178 · Representative Documents: Planning and Assessment
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Space Requirements for Mann Library (excerpts)
Wifi -­‐ Interestingly, when asked where they would like to use computers, a couple of
participants mentioned wanting to be able to use their laptops outdoors more easily in
addition to indoor locations.
AV and multimedia -­‐ For one of our students, Mann’s AV production room for projects
and video has been a fantastic space and would like at least one more to be available just
in case one is in use. She also noted that having two stations in the AV room could be an
issue. Sometimes she doesn't want people to hear and see her project so maybe partition
or more privacy would be nice.
Other tools used for individual and group assignments: whiteboards, tackboards,
GoogleDocs, Gmail/Cmail, Microsoft OneNote, WordPad, StickyNote Dropbox
Blackboard, Doodle, paper notes, and basic Office (Word/Excel) were all mentioned. For
keeping track of assignments and schedules, paper planners (especially the Cornell
planner) seemed to be as important as phone calendars and reminders still.
Collaborative spaces: Frequency &type of group projects/study depend on major &college, e.g.
those who are in field/lab/other spaces might not have traditional group projects but have other
collaborative needs (compiling lit reviews, PowerPoint presentations). There are different needs
for different types of group work and collaboration (just meeting to assemble pieces of project
working on projects or brainstorming deciding direction studying and doing problem sets or
other work in proximity to others working on similar things, etc.). Timing and scheduling of group
meetings and proximity to and availability of space is an important issue. There was a recurring
need for a variety of sizes of group study spaces, some of them reservable, also represented in
the Mann Facility Space Planning Report. Proximity is an important factor in deciding where to
meet for groups (indicating our main customers are probably people near us). Since scheduling -­‐
finding a time when everyone can get together -­‐ and availability of group space at time of need
is an issue for those working in groups, a reservation system for some rooms is needed. There
especially seems to be a need for reservable space for small groups (especially two to five
people, as 2-­‐4 person group size is common according to our observations and it is infrequent
that a group consists of 6 or more students). However, as group space is at a premium, some
students prefer that some spaces remain non-­‐reservable and first-­‐come, first serve so they can
just come in instead of someone reserving in advance for the whole day and maybe not being
there. A student recommended having some system to monitor whether or not a space was
being used for group or individual use—whether reserved or just people studying in there-­‐-­‐ so
there would be no abuse of space. Another indicated that sometimes they were not sure what
was available.
Service points -­‐ Moving the information desk to the side came up a couple of times (too exposed,
intimidating in current location) and removing the tables came up. Someone also wanted a
circulation desk just for equipment and an “IT professional desk.” Also a student mentioned that
sometimes he has a question during the day and Mann’s front info desk is always very far away
from where he’s doing work and he would like a more accessible help desk with a librarian who
can help with research.
Food and drink-­‐ Manndible received very positive reviews a majority of students mentioned the
important role of having quality food and drink accessible in the lobby. However, a few students
indicated they wanted more self-­‐serve options like vending machines (including a vending
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