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Olin Library's new Information Commons features a library reference desk, an Information Technology
Services desk and a SARN information and referral desk. |
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| Posted 10.01.05 |
Information Commons Houses Reference, Technology Support for Students
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A new information lab in Olin Memorial Library
has merged three services into one.
Information Commons provides library reference, information technology and
access to the Student Academic Resources Network (SARN). The facility is
located in the Campbell Reference Center on the first floor of the library.
“Students are relying on the Internet more and more to get information, but
there’s still a demand for the library’s material, reference services and
workspace,” says Dale Lee, information service technician and coordinator of
the Information Commons. “Our coordinated services, in-person and online,
make it easy to find information.”
The Commons was created by the library staff and Information Technology
Services to meet the intellectual needs of students and faculty in the 21st
century.
The Commons features a library reference desk, an Information Technology
Services desk and a SARN information and referral desk. Each desk is staffed
by a trained specialist. While the first two desks provide services familiar
to most library users, SARN combines a variety of on campus resources in one
area. These include Class Deans, Writing Programs, Math Workshop, Career
Resource Center, Language Resource Center, Life Sciences Mentored Study
Groups, Dean's Tutoring Program, Health Professions Partnership Initiative
and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program.
“We looked at different ways we can collaborate and cooperate, and now
students can get reference or technological help all in one place,” Lee
says.
Equipment in the Commons includes 18 multi-use computers including 15
personal computers and three Macintosh; four computers for research and Web
access; and five stand-up computers for quick look-ups. Standard office
programs are provided.
The computers are linked to three black and white printers, one color
printer and one scanner. In addition, the space has improved wireless
access. The working space arrangements were designed to facilitate group as
well as individual work.
This area is only phase one of the Information Commons. Additional group
study and instruction rooms will be constructed in the future and will
include computer and multi-media equipment.
For more information or comments, e-mail infocommons@wesleyan.edu or contact
Lee at dtlee@wesleyan.edu. Information Commons is online at http://www.wesleyan.edu/infocommons/. |
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| By
Olivia Bartlett, The Wesleyan Connection
editor |
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