1 Coffee Pot, Many Disciplines: Session Recap

In March 2013, Bonnie Cain-Wood attended a session on how work spaces impact collaboration. Her notes, take aways and follow-up questions are below.

Session Brief: The Allen Curve, a theory developed by MIT Sloan School of Management Professor Tom Allen in the 1970s, asserts that the physical distance between individuals directly affects their levels of collaboration. This belief has begun to revolutionize space planning around the world—especially the institution where the theory was developed. Whether it is open office space, specially designed labs connecting typically bifurcated groups, or the consolidation and co-location of related but fragmented activities and programs, MIT is taking a revolutionary approach to driving innovation and entrepreneurship through the creation of work spaces that promote and enhance collaboration.

Take Aways:

·         Making a place look "status" hinders innovation. (Think corporate conference rooms)

·         Old model: break up space, send people to work, bring them together to share. Works well for efficiency, but not for innovation. 

·         The coffee pot is a real and symbolic center that brings people together.

·         Communal Offices-sharing offices, when someone is out, someone else uses the office.

Library Applications:

·         Co-working: Could we have flexible working space that employees could move in and out of so you work with different people and in a different place? Can we do a pop-up co-work space to experiment with this concept? As we begin to embed librarians, would co-working space within the Library be a more efficient use of space?

·         Enablers: do we have something, someone, someplace that encourages interdepartment collaboration? What can we do to create this?

·         If the coffee pot is a real and symbolic center that brings people together, what is our "coffee pot"?

         

      To explore this topic more, visit:
http://twitter.com/#MITspace

If you would like to share your notes on conference sessions relevant to the Library Future Series contact lib-pub@okstate.edu.

 

Redeploying Staff-Q13

To what extent do librarians actively participate in graduate and faculty research teams and provide on-demand support for literature reviews? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q12

To what extent are research faculty provided with support for data management, storage and curation? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q11

To what extent does the library participate in shared reference services with other institutions? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q10

To what extent have library staff created resource guides for specific courses to push relevant research tools and resources to students? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q9

To what extent are librarians embedded in and available through course management systems and online course portals? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q8

To what extent does information literacy instruction go beyond library-specific resources, emphasizing awareness and understanding of common research tools such as Google and Wikipedia? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q7

To what extent are students required to demonstrate information literacy as a component of general undergraduate learning outcomes? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q6

To what extent are students able to access library information and resources on their mobile devices? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q5

To what extent does the library provide adequate multimedia hardware and support for students and faculty? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q4

To what extent do the library and information technology units collaborate effectively on back-end system needs and technical support? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q3

To what extent have relevant special collections been satisfactorily cataloged, digitized and promoted to a large audience? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q2

To what extent are books cataloged and processed externally, arriving “shelf-ready” or "check-out ready" from vendors? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

Redeploying Staff-Q1

To what extent are students or paraprofessionals trained to answer basic patron questions, with reference librarians available for consultation by appointment? Should we?

What are we already doing related to the question?

If we wanted to consider starting this initiative or expanding what we are already doing, what do we want to learn about it from our future speakers? What questions do we want to ask during our upcoming speaker series?

July 31-Slides

Library employees may find the slides from Raynna's July 31 presentation to the staff and faculty can be found on the staff drive at U:LibraryFutures\Raynna2012_07_31.pdf or via Sharepoint.

Comments and questions on the presentation can be added to the comments section below.