SPEC Kit 308: Graduate Student and Faculty Spaces and Services · 13
100% of their total, but the average amount of space
devoted to this use is significantly smaller, about 33%.
The percentage allocation of space for other purposes
is too small to be useful to the study.
Services Provided
Thirty-six libraries responded to the set of questions
on which technology services are provided to fac-
ulty and grad students. Although a few institutions
maintain study spaces without technology, the vast
majority (32 of 36 or 89%) provide access to comput-
ers, either desktop or loaning laptops. Seven institu-
tions provide both desktop and laptop computers
for the use of both faculty and graduate students.
Of the others, 17 provide desktop computers and 11
provide laptops. Reproduction equipment, display
surfaces, and computer peripherals are the next most
frequently provided technologies, and this equip-
ment is rarely for the exclusive use of either faculty
or grad students. Software workshops or assistance
are provided by 39% of respondents (14 institutions),
with most reporting that both user groups are offered
this service. A surprising number of institutions (11
or 31%) reported staff-mediated services for printing
and scanning eight of these (22%) also offer staff-
mediated digitization.
Most of the research support offered to these pop-
ulations by the 27 responding institutions are stan-
dard library services. The overwhelming majority
(26 or 96%) offer reference or research help, whether
remote, from a service desk, or by appointment 48%
offer all three of these options. Of the nine institu-
tions that choose to offer only one type of reference
service, eight provide remote reference/research help
and one offers appointment-based help. Sixteen insti-
tutions offer either numeric data or GIS services 11
of these offer both. Citation management software
and assistance is widely offered (20 institutions or
74%), and only four limit this service exclusively to
one group or the other.
A few institutions provide services that are more
unique. One offers services for organizing confer-
ences and colloquiums, one organizes and publicizes
talks by experts, and another coordinates a graduate
student workshop series. Several respondents also
mentioned media support.
Seventeen of the responding institutions offer
teaching support services, most (14 or 82%) offer in-
structional skills workshops and assistance only one
of these limits this service to faculty. Eleven institu-
tions (65%) offer both instructional skills and educa-
tional technology workshops, and six of these also
offer learning object creation workshops, indicating
there is synergy in this combination of services. Six
institutions offer video conferencing services and
four of them also provide vodcasting and podcasting
three others offer podcasting only.
Eighteen institutions reported offering personal
growth services (personal counselling, dissertation
completion support, writing clinic, etc.) to gradu-
ate students and faculty in library service spaces.
Traditional library information literacy/bibliograph-
ic instruction sessions are most common, but it is
surprising that this category was not more widely
reported—only 15 of the 37 libraries that answered
service questions indicated that they are providing
information literacy or bibliographic instruction for
grad students and faculty. Comments suggested that
more institutions are offering personal growth ser-
vices, but not exclusively to these populations. Four
institutions offer both academic content develop-
ment and writing/editing services in combination.
One institution offers special services to international
graduate students.
Partnerships
Forty-four institutions responded to the set of ques-
tions about partnering with other campus units to
provide services to faculty and graduate students.
Thirty-one (70%) indicated that they partner with at
least one campus unit 13 reported no such partner-
ships. Twenty-seven of the 31 (87%) partner with at
least the campus computing center. Of the other four,
one partners with the writing center and office of
research one partners with the faculty development/
teaching excellence office and the graduate student
development office another partners with faculty
development, grad student development, and the
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