The Background of Spatial Transformation of University Libraries
Library is a gathering place of human knowledge, thoughts and wisdom, and also an important place to provide public cultural services. Its social value and importance are self-evident. "If there is a paradise in this world, it should be like a library." Jorges Luis Borges, a famous Argentine writer, famously expressed his yearning for the library, which is the highest praise for the library.
For a long time, the library is an indispensable part of colleges and universities. The learning space and information resources of the library depend on the work and study of teachers and students in colleges and universities, and the library building is basically one of the most important and striking buildings on campus. "The library is the heart of the university", the famous saying of Charles William Eliot, the former president of Harvard University, more aptly illustrates the importance of the library to the university.
However, in the past 20 years, with the development of the Internet, network information resources have been continuously enriched, and people have gradually adapted to and preferred to obtain various information resources through search engines and electronic resource libraries, and electronic resources have gradually replaced paper resources. Whether in public libraries or university libraries, the number of books borrowed and entered the library has been shrinking, and the status of traditional libraries has also been declining.
The emergence of "the theory of library extinction" is by no means alarmist, but the article "Autopsy Report of University Library in 2050" published by Sullivan, the guidance librarian of Alfred University in the United States in 20 1 1, which directly clarified the situation of university libraries and shocked the library community.
In this context, university libraries have begun to "save themselves" and explore the transformation of library business and services. Spatial transformation is the most effective way for all libraries. Many university libraries have changed people's stereotype of libraries with comfortable environment and innovative services by building information space, learning space and knowledge space, and have successfully "drained". Space transformation, like a good medicine, has changed the "fate" of the decline of university libraries to some extent.
The Concept of Space Transformation of University Library
It is generally believed in the industry that the renovation of library space can be traced back to the "information arcade" construction of the University of Iowa Library in 1992. The research and practice of library space transformation in China appeared after 2005, and the landmark event was that Wu Jianzhong, then director of Shanghai Library, introduced the concept of library space to China.
The concept of "space" was originally based on various sensory experiences of human beings, and then changed into a perceptual view of space. It covers a wide range, including space, cyberspace, digital space and physical space. Space has both virtual meaning and real meaning. The space surrounded and limited by form is real space, and other parts are called virtual space, which depends on real space.
The concept of library space is developed from the concept of space, which has some characteristics and connotations of space and can also be divided into physical space and virtual space. The physical space of a library mainly includes physical buildings, building structures, spatial layout, tables and chairs, furniture, decorations, physical collections and related equipment. The virtual space of the library mainly refers to the digital resources and application system of the library, as well as the software and hardware environment that supports the operation of the system.
The concept of "space transformation" comes from architecture, and its original intention is to transform and reshape the internal space and external space of the original building, so that the old building space has new functions. By summarizing the practical experience of university library space transformation, it is found that the narrow sense of library space transformation mainly refers to the change of the physical attributes of the library's physical building space, while the broad sense of transformation also includes the improvement and transformation of the library's virtual space.
The purpose of library space transformation is to meet the diverse material and spiritual needs of users under the current social environment and technical conditions. Obviously, it is difficult to meet the demand only by relying on the transformation of physical space. While transforming the physical space, each library also basically transforms the service content and business system of the library, that is, the virtual space. Therefore, this paper thinks that the library space transformation in a broad sense is more in line with reality.
Main contents and characteristics of library space transformation
1
Physical space transformation
The transformation of physical space mainly includes the transformation of water, electricity and heating infrastructure, the adjustment of the overall layout of the space, the re-division of functional areas according to users' needs and collection requirements, and the characteristic decoration of different areas (lighting, sound insulation and noise reduction, temperature and humidity, color matching, etc.). ), equipped with appropriate tables and chairs, furniture and sockets, deployed wired and wireless networks, and installed supporting access control systems, self-service lending and returning equipment, electronic reading equipment, self-service printing and copying machines, etc. To create science.
Although the overall goal of spatial transformation is basically the same, and the direction and content of transformation are basically similar, different university libraries have their own characteristics due to different basic conditions, strategic positioning and capital investment. Lang et al. summarized the award-winning practice cases of space renovation at the 20 15-20 19 China University Library Development Forum. According to the content and characteristics of space transformation, it can be divided into four categories: learning space, innovative and creative space, special exhibition space and audio-visual leisure space, as shown in table 1.
