Starr, S. (2004). Library as place: results of a delphi study. In: Supplement to Official Program, Abstracts.
Spencer, Mary Ellen. (2006) Evolving a new model : the information commons. References Services Review. Vol 34, no. 2: 242-247.
Oblinger, Diana G. (ed.) Learning Spaces. (2006). Educause.
