Do Over: Williams College Begins a $128 Million Library/Building Project
Construction has begun on a sweeping $128 million building project at Williams College, (Williamstown, MA), that will not only remake the library, but the college campus as well. College library director Dave Pilachowski told the LJ Academic Newswire that the project will yield a new "library and information technology complex," as well as faculty office buildings and classrooms. It will culminate with the razing in 2011 of the current Sawyer Library, which will become a green space linking classrooms, offices, the library building, and the Paresky Center, the college's recently opened student center. When complete, the nexus of classrooms, the library, green space, and a student center will form vibrant new core for the Williams campus.
By academic library standards, Sawyer, the current main library opened in the mid-1970s, would seem more a prime candidate for renovation rather than a razing. "Our assumption was that we would renovate," Pilachowski said. But when he arrived at Williams in the summer of 1998, a memo to the provost from his predecessor suggested that the current library would run out of space by 2005. Because there was a major construction project to address faculty office space planned right next door, a plan that included renovating Stetson Hall, Williams's historic library which still houses the library's special collections and college archives, why not consider a new library building? "It made sense to raise the question," Pilachowski said. "And the college was in agreement once we had a chance to talk about it."
It made especially good financial sense, he added. Sawyer has a number of structural "compromises," ranging from Americans with Disabilities Act issues to a fragmented configuration, as departments that "might logically be neighbors," such as reserves and circulation, are situated two floors apart. Two-thirds of the book collection is stored in aisles just 22 to 24 inches wide. "It would have taken about 10,000 square feet just to fix the current shelving, and that doesn't allow for any new collections," Pilachowski observed. A renovation, he says, would still not have yielded an ideal library space, and would have taken four years of work and inconvenience for users while the library remained in operation. In the end, it would actually cost more than to simply rebuild.
The new library, Pilachowski said, will not be a "box of books," but will be more people-centered and learning-friendly. Some collections will move to off-site storage. There will be space for a writing center, the information technology department, and the instructional media department. The building will be more energy-efficient building will have state-of-the-art technology, more group study spaces, and both open and compact shelving. Most of all, it will be at the center of a bustling "re-envisioned" campus, Pilachowski said. "It's very exciting."
Government Agencies Call for Public Access to Agency-funded Research
Once again, the issue of public access to research is heating up, with two recent reports from government agencies. In a report submitted to the House Committee on Appropriations, Labor/Health and Human Services Subcommittee on April 20, director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Julie Gerberding included public access as critical need, calling for "open access to CDC's research publications for other scientists and the public; [rapid, free, and unrestricted online access] to CDC-sponsored, peer-reviewed research and access to 'data in progress' among scientists, especially during emergencies like SARS...." The CDC Professional Judgment will be considered by the House Appropriations Committee in making final appropriations decisions for 2008.
In addition, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently released a report, which included a call to develop "a roadmap for advancing science and technology by accelerating the sharing of scientific and technical knowledge." The DOE's Workshop Panel Report on Accelerating the Spread of Knowledge Science and Technology: An Examination of the Needs and Opportunities stated that the panel "supports and encourages the principle that publicly funded unclassified research should be deposited in stable, freely accessible public archives and made freely available as soon as possible after acceptance for publication."
How that "principle" will be put into practice, however, has been a major source of controversy, with scientific societies and publishers claiming that government intervention into scientific publishing could destabilize peer-review and jeopardize the work of some societies. Proponents, however, dismiss those claims, arguing for the public's right to access research it has paid for with its tax dollars.
BitTorrent CEO: Ohio U. P2P Ban Will Hurt Students
The president and co-founder of peer-to-peer software maker BitTorrent this week strongly criticized the Ohio University (Athens) (OU) administration this week for instituting a campus-wide ban on the technology following more than 1200 "takedown" notices filed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). In an editorial for CNET, Ashwin Navin said the "short-sighted" ban at OU has created an environment "that doesn't prepare its people for the real world where P2P technologies are being adopted in powerful, constructive ways" and sets "a terrible precedent for its staff on the desirability of seeking creative ways to support new technologies."
Ohio University announced its new policy in late April, informing the campus community that use of P2P over the OU network could result in loss of Internet privileges. Since that announcement in late April, OU officials told the Chronicle of Higher Education that 200 students so far have had their Internet connections temporarily disconnected. Spokesman Brice Bible told reporters that "students engaged in legal file-sharing can still do so" but that all the P2P activity he has seen so far has been "illegal," adding that that the number of students trading music files online "has been steadily declining" since the ban.
While that might suggest short-term success, especially to the RIAA, it also portends a chilling effect on users seeking to experiment with or take advantage of powerful P2P technologies without knowing what's legal or what might get them disconnected. That will hurt OU in the long run, Navin argues. "My prediction is that this ban will have a devastating effect on Ohio University's ambitions in computer science, engineering, and IT," he wrote. "Who wants to spend what could be their most formative years in an environment that seeks to stunt creativity and innovation? It's antithetical to what we, as students and parents, want from higher education."
Thomson Releases Survey on Faculty and Use of Social Networks
A preliminary look at a survey found nearly 50 percent of faculty respondents familiar with social networking technologies, including blogs, MySpace, and Facebook, say such technologies "have or will change the way students learn." Curiously, however, about two-thirds of faculty respondents also said they do not feel social networking will have an effect on how they teach—or are at least uncertain if it will. The survey, conducted for Academic publisher Thomson Learning, reflects "a lack of awareness and understanding" of these emerging technologies, suggest administrators.
The Thomson Learning survey, was conducted over a five-week period and included 677 professors, most of whom have been "teaching for more than ten years at four- or two-year colleges and universities on the subjects of humanities/social sciences or business/economics." The results seem to suggest that "tech-savvy faculty members" are increasingly recognizing the value of things like blogs and podcasts as tools for educational use. The survey also found, however, that that there is significant room for growth in faculty members' use of technology: 59 percent do not have their own web sites; 82 percent have yet to make a podcast, and only ten percent have their own blogs. While the full results of the survey have not yet been released, the key findings indicate "a large opportunity for faculty introduction, education, and integration of social networking and media tools, for both professional and personal use."
Notice anything different? Yes, Library Journal has revamped its web site, and beyond a new look and navigational tools, we've also added new features, including a number of blogs, including an LJ staff blog and a student blog, Student Affairs. We hope you'll find the new site more enjoyable, easier to read, and easier to use. As with any new rollout, we expect to find some bugs and ask for both your patience and your participation. If you have comments or questions, please get in touch with any of the editors listed below.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact our
Online Support Team
Reed Business Information
2000 Clearwater Drive, Oak Brook, IL 60523
MediaSupport@reedbusiness.com?Subject=LJ-"AN"