Table 1 Contents and Characteristics of Achievements of Space Transformation in University Libraries
In recent two years, some libraries have also set up digital humanities laboratories to provide space, software and hardware equipment for digital humanities teaching and research.
2
Reconstruction of virtual space
The transformation of virtual space mainly includes two aspects: one is to transform the digital resource pool of the library and its access and service channels, and the other is to transform various business systems of the library.
At present, according to the needs of teachers and students, colleges and universities have basically purchased a large number of digital resource libraries and built various characteristic digital resource libraries, and the procurement funds of digital resource libraries have basically exceeded the paper documents. The transformation in this aspect is mainly to continuously optimize the types of digital resource libraries, seek the optimal solution of funds and requirements, build and improve a unified digital resource access portal, provide good consulting services under limited funds, and improve the utilization rate of resources.
For example, some libraries have built a one-stop digital resource retrieval platform, unified access to the entrance inside and outside the school, and provided service channels based on telephone, WeChat and automatic question answering robot. In the aspect of business system transformation, the library manages business system, portal website, subject service platform, access control system, space reservation system, RFID system, data analysis system and so on. It is becoming more and more perfect, and the operating software and hardware environment is safer and more reliable.
The combination of physical space transformation and virtual space transformation makes the space service and knowledge service provided by the library keep pace with the development of the times, and promotes the transformation and development of university libraries.
Summary of experience in space transformation of university library
The spatial transformation of university libraries has achieved good results, keeping the library's "heart" position. After summing up, the industry has gained some useful experiences in the transformation:
1
People-oriented, demand-oriented
The starting point of library space transformation is to provide better space experience for readers and users, attract users to use various resources of the library, and provide a good working environment for librarians. Therefore, we must fully consider the needs and suggestions of readers and librarians. Before, during and after the transformation, we should do a good job in investigating the needs of various user groups and collect opinions and suggestions. When dividing the functional areas, we should also consider the long-term demand of collection development and the way of building dense stacks to solve the problem of insufficient collection space.
2
Follow the principles of scientificity and professionalism.
Spatial transformation is a systematic project with great influence, which requires both long-term planning and attention to various details, involving all aspects, and is by no means a simple decoration project. From building changes, functional area planning, wall decoration, air conditioning equipment, overall color matching, to socket location, sound insulation effect, light intensity, network signals and so on. It should be designed and grasped by various professionals, and the professional team should be selected according to reasonable and scientific principles.
three
Reflect the characteristics of the school
Each university library not only has different physical space, but also has its own cultural characteristics and subject background, which should be reflected in the transformation plan; In the construction of study * * * enjoyment space, innovative and creative space, special exhibition space and audio-visual leisure space, we should properly choose some specific space categories, and should not completely copy the plans of other universities to avoid the embarrassment of insufficient space utilization.
four
Pay attention to evaluation optimization and operation and maintenance management.
Space is a service, and services need to be evaluated and optimized frequently. After the transformation of library space, the related places, processes, time and systems will inevitably change greatly. On the one hand, we should vigorously publicize these changes and advantages to teachers and students, on the other hand, we should widely receive and investigate users' opinions, evaluate the service level in time, and adjust and optimize the shortcomings in time. It is necessary to consider the convenience of facilities and equipment maintenance in the early stage of design, strengthen operation and maintenance management in the later stage of daily use, and master the space usage through an integrated management system.
five
Rational use of intelligent technology
Library space transformation is an important means to build a smart library. Whether it is physical space or virtual space, we should make rational use of information technology to improve the intelligent management service level of the library. For example, in terms of physical space, it can realize automatic temperature and humidity, lighting control, automatic book borrowing and returning, inventory, self-service printing, space reservation and so on. In terms of virtual space, we can further strengthen the construction and application of unified resource retrieval, unified management and analysis of various business data, subject consultation and self-service customer service question and answer system.
Reference (swipe up and down to see everything)
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Author: He Xiuquan (Sisu Library)
Editor: Xiangyang
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