Planning Collaborative Spaces in Libraries:
An ACRL /CNI Preconference
Toronto, Canada Friday, June 20, 2003
9:00 am - Noon

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BACKGROUND


The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) and the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI) share an interest in improving teaching, learning, and scholarship by enhancing collaborative relationships between library and information professionals and computer and information technologists. In the 1990s, the two organizations co-sponsored the New Learning Communities program to promote the work of professionals in higher education who were using networked information resources to enrich their curricula and broaden students’ learning experiences. The "Planning Collaborative Spaces in Libraries" preconference evolved in response to growing demand for a broad range of new teaching and learning spaces on college and universities campuses.

What do we mean by "collaborative spaces"?

Collaborative spaces integrate the services of information technologists, librarians, instructional technologists, multi-media producers, and many others to serve a wide range of faculty and student needs. The organization and functions of these facilities vary, but all include a distinct physical space, participation by at least two separate campus units, and staff members dedicated to collaborative work. Collaborative spaces range from "information commons" that provide equipment and reference services to students and faculty to distance-education offices that address institutional concerns to centers that assist faculty in integrating teaching and new technologies.

 

The Collaborative Facilities Web Site

In 2001 CNI and Dartmouth College began a joint project, "Collaborative Facilities for Partnerships in Higher Education (CFPHE), to collect, organize, and disseminate information about model collaborative facilities on college and university campuses throughout the United States. The project Web site (http://www.dartmouth.edu/~collab) is designed to assist institutions in planning, implementing, and evaluating these facilities. Information professionals, administrators, faculty, and other interested visitors may tour collaborative spaces online and analyze documents related to their planning, design, administration, staffing, services, and funding.

 

ACRL enhances the effectiveness of academic and research librarians to advance learning, teaching, and research in higher education. The largest division of the American Library Association (ALA), ACRL has a membership of approximately 12,400, and provides a broad range of professional services and programs. For more information see: http://www.ala.org/acrl

CNI is dedicated to supporting the transformative promise of networked information technology for the advancement of scholarly communication and the enrichment of intellectual productivity. Some 200 institutions representing higher education, publishing, network and telecommunications, information technology, and libraries and library organizations make up CNI's members. For more information see: http://www.cni.org