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Furniture & spaces:
- variety is and clear zoning are key
- don't be afraid to pick the wrong thing
- let students dictate what a space will be - don't try to set the vision for the space on your own
- be willing to let things evolve
- saw a lot of graduate commons or study areas that were enclosed
- faculty lounge/commons
- more whiteboards!!
- lockers all sizes; no key needed - 1st come, 1st served
- color used for way-finding and for defining certain spaces or floors
- changing needs of spaces based on time of day
- research commons space - don't need to build a physical space, showcase the ongoing work that students are doing throughout their careers in the library; this provides ownership and engages other students and faculty
- Presentation rooms, group rooms, very few locations with individual study rooms(!) - most had individual study areas
- Variety of group room sizes - some were built for 4,6, or 8 and some were more like conference rooms that could hold 15-20
- Open group study spaces as well as study space behind walls
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- test spaces in the library for furniture - all universities had this to varying degrees
- engage your student advisory committee
- single out students for the advisory committee prior to the start of their college career (GA Tech model: have them make 4 yr commitment with ask from respected admission/scholarship person and dean)
- team effort to get the feedback
- engage faculty advisory
- set up user study with faculty to gain buy-in - Link model of testing the space with certain faculty and then communicating those results with everyone (also worked with their equivalent of CTE fellows)
- find non-threatening arenas to gather information - GaTech radio show
- take comments to dept head meeting then post online the responses
- GA Tech implementing their own version of Counting Opinions for continuous feedback
Multi-Media:
- separate room at all locations
- many of these rooms had a student run help desk - relied heavily on students for software support
- 15-20 computers (variety of macs and pcs) all with high quality headphones, decent work space, and necessary software
- 1 room dedicated to collaborative multimedia projects - Duke & NCSU
- 1 sound proof room - Duke only
- Music Rooms - NSCU only
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- Vision statement for space both immediate and long term
- understand that good customer service doesn't always mean being able to fix/correct/provide an answer for someone
- don't underestimate the student - they are adults, let's assume they can handle policing each other/bring their own laptops/respect one another/understand consequences
- understand what story you are trying to tell with a space. what do you want the space(s) to do? communicate that to architect and they will handle details
- spaces as ecosystem - once you make changes in one place that will affect behavior in other spaces
- New additions require new staffing patterns (redefinition of core competencies; dedicated positions rather than one person doing simultaneous things)
- In design process, have all necessary stakeholders involved at beginning of process (e.g. Tech people involved before integrators come in)
- Design for flexibility (post and beam construction, mobility, track systems, dropped ceilings, wire hangers)
- Use cases and case studies and room and user typologies are good tools for design process.
Tips: - whatever space you renovate, the space next to it will look bad - if we can, modify a little on all floors or at least be aware of that divide
- lcd display of classes - no need to have the classes after the first 2-3 weeks of classes
- all spaces had a computer availability screen
- student assistant help site - blog for student workers to share their tips and tricks
- student schedule available for public to see - added info on who had expertise with what
- line needs to drawn and understood by all on what the library provides and what the library provides training for
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