Tag Archives: library

Text in Place

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Klagenfurt, Austria has no traditional public library.  But what they do have is an intriguing solution to  giving their citizens access to books.  By using near field communications and QR codes, the municipality will be linking residents to public domain works in appropriate locations.  An example given in Engadget‘s posting about this project puts The Killer at the police station.  The creators of this distributed library hope to include other media in even more locations – and to offer up the recipe for creating a similar “library” in your own town.

It’s certainly a unique concept, especially as e-readers take on ever more prominence in our lives – and libraries find themselves tossing out physical collections that only continue growing at an alarming pace.  I like it much better than on-demand library printing (it just seems wasteful)!

New MC Location at Altoona

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With the help of Penn State Altoona’s CIO, Joanne Peca and Library Director, Bonnie Imler – as well as the wonderful Instructional Technology staff, Media Commons has become a part of the new Information Commons.

Located on the lower level of the Library, the Information Commons is a collaborative workspace for students to study, research and more.  With reconfigurable furniture, its own information desk and an open floorplan, the Information Commons is a popular destination for those looking to do serious work.

In the Fall semester, I met with Joanne and Bonnie to discuss the Knowledge Commons project at UP and the successes Media Commons has had at other campuses with Library partnerships.  All were in agreement that separating the studio and editing spaces was the best bet for increasing usage of both as well as ensuring ready access to the editing computers (which had previously been behind a locked door and are now available when the Library is open to anyone who stops by).   A former microforms room was identified as a great candidate space and the changeover happened before the start of Spring semester.

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I have to say, I’m extremely pleased with the results and excited to see how the Media Commons can continue to grow at Altoona’s Ivyside location – and beyond!