Originally Posted by williamhend

It looks great, I haven't tried the help desk out yet.. i need help with MLA citation

Feel free to stop by at the research help desk, in the reference area or the learning commons. You can also chat with us online 11-3 Mon-Fri (msn = [email protected]; AIM & Yahoo = maclibraries). There's also an online MLA guide. Let me know if you still need the link.

I'm a little disspointed with what they've done with the learning commons. i miss the old room. Sure, it was a little loud, but at least there was always room (except during exams). And it was a nice place to just go and throw on some headphones and study between classes. Even nicer if you wanted to meet a group of friends to study. But now there's computers everywhere, and very little space to actually sit down with some books and do work. I've found myself using the quiet study room on 4th floor more and more, which is fine, but obviously you can't get together with a group of fellow students and study there....
If i want to use a computer I'll just go to one of the awesome new computer labs in BSB.
Now i need to find somewhere new to meet with my study group.:down:

I'm sorry to hear you are unhappy with the new Learning Commons. It is still a pilot project at the moment. Please feel free to fill out a comment sheet in the learning commons. We are interested in hearing your thoughts. As it is a pilot project, we will be re-examining the Learning Commons. By giving us your feedback, we'll be able to improve the Learning Commons. If we hear from too many people that there are too many computers and not enough group spaces, we may be able to remove some computers. This is new to all of us, so thanks for sharing your comments here and consider leaving your comments in the Learning Commons for our Associate University Librarian.

I agree, I thought initially that it was going to be made just into a cooler looking group study room, but it really just turned into a large computer lab with a few lounge areas.

There are plenty of computer labs on campus, it was the fact that it was a group study room where there were a lot of tables and it didn't have an 'enforced quiet rule' that made it great.

I'd like the Learning Commons a lot more if there was actually some space there. I've tried going there a dozen times, only to find that I've wasted my time as it was packed full. I've only ever been able to use it ONCE.
I guess it will come down to just trying to get there during off-peak hours.

What really bugs me about the "learning commons" is that it is just a giant "check your hotmail and go on MSN" space. that's all i ever see in there. also, i've noticed that since there is no longer a group meeting area in mills (i really don't count the 4 some-odd rooms on 3rd floor since they are always full) people have started holding group meetings just about anywhere in the library: in the book stacks, sititng in the middle of the hallway, or the lobby, and, to my great frustration, in the 4th floor quiet study room!
bring back the old group study area, and if people want to check their email and get on MSN, let them go to once of hte several excellent new computer labs in BSB.

I agree, the learning commons no longer has the same group work atmosphere as before, but I'm sure there can be a positive compromise somehow

Some people argue that there is empty space on the tables where the computers are... but there is a big difference between having a nice big table with all your friends around it being able to see each other vs. an odd shaped table with Dell PC's blocking your view.

I'm sorry to hear you're unhappy with the new learning commons. It is a busy place but there are groups working in there. Part of the space problem this year may be explained by the construction in the Health Sciences Library - as they have little space on account of the renovations, many have made Mills their temporary home. We do realize that space is an issue at Mills and will be reexamining it in the near future. Please feel free to share your thoughts - I believe you may still leave comments in the learning commons, or you can contact our Assistant University Librarian, Vivian Lewis.

Hey Krista, you know the pentagon-shaped tables? They put two of those tables together, and two PC's per table (so 2 of the sides are empty, 2 sides have PC's). I think the logic behind this was to have two people working on a computer, and then space for 2 people to work together without a computer? However, it doesn't seem to be working because people usually are working in groups of 3-4 and so they don't have the room needed at the edge of those pentagon tables. By moving some PC's to other tables to double up, and leaving some tables empty, I think having empty pentagon tables for group work would be amazing because groups are usually of 3-5 people, and the pentagon table shape works out nicely. With some rearranging to make some more empty tables for group work, I think it is possible for the room to work in both favours.

Just a thought.