Citation
Mitchell, E. and Watstein, S.B. (2016), "What does it mean to be your campus’ “Intellectual Hub?”", Reference Services Review, Vol. 44 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/RSR-12-2015-0052
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
What does it mean to be your campus’ “Intellectual Hub?”
Article Type: Editorial From: Reference Services Review, Volume 44, Issue 1
This concept of a hub is emerging, albeit slowly, in the broader literature of business and management. Here, writers and practitioners are speaking about the convergence of wisdom and work; theory and operations; and the power of knowledge, experience and excellence rolled into one.
Within libraries, Herman Miller suggests the concept of the library redefined[1]. New breeds of libraries are situated within this context. Here, readers will encounter the suggestion that “The library is the technology, social, and research hub of campus[2]”. Here, readers will also find discussion of the “learning hub”, and how this relates to, and extends, the library’s core. Herman Miller’s interest, of course, is the design challenge. We share that fascination with “library as place”, and Reference Services Review has devoted considerable real estate to changes in learning patterns, collections, technology and use – and how these changes impact both roles and space planning.
We suggest that this concept of a “hub” might be defined in several ways that are relevant to libraries:
as the center from which new ideas and philosophies emerge and can be most easily integrated into the institutional character;
as a “spirited, high-quality learning environment” where “students will thrive in programs made rich by research and hands-on experience[3]”;
as the first consultancy […][4] where users will find wisdom at work; and
as vigorous intellectual communities that include a mix of faculty, staff and students and academic programs that enable students to identify their intellectual interests and to pursue them deeply.
Within academic libraries, we are familiar with the concept of intellectual commons. We draw readers’ attention to the University of Cincinnati Libraries’ 2014 Strategic Plan in which it is stated thus:
We will become leaders in defining the changing role of academic […] UC Libraries will be recognized as the intellectual hub for students, faculty, researchers and […][5].
Shifting local: YOUR campus’ physical and virtual reality
Shifting attention to YOUR campus’ physical and virtual realities, we challenge our readers to ask their colleagues, staff and stakeholders “what is our campus’ intellectual hub?” Is it a college, such as a college of arts and sciences, that provide academic programs that support the mission of the entire institution and shape its identity as a comprehensive research university? Is it a department within an academic division or college? Or does your academic library serve as the technological, social and research hub of campus?
Consider the knowledge networks that define your campus. Take a stab at connecting them. Now ask yourself the same question – “what is our campus’ intellectual hub?” The “central” intellectual hub? Is your library a part of the answer? If so, why? If not, why not?
Reference services review
Focusing on information literacy instruction and assessment, three of the articles in this issue demonstrate RSR’s commitment to the knowledge network that both underpins and shores up our profession.
Julia Rodriguez, “A Massively Flipped Class – Designing and Implementing Active Learning Information Literacy Instruction for a Large Enrollment Course” considers flipped classrooms – a pedagogical model that continues to turn the traditional classroom on its head. Rodriguez’ article explores this pedagogical model in which the typical lecture and homework elements of a course are reversed.
Scott Lanning tackles citation style – perhaps the bane of public services’ academic librarians. Lanning’s “A Modern, Simplified Citation Style and Student Response” will be of interest to front-line practitioners who, we suspect, rarely use the adjectives “modern” or “simple” to describe citation styles.
Anne Graf’s and Benjamin Harris’ “Reflective Assessment: Opportunities and Challenges” explores reflective assessment – a form of metacognition, a concept that is growing in popularity in educational circles – and with good reason. Simply put, metacognition is “thinking about thinking” (Costa, 2001) or what we know about what we know[6].
We’re especially pleased to share with our readers Mary Van Ullen’s and Jane Kessler’s “Citation Apps for Mobile Devices”. Online citation tools grab Van Ullen’s and Kessler’s attention, and readers will be pleased to learn that yes there’s an App for that!
RSR’s co-editors, our Editorial Advisory Board and our Ad Hoc Reviewers alike, work to keep RSR on its toes – relevant and a “must read” for practitioners across the board. Katherine Clark’s manuscript “Reference Services Review: Content Analysis, 2012-2014” provides a quantitative description of the journal’s continuing development, and, we suggest, insight into trends and trending within our profession in the period covered.
We’ll continue to give our attention and energy to RSR, and look forward to our readers’ feedback and engagement in the months and year to come.
Eleanor Mitchell
Director of Library Services, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA, and
Sarah Barbara Watstein
University of North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina, USA
Notes
1. http://www.hermanmiller.com/research/solution-essays/library-redefined.html (accessed 6 December 2015).
2. http://www.hermanmiller.com/research/solution-essays/library-redefined.html (accessed 6 December 2015).
3. http://www.ucalgary.ca/research/files/research/becoming-a-global-intellectual-hub.pdf (accessed 6 December 2015).
4. http://intellectualhub.com/index.html (accessed 6 December 2015).
5. http://www.libraries.uc.edu/content/dam/libraries/about/docs/strategicplan.pdf (accessed 6 December 2015).
6. http://www.principals.org/Content.aspx?topic=Reflective_Assessment (accessed 8 December 2015).