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HomeNew UO Portland Library and Learning Commons Reflects Exciting Changes in Library Research
April 8, 2008
The definition of what constitutes an academic library is changing. A few decades ago, academic libraries housed printed materials and indexed items in a card catalog without a piece of electronic equipment in sight. A few years ago, students searched for books and magazines on a computer that contained the library catalog. Now, in 2008, students at the newest branch of the UO Libraries, the UO Portland Library and Learning Commons, have access to the latest in new library technologies, many of which do not even involve the printed page.
The UO Portland Library and Learning Commons, which opened earlier this month in the White Stag block of downtown Portland, has been designed using a Learning Commons model. This provides patrons with both individual and collaborative group spaces, each equipped with multimedia and other educational technologies, distributed widely throughout the entire library. As a result, students using the library have the opportunity not only to use the latest advancements in research technology, but also to collaborate with one another while doing it.
In addition to the Learning Commons, the UO Portland branch library gives UO Portland students access to the full text of articles in several thousand electronic journals, as well as access to many other digital resources and collections, whether they are working locally in the White Stag Block facilities or at any other location across the globe. This type of electronic access makes research convenient, and insures that students are exposed to the most current information available on their respective research topics. Students also have 24-hour access to a complete virtual library through the UO Libraries web site and online catalogs.
Although the new branch does not contain as many printed materials as a more conventional academic library, library patrons still have access to more traditional books and hardcopy academic journals. Students using the UO Portland Library and Learning Commons can borrow any of more than 27 million items housed in the collections of 35 libraries participating in the Orbis Cascade Alliance, a consortium of academic libraries located throughout the Northwest.
Consortial resource-sharing programs such as the Orbis Cascade Alliance, which was established in large part through the leadership of the UO Libraries, alleviate the need for branch libraries to maintain large print collections that duplicate the holdings of other libraries. Delivery of items to students is made through daily courier service. Thus, the physical space needed for maintaining a large printed collection in new libraries like the UO Portland branch has been minimized, and students can instead borrow freely from the full collections of other libraries.
As with any branch of the UO Libraries, students who conduct research at the UO Portland Library and Learning Commons have access to the assistance of professional librarians; both on location at the branch, and virtually at other UO Libraries through the Ask a Librarian feature on the library web site.
The UO Portland Library and Learning Commons is the latest UO Libraries branch to combine aspects of traditional academic libraries with the latest library technologies, reflecting the dramatic changes occurring in the libraries of academic institutions across the nation. Whether it's working together in the Learning Commons, or accessing academic articles from a laptop in the Southern Hemisphere, students using the new library branch are experiencing the future of library research.