If you need your phone or tablet charged on the 2nd floor, use the charging station by the desk in the InfoCommons. The station, which was installed courtesy of ULM Information Technology has Apple lightning, micro-USB, and USB-C cables.
Monday, January 28, 2019
InfoCommons Charging Station
Tuesday, January 22, 2019
InfoCommons Hawkeye Story
Library lines up lavish upgrades
photos courtesy ULM Library
Christmas came and went over break for everybody, but ULM students returned with the library’s gift of a newly renovated second floor of the campus’ focal point called the InfoCommons.
The new second floor is a grand remodeling with 60 new computers as well as four additional Macintosh computers coming soon. There are more printers, both new and additional seating, new carpeting for a fresh new look, both group and individual seating arrangements, mobile whiteboards for studying and most importantly, many more outlets for students to plug their electronic devices into.
The tech friendliness is a byproduct of necessary renovations as the library passes into its 20th year of existence in April as well as needed weeding of the library’s collection of books.
“We got rid of over half the collection which was 300,000 titles. There was a legitimate need to purge the collection,” Megan Lowe, the library director and associate professor, said.
Beyond the lack of weeding, some books that came over from the previous library in Sandel Hall needed to be thrown out due to leaking ceilings in Sandel.
“Being that the books stacks were eliminated, it gave us a clean slate for the whole floor,” Chance Eppinette, the director of information technology, said.
The library is the gift that keeps on giving as the renovations are set to be done not only on the second floor.
“The key thing is to step back and see what [students] like [and] what they’re using because we have more money to add to the second floor and also to the first floor and other spaces,” Thomas Hoover, the dean of the library, said.
Through collaboration with the Student Government Association and the Student Technology Assessment Plan committee, the library tried to listen to the needs of the students- one of those being more collaborative space for students. The library is attempting to create this with easily accessible whiteboards all throughout the second floor and plans for many of the areas to have access to screens, so students can work together more effectively.
Quickly, through asking and seeing, it became clear that the library recognized another large need- more outlets and more power for students to charge their devices.
“[Students] really wanted more power. Students wanted more powered furniture. When we started rearranging the space in anticipation of doing a lot of these things, we noticed a lot of students sitting on the floor near the outlets,” Lowe said.
Eppinette said, “It was 20-year-old technology. 20 years ago, we didn’t have USB for devices. That was one of the key things to make it more convenient to plug in your personal devices.”
The technological upgrades are a huge plus for students, and many students are thankful for them.
“It’s life-changing. It’s good to see the college constantly change and continue to change ULM to a more tech-friendly college,” Nate Perdue, a sophomore psychology major, said.
The library, though, is showing that it is not going to wait another 20 years to make technological changes, but will soon add a virtual reality lab for students.
“We’re adding a virtual reality center and innovation space that will be in the bell tower in that back corner. There will be a 3D printer, high-end Macintosh and PCs in there,” Hoover said.
The virtual reality center will be a cross-disciplinary space meant to take ULM and students’ ability to learn into the future.
The center will be the first of its kind in the state of Louisiana.
Students studying geography will be able to experience the Great Wall of China from the library. Anatomy students will be able to experience the body and construction management students will be able to be inside of a building before the building is even made.
The current renovation is just a stepping stone for the library and the university as both journey down this path of making ULM an even more one-of-a-kind institution.
ULM Library Director Lowe Publishes New Book
Congrats to ULM Library Director Megan Lowe on the publication of her new book! See more information below.
University of Louisiana Monroe Library Director and Associate Professor Megan Lowe, M.A.,M.L.S., B.A., has recently co-written a book published by IGI Global.
Examining the Emotional Dimensions of Academic Librarianship: Emerging Research and Opportunities, studies the emotional experiences of academic librarians.
Libraries have made tremendous changes as demand and technology has dictated. At ULM, for example, what were the book “stacks” are now student study areas. Many of the hardback books have migrated to online materials.
“The book grew out of another publication my co-author and I worked on examining the emotional experiences of librarians. Librarianship is very people-oriented work, making librarians prone to burnout,” Lowe explained. “We wanted to get a better understanding of the emotional experiences of academic librarians as a means of identifying solutions and supporting those librarians in their careers.”
“Examining the Emotional Dimensions of Academic Librarianship: Emerging Research and Opportunities” is an essential scholarly resource that offers detailed discussion on the latest crises and challenges for librarians and supplies innovative solutions to these issues. Highlighting relevant topics such as emotional exhaustion, research agendas, and deselection, this publication is an ideal resource for librarians, academicians, students, and researchers who have an interest in the mental and emotional landscape of modern library environments. It is co-authored by Lindsey M. Reno of the University of New Orleans.
This title is currently available to order on the IGI Global Bookstore as well as through the InfoSci® Databases, which offer full-text book chapters and journal articles from over 3,500 books and 170 scholarly journals. To adopt this book for use in your courses, please submit an examination request form here : (https://bit.ly/2QDhgcy). To request a copy of this book for review, contact ccampbell@igi-global.com.
IGI Global, an international publishing company specializing in high-quality research publications focusing on the areas of education, social science, library science, healthcare, business, environmental science, public administration, computer science, and engineering.
New Addition Coming Soon to InfoCommons
Another space is under construction on the 2nd Floor. More information coming soon on new and
exciting additions to the ULM Library InfoCommons!
Monday, January 14, 2019
Library Workshops Offered In The Spring 2019 Semester
Faculty at ULM Library are offering free workshops for the 2019 Spring semester in ULM Library room 3A. The dates and workshop descriptions are in the flyers below.
Thursday, January 10, 2019
InfoCommons On the Bayou
ULM Library’s new InfoCommons is not just a computer lab. It will be a space where students can relax and study as well as access information, innovate, collaborate, gain knowledge, and produce quality work to complement their studies. The idea for the InfoCommons came about in part from requests from students to have computers moved away from the noisy and crowded first floor. Students also requested additional options for collaborative study.
Per Chance Eppinette, there will be more AxisTV displays on the 2nd floor to display messages about Library and IT activities. Chance also stated that they will be placing four MACs on the 2nd-floor lab at a future time.
Eppinette stated that the new Herman Miller furniture has expanded power options including more power and USB plugs for convenient charging. Wayne McDaniel said there are sixty computers total in the new InfoCommons. There are six tables with eight computers. There is also a new option which allows students to collaborate on projects. There are four sets of three computers with room for two users, and there is individual seating for users to use their laptops. Students will also have access to additional printing on the 2nd floor. Additionally, there is group study seating and a whiteboard collaboration bar that students may use for brainstorming and group work.
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
InfoCommons Under Construction
Students were still out on Christmas break in December of 2018, but crews were hard at work at ULM Library changing out the carpet on the 2nd floor. Numerous boxes of Herman Miller furniture were wheeled in to update the space, and the furniture was assembled. All staff that walked by that day commented that they looked forward to seeing the completed InfoCommons space!
New carpet was put in in squares that may be removed if damaged or soiled.
New computer tables are being assembled that will allow a total of 8 computer stations.
New Herman Miller collaborative booth seating.
New Herman Miller individual study booths. The tables allow the students to use their own device, and the tables slide away or toward the user for their comfort.
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