LIBRARY FUTURES

Coming up on December 5, 5 pm:

LIBRARY FUTURES: Mohsen Mostafavi, Dean of Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in conversation with Jeffrey Schnapp


Tomorrow: “Re-inventing Space: Is There a Library?”

Our next discussion in our series of “Librarians Talk” is tomorrow Friday, November 30, 12-1 pm at 92 Mt Auburn. Bring your lunch, coffee and dessert will be provided.

We’ll discuss space:

  • What activities do we want to encourage in library spaces?
  • What is the physical and social life of library spaces?
  • Does the library need to be quiet?
  • As more things are digital, how should we fill library spaces?
  • Can digital tools animate access to knowledge?
  • How can library spaces better specifically respond to digital
  • equipment?
  • How can the physical structure of the library be more responsive and dynamic?


Today! “Maintaining Value through Digitization”

Our second discussion in our series of “Librarians Talk” is today Friday 12-1pm at 92 Mt Auburn. Bring your lunch, coffee and dessert will be provided.

We’ll discuss digitization:

  • How can we maintain value through digitization?
  • What is the implication of digital content on libraries?
  • Is there a place for libraries in online education?
  • What should we digitize?
  • How do you maintain the context?
  • How do you translate an experience such as a lecture or
    theatre performance or poetry reading into an online
    environment and experience?


Reference as Portal


Our first lunch talk was a great success!

Librarians from various libraries across Harvard casually came in to talk to us and share some insight on “Reference as portal”.

Interesting points from the discussion:

  • Librarians as our ‘partners’ or ‘friends’
  • Let’s think of the physical reference desk as a more friendly low desk rather than the high outpost station
  • The security guard as a more friendly person that would greet visitors and not seem too intimidating to pass through
  • Examining why students reach out to peers and faculty more than to librarians although sometimes librarians can be the source to references we don’t even know exist
  • Receiving more questions from students by email with a trend for emails to come from outside the Harvard network…so what are Harvard students doing? Where do they get their reference questions answered? Do they get answered?
  • The trend for students to request more personal one-on-one based meetings for reference rather than to stop at a public desk
  • The importance of librarian outreach within departments (but what happens when a library is not connected to a department?)
  • Parties by librarians (this included an example of a roach party – rock on!)
  • Did you know Houghton library does Coffee Fridays?
  • A general consensus on the idea that the role of librarians should be dynamic and that both librarians and users are shaping the changing nature of libraries

The talk was recorded and will be put up soon!

Join us for our next talk, Friday November 16 on Maintaining Value through Digitization.


Event tomorrow! “Reference as Portal”

 

Come by the first event in our Friday “Librarians Talk” open discussion series! Friday 12-1pm at 92 Mt Auburn. Bring your lunch, coffee and dessert will be provided.

We’ll discuss and rethink the role of reference, including:

  • What is reference?
  • How do you teach research skills?
  • What are the bounds of reference?
  • How does librarian to student reference relate to professor to student reference?
  • Where is reference accessed?
  • With online searching, how does reference change?

Everyone welcome! And check us out on Facebook!