Information Commons at Owings Mills: an Exploration

The Information Commons area will be a place where students and faculty can come to work on projects and access digital resources, both collaboratively and independently. Librarians will also need to be able to conduct Library Instruction there, whether it will be in the IC area, or in another computer lab at Owings Mills. There are two main components that will need to be in place to make the Information Commons attractive and successful: networked computer workstations (ideally wireless for maximum flexibility), and a tiered Help Service.

The IC area might be located adjacent to, and may even be a part of, the Library space: if the latter, security gates to prevent theft of library print materials would need to be available at all entrances, and staff would need to be stationed close by in order to prevent a thief from fleeing the area once the security alarm sounds. Security cameras might also be considered as a way of streamlining staffing.

Equipment and Furnishings in the IC Area:

Workstations could be a combination of stationery and laptop, with the latter being checked out to patrons to use in the IC. There should be tables large enough to permit group work, a couple of glass-enclosed group study rooms for non-quiet group work and use of language-learning software which requires a microphone ), and quiet areas where solitary work can occur in the IC. A specialized Presentation Room to accomodate groups of up to 12, and where students and faculty could practice using presentation software in front of an audience, is another possibility. The Presentation Room might also double as a video viewing area for groups. The Library Proper area described below will be designated a Quiet Study Area. There should also be a somewhat segregated area where stationery machines with specialized media creation software will be available for student and faculty projects.

Library Proper:

Adjacent to the Commons Room will be an open stack area, or Library Proper, where the Law Collection and the Periodicals Reading Area will be located. If it is decided that the Law Collection should be shelved in the Mock Court Room, then the Library will have a small print Reference and Periodicals Collections only, with the emphasis on digital delivery of library resources and services. If the Education Department is located at Owings Mills, a small print curriculum collection may be shelved here as well.

Patrons will be able to use traditional print magazines, newspapers, and scholarly journals in the fields of Information Technology, Business, and perhaps Education here, while enjoying comfortable living room style seating, as well as individual study carrels. The wireless network will extend into the library proper so that patrons can carry their laptops into that area where they will be able to consult print materials while they work on their machines. Other activities taking place in the Library Proper will be Reference interactions among the librarian, and faculty or students; group work utilizing gated/subscription resources provided by the Library; Library instruction sessions, both formal and informal. If there are walls between the Library Proper and the Commons Area (and this is recommended to cut down on noise), they should be made of clear glass for security purposes. Although at least initially there will be no circulation of print materials, eventually, as needs change and demand for material to circulate grows, a Circulation Desk may need to be added.

Tiered Help Desk and Library Service:

Students who need help will describe their question or problem to the staff person on duty at the Help Desk in the IC area, who will either answer the question, or refer to another staff person. Additional Help Desk Staff will meanwhile have offices adjacent to this area, close enough to be readily accessible when needed to respond to technical troubleshooting.

A Librarian will be on duty during the 8:30 AM - 5 PM time slot, probably in the Library area, and questions relating to research problems will be referred to that Librarian. The Librarian can move into a Reference Consultation area to work with the patron. Virtual Reference Service will also be available during the entire time that the IC is open using library staff at the Stevenson Campus and the AskUsNow Virtual Reference service (available 24/7). Help Desk staff will be trained in accessing the Virtual Librarian during times when in-person Library staff are not scheduled. As the need arises, student work study help may be used during busy afternoon hours, and in the evening until 10 PM.

Cross training of all Help Desk staff will be possible to perform basic functions such as checkouts of laptops or library materials (longterm), basic pc and network troubleshooting, and help with printing. For specialized technical questions or tutoring on use of media creation software, backup technical staff will be on call during scheduled advertised times.

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