Contributors Michael Stephens

Liz Delzell, YS Library Assistant at Fox River Grove Memorial Library sent along this link:     Rethinking Libraries By ana    For her senior thesis project, Valerie Madill reconsidered how design could make using the library more engaging and easier. She used half-wrap labels that would unify a particular subject by color as well as provide a consistent place for relevant information about each book. The result is a more sensual, desirable library experience that could draw more people to libraries and make find material more intuitive. As library geeks, this is the kind of design and creative thinking that makes P+P […]

Bob also outlined some organizational changes–staff across the library were “repurposed” as 8 service points were reduced to 3. Fox, Mathews and the other folks at Tech took the important step of convening a focus group to ask students what they wanted in the library. The list Bob shared was fascinating: Students want a comfortable, attractive space Students want refreshments Students want access to all types of  information technology in library space Students want flexible space for use in the library Want to feel ownership of the library These results lead to the creation of spaces in the Learning Commons East […]

Kate Sherrill writes: Sci fi author Greg Bear has created a low-tech, but impressive trailer for his new novel, City at the End of Time.  He just used easy to access stuff like a digital camera, PowerPoint, Photoshop, etc http://www.cityattheendoftime.com/slideshow-small.html  

Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo. Via TechCrunch.  Aurora is a concept video exploring one possible future user experience for the Web, created by Adaptive Path as part of the Mozilla Labs concept series. For more, visit adaptivepath.com/aurora

Kyle, a TTW contributor, blogs at The Corkboard: As I gear up to do the annual fall round of computer imaging/updates to all the public terminals it gives me time to reflect on MPOW’s approach to academic computing: if they need it, get it for ‘em. Our library has full control over our default setup for our machines, including: Operating system choices (XP, Vista, or, heck, why not both?) Browsers, we’ve got three! (FF, IE7, Safari, and we’d add more if requested) Open-source goodness (7Zip, Nvu, Open-Office, etc.) Office suite, we run ‘03 and ‘07 (and we’re the only place […]

  http://www.udel.edu/smdc/ Spaces for students, faculty and staff in university and college libraries are evolving rapidly. Here’s another to add to the list: the Student Multimedia design Center at the University of Delaware Morris Library. From the site:  Make your PowerPoint presentations come alive with video and animation.   Practice your presentation skills in a studio.   Create a custom sound track.   Access a wide variety of computer hardware, software, and peripherals. This speaks to me about the need for coursework that emphasizes planning, implementation and staffing for digital creation spaces in libraries.