Academic libraries have always existed for scholarly research. But the information age is helping librarians and technology experts to become partners in making information and computer skills more readily available to students and other library users. At the Elizabeth Huth Coates Library of Trinity University, building space is being integrated with electronic resources to create a new generation of information commons. 

Other universities have developed an information commons to coordinate space, technology, and expertise. What makes Trinity’s information commons unique is the fact that facilities are blended seamlessly, with data ports installed in study cubicles against a backdrop of reference books, all of which is located adjacent to a help desk staffed by reference librarians alongside information technology workers. That way, students can easily obtain assistance, if they need it, to set up an Excel file, create a chart to illustrate some aspect of scholarly research, or find facts and figures that have not been digitized and are not available by using an electronic search engine. Clusters of workstations also meet the needs of today’s students who enjoy working communally.

“We tried to do something that integrates our collection in a meaningful way with the other resources of the library,” says Diane Graves, University librarian at Trinity. “A student should not have to do some research in the library and then type a report in his or her residence hall. The whole process should happen here.”

The information commons is funded largely by a $1.2 million grant from the Robert T. and Ruby N. Priddy Fund of Communities Foundation of Texas. 

To learn more about the information commons at Trinity University, contact Susie P. Gonzalez at (210) 999-8406 or e-mail susie.gonzalez@trinity.edu.