Update - EDUCAUSE 2011 - Early Bird ends September 20

Updating an earlier post announcing EDUCAUSE 2011 in Philadelphia, October 18 - 21. Early Bird registration discounts end September 20.

There will be a session on the Research Commons on Wednesday October 19, 2:30pm - 3:20pm.

Presenters include Grace Chung and Lauren Ray from U of Washington, and Scott Collard and Kara Whatley of NYU.

"The NYU and University of Washington libraries simultaneously created research commons, transforming physical and virtual spaces and integrating content and technology specialists to serve 21st-century researchers. They will describe their redesign values, goals and process, user assessments, and the resulting services and spaces. Lessons learned and future interinstitutional collaborations will be discussed."

On the Horizon - EDUCAUSE Session on the Research Commons

EDUCAUSE Annual Conference will be October 18 - 21 in Philadelphia. Lauren Ray, Research Commons and Educational Outreach Services Librarian at U. of Washington, will present "Creating the Research Commons: The New York University and University of Washington Experience" on Wednesday, October 19. Here's the description from the conference program:
"The NYU and University of Washington libraries simultaneously created research commons, transforming physical and virtual spaces and integrating content and technology specialists to serve 21st-century researchers. They will describe their redesign values, goals and process, user assessments, and the resulting services and spaces. Lessons learned and future interinstitutional collaborations will be discussed."

NYU Research Commons

U. Washington Research Commons

You can get an idea of what Lauren will be presenting if you visit her blog. She has been posting since the Research Commons was in design phase in Summer 2010. Includes photos and a report on the ongoing assessment of the Commons.

Or you can see Betsy Wilson's ppt from the ALA/ALCTS Midwinter 2011 talk: "Parallel Library Universes: A Case for Feverish Pink Paint and Virtual Vortexes." Betsy is Dean of University Libraries at the University of Washington.

7 Things You Should Know

EDUCAUSE has been running a series of briefs on emerging learning technologies.  The latest is 7 Things You Should Know About the Modern Learning Commons.  Authors are Joan Lippincott (Coalition for Networked Information) and Stacey Greenwell (U. of Kentucky).  Stacey was Head of the Information Commons (aka The Hub) at U.K. before she was promoted to Assoc. Dean for Academic Affairs and Research.  Her Uncommon Commons blog has tons of good ideas for innovative services and promoting same.