Creating the Academic Commons: Guidelines for Learning, Teaching, and Research

by Thomas H. P. Gould

Overview

Today's library is still at the heart of all university activities, helping students and faculty become better learners, teachers, and researchers. In recent years there has emerged the formalizing of one or more of these activities into an Academic Commons. These centers of information have been labeled variously but they all share a commonality: the empowerment of students and teachers.

In Creating the Academic Commons: Guidelines for Learning, Teaching, and Research, Thomas Gould gives a detailed outline of the various roles and activities that take place in commons located within the administrative umbrella of the library. Gould provides a roadmap for libraries seeking to establish their own Academic Commons, complete with suggestions regarding physical structure and software/hardware options. And to ensure new ideas are examined, evaluated, and adopted broadly, Gould shows how the Millennial Librarian can be at the center of this evolutionary library. Including information regarding the latest technological advances, this book will be an invaluable guide for librarians.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780810881082
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/14/2011
Pages:	318
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.20(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Thomas H.P. Gould is associate professor of Mass Communications at Kansas State University.

Table of Contents

Preface v

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: The Millennial Library xi

Part 1 Supporting Students And Faculty 1

1 The Learning Commons 3

2 The Teaching Commons 31

3 The Research Commons 51

Part 2 The Supporting Elements Of An Academic Commons 73

4 The Components of an Academic Commons Archiving Scheme 77

5 The Electronic Book 103

6 Libraries as Publishing Houses and the Long Tail Theory 129

7 Access, Security, and Funding Options 155

Part 3 Evolving issues facing the academic Commons movement 177

8 Copyright, Intellectual Property Rights, and Privacy 179

9 Selling the Millennial Library and Its Academic Commons to Its Stakeholders 203

10 Long-Term Challenges: Politics, Staffing, and the Fourth Commons 225

Appendix A Resources for Survey Techniques and Analysis 247

Appendix B Research and Collaboration Tools 251

Appendix C Library Case Studies 257

Index 277

About the Author 285

Editorial Reviews

Although there are many materials out there on the information/academic/learning commons, this handy resource should not be dismissed as extraneous. The author divides the various functions into separate chapters, and he calls the result the “millennial library.” With the presumption that the technology is changeable and unpredictable, all plans need to be open-ended and under continuous revision. Librarians using all the old skills in conjunction with the new styles should take the lead. There are chapters on e-books and the devices they require, copyright issues in the electronic age, and marketing the new services to all stakeholders on campus. It ends with a discussion of the long-term challenges of keeping up and keeping current. Useful appendixes follow: one listing resources for assessment; one with case studies of the early adaptors of information commons. For all academic libraries.

Booklist

Although there are many materials out there on the information/academic/learning commons, this handy resource should not be dismissed as extraneous. The author divides the various functions into separate chapters, and he calls the result the “millennial library.” With the presumption that the technology is changeable and unpredictable, all plans need to be open-ended and under continuous revision. Librarians using all the old skills in conjunction with the new styles should take the lead. There are chapters on e-books and the devices they require, copyright issues in the electronic age, and marketing the new services to all stakeholders on campus. It ends with a discussion of the long-term challenges of keeping up and keeping current. Useful appendixes follow: one listing resources for assessment; one with case studies of the early adaptors of information commons. For all academic libraries.

Booklist