Dezigner Students : Creating New Spaces

Ashika Pramlal

Guess, Puma, Nike, Gucci, Armani…these are a few of the fashion labels being worn by our students. What’s interesting is that this sense of style and flair for designer labels has extended to our students redesigning study spaces in the Library reflecting their personal needs. Academic Libraries worldwide have noted that there is a need to partner with students in redesigning libraries of the future. These refurbishments are a necessity in the 21^st century. Students at the University of KwaZulu Natal are playing an integral role in ensuring that UKZN Libraries change to meet their needs.

Students on Level 7 at the Westville Campus main Library

Students on Level 7 at the Westville Campus main Library

The University of KwaZulu-Natal Libraries has faced many challenges since the

 merger of the University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal on 1 January 2004. The merger has reshaped the landscape of Libraries on all campus sites with the Westville Campus Main Library being no exception. The latest trend at the Westville Campus Main Library is the innovation and entrepreneurship displayed by students who have redesigned their study spaces showing a need to combine the past and the future. These changes are especially noticeable on Level 7 and Level 9 where students have moved study tables from their original spaces to be inserted between the book shelving areas.

UKZN students at the Westville Campus Main Library have clearly indicated that they want the current Library study spaces to be redesigned and have displayed their preferences by moving tables around. Daily I watch students on level 7 carrying tables and moving them to various spaces on the floor. Clearly, by redesigning and altering study spaces in the library, students are sending out a message to us that we need to honour the past and create the future so that UKZN Libraries can meet the growing challenges of our designer students.

Student on Level 9 at the Westville Campus Main Library

Transforming Academic Library spaces due to technological advancement and the digital revolution has made us relook at the physical Library in terms of meeting the needs of our enterprising millennial student population. Taking this viewpoint into account, the Westville Campus Main Library is rising to this challenge by redesigning various spaces in the Library. Some of the projects include redesigning the entrance with an informal lounge making sofas and coffee tables available for students. This is proving to be very popular with students as an informal meeting site to sit together with friends, use the WiFi and just chat.

Feedback from students to this changing space has been positive and it is always a

pleasure to see students at leisure enjoying the facilities.

Further to this, level 3 of the Westville Campus Main Library is being redesigned to create a state of the art computer LAN for all students as well as a Disability Information Centre to cater to the needs of differently abled students at UKZN. The Library has partnered with ICS and the Disability Unit to renovate and remodel this area and construction and remodeling has already begun. Students on a daily basis tell us that the current LAN on level 10 does not meet their needs and this is evident from the queues of students waiting to use a computer in the student LAN. Students are eagerly awaiting the level 3 LAN.

The Library and InQubate in conjuction with other stakeholders has embarked on developing a Student Business Incubator and this will be housed on level 11 of the Westville Campus Main Library. This area will be set up for spaces to develop student business centres as well as house a coffee shop. In keeping with transforming Academic Library spaces this will be a space for our enterprising students to show off their innovative business skills.

Taking all these factors into account, it is interesting to note that our students have played an integral role in reshaping and redesigning Library spaces as is evident from the structural changes and remodeling currently taking place at the Westville Campus Main Library as well as at the other UKZN Campus Libraries.

References

http://www.awarelabs.com/blog/coffee-shop-marketing-ideas-you-can-do-right-now/
Accessed on 7/4/2018 at 11H06 via Google Images

https://www.shoreline.edu/tss/computer-labs/default.aspx.
Accessed on 7/4/2018 at 11H12 via Google Images

Challenges and trends of modern day cataloguers

By Ashika Ramlakhan 

Introduction

The digital age is fast paced and has influenced all aspects of human life in the way we work, think, behave, in the way we live our lives and even the way we study. The library and information profession is also subjected to this radical change and the cataloguing professionals comprise a valuable subset to the library profession that provide a critical but behind the scenes services to the libraries and its end users. (Bothmann, 2007). The catalogue is the core of every library which forms the basic tool of discovery and retrieval from the library’s collections.

The catalogue and the cataloguer in the digital age

The growth of information technology, the varying formats of information and the changing patrons’ expectations have brought with it numerous challenges for the cataloguers. Modern cataloguers now need to have a change in mind set to these new developments and need to acquire new technological skills to empower them to develop in the field and to keep up with the new trends and changing environments (Esse, 2013).

