高校图书馆的中心地位 英文翻译.docxVIP

Centrality of the university libraryThe university library has always been at the geographicaland intellectual centre of the campus. However, this role,which was formerly based upon the importance of the bookand journal collections, has been reinforced by the revolutionin IT provision, interactive learning and multimedia. Nowthe library is the primary focus of campus connectivitythrough both its provision of technology-enhanced educationalprovision and the use of wireless networking (Marmot,2005, p. 50). This has enhanced the importance of the centraluniversity library at the expense of faculty libraries and inturn has encouraged the library to innovate in its provision ofsupport for learning and research. At the same time, theuniversity library has assumed the role of flagship for theirinstitutions with the emphasis on innovative architecturaldesign, high quality construction and fittings, generous use ofspace, accessibility and transparency (Wilson, 2008). Thecentrality exists on three levels: as an intellectual centre, asthe focus for wire and wireless information connections, andas an architectural symbol. Disraeli’s dictum that universitiesare places of ‘light, liberty and learning’ is nowhere moreevident than in the design of the university library.The sense that the college or university library is the majorvehicle for campus connectivity in both paper-based learningsupport and IT provision has had twomain effects. First, thereis growing pressure to ensure that library facilities are available24 hours a day and every day of theweek.This in turn hasencouraged the construction of social spaces and cafes in thelibrary, which through WiFi have become informal learningzones often away fromthe gaze of library staff. Here studentscan network not only with peers but teachers and professorswhomay be using the cafes to take refreshment. Studies havesuggested that these informal social spaces have become animportant arena to support more structured teaching(Marmot, 2005