Academic Libraries: “Social” or “Communal?” The Nature and Future of Academic Libraries

Gayton, Jeffrey T.

doi:10.1016/j.acalib.2007.11.011

Cited by 120 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Nevertheless, it is evident that his work emphasises the need to support the social element of learning, to the exclusion of the needs of other tasks, such as reading or exam preparation. Gayton (2008) has been widely cited in the library literature for his challenge to the concept of the "learning commons" if it means that the library becomes too busy and noisy. "Communal activity in academic libraries is a solitary activity: studious, contemplative and quiet", he writes (Gayton 2008, 60).…”

Section: Libraries and Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space and embodiment in informal learning

Cox

2017

High Educ

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Changes in pedagogy to emphasise independent study and group work have increased the need for informal learning spaces on campuses. University libraries have been quick to respond to this need, partly because of the decline in book lending and partly because of technology enablers. Furthermore, new types of buildings that combine many types of facility, including libraries and informal learning spaces, are being built. This research aimed to explore students' experience of such informal learning spaces, through focus groups and walk with interviews. It was found that the creation of different types of learning atmosphere, should be understood as a multi-sensory experience, and actively constructed by learners themselves. Informal learning spaces are important destinations for students, who have favourite places to study, where they often work alongside companions and find motivation to work in the presence of others.

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Section: Libraries and Learningmentioning

confidence: 99%

Space and embodiment in informal learning

Cox

2017

High Educ

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“…So, to the regret of some commentators (cf. Gayton, 2008), libraries increasingly offer space and furniture that supports collaborative interaction but also technologies that might mediate these exchanges in fresh ways.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces

Crook

Mitchell

2012

Cambridge Journal of Education

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An imperative to develop the social experience of learning has led to the design of informal learning spaces within libraries. Yet little is known about how these spaces are used by students or how students perceive them. Field work in one such space is reported. The general private study practice of undergraduates was captured through audio diaries, while activity in the learning space was directly observed, and students provided reflective perspectives in focus groups and through spot conversations. Results suggest such spaces are popular and yet stimulate limited group work. Yet other, less intense, forms of productive collaboration did occur and a taxonomy of four such types of encounter is offered. Of particular importance to students was access to a 'social ambience' for study. The results encourage institutions to design for a mixed economy of student choice over learning spaces and to consider modes of encouraging diversity in their use. AMBIENCE IN SOCIAL LEARNING SPACES 2Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spacesAgendas for enriching the experience of formal education often consider refreshing the material design of those spaces in which students learn (Comber & Wall, 2001;Rudd, Morrison & Facer, 2006 Closer scrutiny of arguments for renewing learning spaces suggests that one recurring motive is the ambition to create more favourable conditions for learning that is social (Brown, 2005;Jamieson, Fisher, Gilding, Taylor & Trevitt, 2000). There are at least three arguments for strengthening the collaborative or interpersonal quality of educational practice.The first is promoted by many employers. They may claim that graduates enter the workplace poorly prepared for coordinating their thinking with others (CBI, 2009). This suggests a need for educational environments that support experience in team work. The second argument for extending the 'social' dimension of learning is suggested by young peoples' vigorous engagement with internet-based social media. As so much curricular material is now accessed through the internet, it is natural to consider whether networked social media could also animate communication for learning. Such ambitions would give educational practice a stronger social and 'participative' quality. Then, if learning is made social within the virtual learning spaces of the internet, it is natural to extend such design thinking to the morephysical spaces of the institutional campus: they also might become contexts for cultivating learning through social interaction and collaboration. Finally, the popular call for learning to have a more social quality resonates well with social constructivist theories of knowledge (Berger & Luckman, 1966) and with conceptions of knowing as cognitively and socially 'distributed ' (Clark, 1997). This perspective in turn complements psychological theories that stress the communual contexts of learning (Lave & Wenger, 1990;Rogoff, 2003). In this climate of thinking, educational institutions will consider how th...

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“…For eksempel sto det i 2016 på en plakat foran et av bibliotekene på Universitetet i Oslo: «Stedet å vaere når du ikke er på forelesning, både faglig og sosialt.» Forståelsen av folkebibliotekenes plass i samfunnet kan imidlertid ikke overføres direkte til hva et universitetsbibliotek er for universitetet (jf. Gayton, 2008). Lars Egeland, bibliotekleder ved Høyskolen i Oslo og Akershus, utvider forståelsen for hva biblioteket som tredje sted kan vaere, når han skriver om fagbibliotek at «Biblioteket må etablere seg som 'et tredje sted' -som understreker at mennesket ikke bare er forbrukere av innhold, men også aktive bidragsytere.…”

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2017

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Academic Libraries: “Social” or “Communal?” The Nature and Future of Academic Libraries

Cited by 120 publications

References 7 publications

Space and embodiment in informal learning

Space and embodiment in informal learning

Ambience in social learning: student engagement with new designs for learning spaces

Det åpne bibliotek

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