According to Adeyemi (2001), technology can only assist a cataloguer and not be a substitute for the human being. According to a statement made by the United Nations 2009, information technologies are changing the way information is stored and disseminated not necessarily the way it is processed

in library terms. Modern day cataloguers have to keep pace with the changing environment, managing materials in new formats, manipulate different metadata schemes, catalogue for diverse user environments and audiences.

Cataloguers play a key role in any organization or library where knowledge is recorded and records are made searchable and retrievable. Many reports allude to the so-called “restructuring” and closure of cataloguing departments. This tendency to reduce or eliminate the professional cataloguers results in databases full of errors, low quality records, duplicating of records and inconsistencies, and eventually to the “de-professionalization” of cataloguing. The importance of collections being developed and maintained by professionals who understand the structure of the information cannot be stressed enough.

The birth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) brought with it many challenges for the library professionals including the cataloguers who were responsible for organisation and retrieval of resources in libraries (Buschman & Chickering, 2007). With the introduction of new technologies and the development of automation in  library operations, it was believed that MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) and the growth of OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) would do away with the need for cataloguers as the use of computers would eliminate the need for authority control (Hill, 2005). It was soon realized that this thought process wrong and that the growth in information technology and its’ impact on the library profession neither changed the need for cataloguers nor the demand for their skills. Cataloguers therefore remain an essential component of library efficiency and effectiveness (Sally, 2007).

Another trend is the reference to those professional cataloguers that are retiring or are close to retirement. This results in the loss of expertise and a wealth of knowledge gained over the years.

Cataloguing stands at the core of a library service and so too must it enjoy a similar place in the formal training of students / future librarians. However, one of the challenges with regards to this is the lack of professionally trained and qualified teachers in library schools. Another would be the lack of interest from students to pursue the cataloguing route in the library profession.

New Trends in Cataloguing Resource Description and Access (RDA)

In the 1990’s, The Joint Steering Committee for Development of RDA (JSC) recognized that Anglo-

American Cataloguing Rules (AACR) was not a standard that served 21^st century users. It did not meet the requirements of cataloguing in the new electronic age, and this resulted in the development of RDA. RDA emerged in response to worldwide comments that extended beyond Anglo-American libraries and information agencies but included information received from vendors, publishers, etc. The focus on users and their needs has been a guiding principle during the development of RDA.

Example of an RDA records

Example of an RDA records

Although, RDA is based on AACR2, the new developments have made it possible for cataloguers to catalogue the varying forms or formats of materials that the digital age has brought with it. RDA is a set of principle-based guidelines and has been adapted to be used as a digital tool in cataloguing and also allows a cataloguer to exercise judgment when cataloguing especially in cases where materials are not covered by RDA. These guidelines enable a cataloguer to make decisions that are logically consistent. RDA may not be the complete or final solution but it could play a vital role along the way for future developments.

References

Adeyemi, N.M. (2001). Cataloguing and classification and challenges of new information technologies in Nigerian libraries in the next millennium; automation of cataloguing practices in Nigeria libraries in: Lasisi, J et al. (eds) Proceedings of the selected papers presented at various workshops of Nigerian Library Association and Indexing section.(1-5)

Bello, M.A. and Mansor, Y. (2012). Duties and job performance factors of cataloguers in Nigerian academic libraries Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal), 829.

Bothmann, R.L. (2007). Meeting the needs of special format catalogers: Ideas for professional organisations, library schools and professional catalogers. Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, 44(3/4), 221-232

Buschman, J., & Chickering, W. (2007). A rough measure of copy cataloging productivity in the academic library. Library Philosophy and Practice (ejournal), 139.

Gourkova, Helen (2007). Current and emerging trends in cataloguing, available at  https://www.caval.edu.au/assets/files/Research_and_Advocacy/Current_and_emerging_trends_in_cataloguing_by_Helen_Gourkova_2007.pdf

Esse, U.C. (2013). Current trends in cataloguing and the challenges of a cataloguer in the digital age. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 4(2), 16-23.

Sally, G. (2007). The changing faces of cataloguing positions at academic institutions: What skill set is need and how can students prepare? Serials Librarian, 51(3/4), 39–49.