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Space Management
Ben Meunier
In 2012-13, UCL Library Services continued to improve its facilities and
develop new learning spaces. We now manage a range of spaces outside of
the traditional library footprint, and I would like to highlight the
latest addition to the family of library spaces, the Graduate Hub, which
opened officially in October 2013.
Graduate Hub
This space, dedicated to Postgraduate students at UCL, complements the offering of the Research Grid by providing a kitchenette alongside a relaxed environment for individual and collaborative work. It can be booked for student-led seminars and is available 24/7, throughout the year. The Graduate Hub typifies the high-quality learning spaces UCL is delivering as it develops to meet current and future students' needs.
" "We are finding the space really useful - the other library-managed spaces are too small for our seminar, so it's great to have a larger room allocated to postgraduates which we will be able to book online. We also really appreciate access to a microwave and printer, as we have neither of these in our department."
UCL Postgraduate student
The JBR opening hours have been extended for students to have a space to work, eat and talk freely in the Wilkins building. The room is now open 24-hours from Monday morning until Friday at 17:00, thanks to support from UCL Facilities Services.
Multi-modal Digitisation Suite
This is a joint initiative coordinated by the UCL Centre for Digital Humanities.
" "A room in the basement of the Science Library has been converted into a bespoke digitisation suite, according to best practice guidelines. With the room donated by the Library, the build paid for by UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities, equipment supplied by both UCL Faculty of Arts and Humanities and UCL Faculty of Engineering, and ongoing support given by UCL Department of Information Studies and UCL Department of Computer Science, the result is an interdisciplinary, shared space to be used in teaching, research, and Library Services. The digitisation suite is already in use for teaching on the MA/MSc in Digital Humanities, the MA in Publishing, the new BABASc undergraduate course, and for research by PhD students in Computer Science and Medical Physics. The Library has also booked a regular slot. UCL Centre for Digital Humanities are leading this initiative, and are liaising closely with UCL Library Services (including UCL Special Collections) to digitise real content held at UCL as part of the student training program. We will be working together to continue building up our research capacity in this area whilst providing an increasingly essential facility to the Library"
Melissa Terras, Director, UCL Centre for Digital Humanities, Professor of Digital Humanities
UCL Library Services improved from last year's Bronze to gain a Silver Award in the Green Impact programme, for the Main and Science Libraries. Many other UCL Library Services sites were awarded Bronze or Silver Awards.
In collaboration with the Whittington NHS Trust, UCL Medical School and Estates, the Whittington Healthcare Library opened in summer 2013. The Cruciform Hub is due to open in Spring 2014. More information on the medical hubs is available.