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Newsletter 10, October 1995 |
Frederick Herzberg, the
industrial psychologist, when talking about the problems of keeping
people's knowledge up to date, said that "it is harder to
resurrect than to give birth". He suggested that the only
effective way of dealing with the problem was not by periodic
re-training, but by giving people jobs which constantly required
them to keep up-to-date. We, in education, can testify to continual
change as a stimulant - the only problem is that sometimes we
seem to overdose.This newsletter brings information on changes to the facilities and services provided by LSS. These are often minor, incremental and evolutionary, occasionally major and/or revolutionary, but, we hope, generally welcome changes! The biggest changes happening at present relate to the continuing development of the James Graham Building at Beckett Park into the Beckett Park Learning Centre. The title of Learning Centre, which was determined by the Principal after consultation, reflects the fact that the new facility will be a centre for a range of learning approaches and activities and a focal point within the students' learning experience.
Of course the new development sits alongside the previous development of the lecture-theatre complex. This provides a range of facilities to support teaching; two of the theatres are equipped with "full-spec" audio-visual systems that include computer display, video, OHP and 35mm all displaying on a large screen. The other theatres (due to budget limitations) are "basic spec" and have to have appropriate technology "wheeled in" at the lecturer's request.
A recent survey carried out by LSS shows that the high-tech features are well used by teaching staff: in the full-spec theatres, technology is used in 69% of all sessions, whilst in the basic-spec theatres, technology is "wheeled in" for 31% of all sessions. We are sure that the new features within the Learning Centre will be equally popular with users.
I repeat our earlier apologies for the inconvenience associated with the development work, and assure you that we shall keep you informed of any alterations to our services as the work continues. The situation is certainly less than ideal, but there is no way of maintaining full service whilst the work is in progress. I hope that you can see that the changes are necessary to reflect and support the changes in teaching and learning within the University. In particular, we will offer much better support for group learning, and for the use of mixed and multiple media and technologies.
Library services will be enhanced by the provision of a self-access short-loan collection and by the introduction of self-issue to complement the current self-renewal service. Of course, the main improvements will come from the additional study space and from the integration of technology into that study space. The design is such that over time it will be possible to offer secure access to the facilities over extended time periods, allowing students more flexibility over their study and making better use of the resources.
As with all large projects, not everything goes according to plan. Currently, progress has been hampered by the discovery of asbestos material in the lighting surrounds of the old book-room. This has now been carefully cleared by specialist contractors, but has resulted in a slippage of the original schedule - hopefully, (most of) this can be recovered as the project continues. More news as we get it!
