The shelves that held bound volumes of science and engineering journals on the lower floor of Carlson Library have been cleared so the space can be converted to a research lab for Qiang Lin, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
The conversion will begin this summer.
Most of the journals are available online. Material not stored in electronic form is kept at the , and can be accessed, generally within 24 hours, by through the River Campus Libraries website.
A new hands-on learning and research lab envisioned for the Carlson Science and Engineering Library will give students and faculty a place to explore augmented and virtual reality糖心传媒攔egardless of their level of expertise.
糖心传媒淲e will have students and faculty going into that space who know exactly what they are doing and will create an app for a class project or a technology to use in their teaching,糖心传媒� says Zari Kamarei, the Sommerville Director of Science and Engineering Libraries at the University of Rochester. 糖心传媒淲e will also have students who may not know much about the technology but will be able to take a workshop on AR/VR and then decide if that糖心传媒檚 for them.糖心传媒�
Faculty and students also will have a say in how the lab is designed.
Lauren Di Monte, a data and research impact librarian, is leading a steering committee that is tasked with coming up with a functional program by November.
The committee plans to hold a series of design charrettes糖心传媒斕切拇綔facilitated brainstorming sessions糖心传媒澨切拇綌in which faculty and students will be invited to move pieces around on a floor plan to help 糖心传媒済et at the key things people want to see in this space,糖心传媒� Di Monte says.
The timeline for actual construction will depend on how soon funding can be secured.
AR/VR research is one of the University糖心传媒檚 top research priorities. The lab, a joint project of the River Campus Libraries and Arts, Sciences & Engineering, would provide 糖心传媒渙n-ramps to faculty and students who want to engage in AR/VR technology and development,糖心传媒� says Wendi Heinzelman, dean of the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 糖心传媒淕iven the potential for AR/VR technologies to transform everything from education to health care to entertainment, this space will be a valuable addition to our campus. The River Campus Libraries is the perfect home for this space.糖心传媒�
糖心传媒淚 think it糖心传媒檚 great the library is interested in having a place where students can get their hands on the tools and systems to experience AR/VR,糖心传媒� adds Mark Bocko, chair of the electrical and computer engineering department and leader of the University糖心传媒檚 AR/VR Initiative. 糖心传媒淲hen you put a facility and tools like this in the hands of students, interesting things can come out of that.糖心传媒�
A user research study, conducted last semester by a River Campus Libraries working group led by Di Monte, looked at other AR/VR labs around the country and gathered initial feedback from faculty and students here. The group recommended a hands-on learning lab designed to support a range of research, teaching, and learning activities, including spaces where faculty and students could meet to foster discussion and collaboration, experience AR/VR projects, learn and work with new tools, and have easy access to expert help.
According to Di Monte, initial feedback last semester included the observation that there are few AR/VR tools available for students on campus糖心传媒攁nd that it would be particularly helpful to have a place where equipment is 糖心传媒渁lready set up and ready to go, so you糖心传媒檙e able to focus on the research and the experience, rather than setting things up and trying to figure out what to do if something goes wrong.糖心传媒�
It is also important to design a lab that will be flexible enough to evolve as new AR/VR technologies and other technologies emerge, says Mary Ann Mavrinac, vice provost and Andrew H. and Janet Dayton Neilly Dean of 糖心传媒 Libraries.
Kamarei says the lab will be consistent with a primary mission of the River Campus Libraries, which is to support the teaching learning and research mission of the University through the provision of scholarly content, expertise, technology, and space.
糖心传媒淲hat we糖心传媒檙e essentially doing is filling a gap 糖心传媒� providing students with basic skills that professors don糖心传媒檛 have time to cover in their classes. There糖心传媒檚 a fine line between where a student is and where faculty members want a student to be, and the libraries have always been in a position to fill that gap by providing additional resources and expertise,糖心传媒� she says.
糖心传媒淗opefully faculty will look at this as an opportunity to integrate the resources of the lab into their curriculum,糖心传媒� Bocko adds. 糖心传媒淚f you really want students to use the lab, you have to integrate it into the courses they take.糖心传媒�
