Howard University is going through a transformation of its Undergraduate Library and Founders Library. The objective is to enhance the capabilities of the libraries as learning spaces. Our team has been testing furniture in the library environment to learn about student behavior. The product demos allow our team to test how students will work with the new furniture in the library. It helps the library staff define what types of furniture will transform the environment. Examples of library collaboration in action including space for individual and group workstations help our team define the requirements for the new design. Below are pictures of the library design & furniture demo.
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Bishops School Library
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Fair Use for Libraries – Its time for libraries to start digitizing.
The definition of Fair Use recently expanded – implying a new era for libraries. The federal judge oversseeing a major copyright-infringement lawsuit brought last year by the Authors Guild against the HathiTrust digital repository and its university partners judged that transformative uses are a logical part of the fair use clause. What counts as fair use was a limiting factor to many academic libraries. Their ability to digitize educational works seemed like a dead end in the current climate. The ruling enables libraries to continue to transform content from print to digital. The ruling will allow Academic libraries’ to index and digitize their works for educational purposes. Judge Harold Baer,…
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Boutique Zones in Libraries Create Desintations for Learning
A recent article about JC Penny’s transformation into a series of boutiques is noteworthy to library consultants, librarians and architects. The former Apple retail chief Ron Johnson is trying to transform the physical space plan at JC Penny. He is changing the JC Penny retail environment into a series of focal points – boutique spaces that attract more involvement with the brands and the customers. This creates new opportunities for interactions with the product(s). JC Penny’s intends to RFID all the items in the store, creating opportunities for mobile retail environments. The idea is to create different boutiques that can be transformed annually in an efficient way, leveraging RFID’s advantage…