| Report backs science library merger By Sarah R. Buchholz, Chronicle staff
A subcommittee of the RLC conducted a survey last semester, the results of which indicated "a strong preference for a single delivery site on campus for books and paper journal materials related to science and engineering," the report said. The survey, which received 1,145 responses from faculty (including more than half the science faculty), undergraduates, graduate students and staff, many of whom are non-scientists, also indicated that, while access to paper sources remains important, access to electronic sources is at least as significant. More than half of respondents indicated that 24-hour online access to scientific information was important. Most science scholars, both students and faculty, reported using more than one science library and expressed a preference for consolidation. The move could accomplish a handful of things, according to the report. It could create more, and more comfortable, user work space; make more efficient use of staff; increase the number of hours the facility could be open; and modernize the delivery of information to patrons. William Bemis, chair of the Research Library Council, said the plan would hinge on being able to relocate some of the larger-format material, such as paper periodicals to the Du Bois Library or the Five College Book Depository, to create more work space for library users. This, in turn, would hinge on the Libraries' ability to improve its access to full-text electronic sources of journals and other documents, he said. "There's a major push right now to maximize our holdings of full-text electronic journals, anyway," he said. "It would mean more delivery of materials directly to user's desks, to their computers, and more quiet space [for study]," he said. Bemis said government documents are a good example of texts that researchers report preferring to access electronically. Although hard copies would have to be stored somewhere, the depository might be an effective place to keep them, he said. The council's recommendation is to consolidate and sort through the two collections, retaining the facility on the second floor of Lederle Graduate Research Center, where the Physical Sciences and Engineering Library currently resides, and calling the new space the "Integrated Sciences Library." The Biological Sciences Library, located in 214 Morrill Science Center, used to be open evenings and weekends, though Bemis said it often closed on hot days in the summer because it lacks air conditioning. It also leaks cold air in the winter, he said. Students from Orchard Hill used it as a quiet study space, but budget cuts at the Libraries eliminated evening and weekend hours and it now operates 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. "Sometimes we as faculty forget how important the libraries are for students seeking quiet places to study and refuge from the dorms," Bemis said. The subcommittee's survey indicated that undergraduates use the Libraries' facilities more than faculty and graduate students. "The integration of science disciplines lends itself to so many exciting possibilities for students," said Libraries communication specialist Emily Silverman. "We want to create a space where they can explore those connections." Bemis said the details of the integrated library's refurbishing would be up to the Libraries' staff and would depend on available funding. Silverman said the Libraries staff hasn't yet put together a request but that the refurbishing, clean-up, painting, and computers for student use that the space would require, not to mention the act of moving the materials to consolidate the science libraries and make space in Lederle, would take "new money." A copy of the report is available online (www.library.umass.edu). |
