precise. They’ll meet their classmates
upstairs in a study room where they’ll connect their laptops to a plasma screen and
sip java as they debate the merits of diagnosing pre-hypertension.
Beyond the glassed-in room, the
redesigned library is a place of networked
classrooms, media equipment, banks of
computers and rolling armchairs designed
to encourage laptop users to gather in small
groups and talk. Yes — talk.
Gone are the hushed reading rooms of
yesteryear, the prime library real estate
devoted to book stacks. Most of the Health
Science Library’s books have been moved
from the upper floors to compressed shelving in the basement, and such changes are
not just superficial. In an increasingly digital world, a world of Google searches and
book scanning and the widespread availability of information in electronic form,
Carolina’s libraries and its School of Information and Library Science have undergone an identity shift.
The effects of the digital revolution go
beyond being able to take your latte into
the library. “One of the things that’s really
changing libraries is that special collections
are more and more available to people
around the world and, in particular, within
the state without even leaving their
homes,” said Paul Jones, a clinical associate
professor in two UNC schools: Information and Library Science, and Journalism
and Mass Communication. Jones also is the
director of ibiblio at UNC, a free public
library of digital material on the Internet.
“That’s great for people who want to
do their family histories, their genealogy, or
who want to understand the history of the
state,” he said.
The campus libraries also provide more
collaborative work areas than they once
did. “More and more work is group work,”
Jones said. “One of the big changes in education from when I was growing up is that
sanctioned or assigned group work is really
an important function, possibly because
what you do in the real world is group
work. You can be a very, very effective single scholar and not be a very effective
worker or society member. In fields that
are scientific, if you can’t be part of a team,
you can’t be there.”
Ask a question, scan a blog
The Internet has increased public access
to Carolina’s resources in other ways, too.
Davis Library’s reference desk has an AOL
Instant Messaging account.
“I can sit at my desk and ask a question,”
Jones said.“The libraries have agreed to
share reference desks, so, as the sun goes
down, there’s still a librarian to answer your
question somewhere.” And Carolina’s public
intellectuals have become even more visible
through Web logs. “Eric Muller in law has a
blog called ‘Is That Legal?’” Jones pointed
out. “Andrew Chin, also in law, has a blog
called ‘Voiceless’ that covers both how
Asian-Americans fit into the American fabric and patent and intellectual copyright law.
Fred Stutzman [’00], a grad student in SILS
who works with social networking, has got
people reading his research and sending him
business plans. It’s not like our scholars
haven’t been public, but these [blogs] are
ways in which people can talk back.”
Electronic access also has changed how
students do academic work. “Users love electronic publications and digital collections
because they can incorporate items into their
