Location of Institution and Campus Description
The University of Southern Maine has the largest stu- dent body of the seven campuses of the University of Maine system, with an enrollment of 10,974 (8,622 undergraduates, 2,352 graduate/law stu- dents). USM consists of three campuses: Portland, Gorham (residential campus), and a branch cam- pus in Lewiston-Auburn. USM currently offers for- ty-seven baccalaureate degrees, twenty-six graduate degrees, and one doctoral program. Each campus has a library, with the Glickman Family Library on the Portland campus serving as the main library.
The student body of USM is a mix of generations.
There are traditional students, some the first gen- eration to attend college, as well as older students who balance work and family commitments and are either returning to complete their degrees or enrolled for the first time.
Information Commons Description
An information commons has been implemented in all three campus libraries. The Glickman Family Library in Portland is the main campus library. The Glickman Commons is located on the second floor of the library and includes fifteen workstations. Of these fifteen, four are public access machines set up for non-USM researchers and include Microsoft Office. Eight workstations are arranged on a ser- pentine table, four per side with two more behind this table. All of these workstations feed into a net- worked laser printer. Four additional workstations sit on an elevated pod and are networked to another smaller laser printer. An adaptive technology work- station is also available on a separate table.
The fourth through seventh floors of the Glick- man Library each contain two or three additional workstations per floor. The fifth floor also houses a small computer lab, complete with scanner, and the Center for Information Literacy, an electronic class- room with thirty-six workstations. A laser printer is also available on this floor. All of these computers include the IC software and menu.
The Gorham Campus Library Information Com mons has fourteen computers, with ten of these workstations (five each) divided among two computer pods. An L-shaped area contains the other four workstations: two public use machines, one machine dedicated to a special education law software package, and one adaptive technology workstation. The second floor of the library has two additional workstations, which also contain IC software and menu.
The Lewiston-Auburn Campus Library Informa- tion Commons features three computer pod areas, one with six workstations, another with five workstations, including an adaptive technology workstation, and an elevated pod for two other work stations.
All three campus libraries provide collabora- tive workspace in the form of group study rooms or areas as well as individual study areas. The Portland campus also has a media viewing room adjacent to the Commons on the second floor. All three cam- puses are also wireless environments.
Information Commons Ser vice Transaction Statistics
Statistics are kept at each ser vice point and include directional/research/technical questions asked and whether they are in person or by telephone. One of the goals for the near future is to implement a more robust virtual reference ser vice.
Information Commons Staffing and Training
Research and technical support is provided at each information commons ser vice point, which is also the reference desk. Each desk is staffed singularly from a pool of 9.5 FTE librarians, 3.5 FTE classified staff, and 1 FTE IC student assistant. The number of staff per library varies. The desk in Portland is staffed 67 hours a week, Gorham covers 58 hours a week, and the Lewiston-Auburn campus offers 62.5 hours a week. Because of a small staff, which also provides library instruction and consultation,
Case Studies: Large Academic Libraries 87 students are also used to staff the desk, sometimes
without librarian backup. At the Portland campus, the IC staff member on duty carries a cell phone and, if he or she steps away from the desk, leaves a sign on the desk alerting the user to this option. The Lewiston-Auburn campus library has a combined Circulation and Information Commons/Reference ser vice desk.
A Blackboard site has been created to serve as training/policy and procedures manual as well as a communication mechanism, especially between staff and students. A full-fledged training procedure is still being drafted. Procedures already in place have been documented and included in the manual.
What’s on the Desktop
All USM Information Commons workstations include access, via a branded menu of resources, to the Microsoft Office suite; 194 proprietary data- bases; EndNote, the bibliographic management software package; Blackboard, course management software; Internet; and the USM Computer Lab software packages. Printing is available on all net- worked workstations for a fee and requires funds being available on the user’s USM card.
Information Commons Assessment
Currently, there are no formalized assessment pro- cedures in place. Goals for the future include the creation of a student advisory board, focus groups, and participation in LibQUAL+. Additionally, soft- ware has been added to track workstation log-ins.
Information Commons Governance
An Information Commons Committee oversaw cre- ation of the Information Commons and disbanded
after implementation. Decisions are now made by the director of university libraries, head of refer- ence, and Information Commons coordinator, with feedback solicited from all library staff.
Lessons Learned
z The urgency to implement the information commons should be tempered by sufficient staff training, especially for student assistants. The idea of traditional reference was more ingrained than expected by staff in all areas of the USM libraries.
More standardized and regularized training would have provided a better comfort level with the idea of tiered ser vice. Because we had a cadre of student assistants who were new to providing reference, the need for more and better training became even more apparent.
z Staff discussions must be broad-based and re- peated. The concept of the information com- mons was not clearly understood by all staff.
Discussions should be continued even after full implementation to create more complete staff buy-in.
z Secure sufficient dedicated funding for imple men- ta tion, particularly to address furniture issues and building additional collaborative spaces.
z There is a need for a formalized mechanism for tracking the number of log-ins and length of stay for each user. Although we have anecdotal evidence of increased usage, there are no real statistics.