Moving into education’s future
Michael Higdon/Nevada Sagebrush
Amidst a computer-system change in the 1980s, Getchell Library staff sifted through a card catalog organized by call numbers to keep tabs on books. Students filed a paper card in the bin when checking out materials.
Now transitioning from Getchell to the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center, the staff keeps track of materials electronically. Students request references via the online catalog and center staff finds the document, which is sometimes retrieved by a robot.
“The changes are kind of gradual,” said Vicky Pascucci, who started work at Getchell in 1986. “But it’s a little daunting.”
The $75.3 million center is one of the most technologically-advanced university libraries in the country, featuring an automated retrieval system and top-notch computer equipment.
Twice the size of Getchell, the center opened Aug. 11, creating a place for technology and library services to come together. Behind the reference desk sit library and technical staff working together for the first time.
Computer labs and multimedia equipment are housed just a floor below traditional book stacks, merging ways students can get information.
“It’s a testament of how today’s generation interacts with information and each other,” University Libraries Dean Steven Zink said. “There’s no way students can’t benefit from this.”
Students no longer study behind a stack of books, they instead sit behind a computer screen and rarely reference older documents, he said. Now, both forms of information are available in the same area.
While the new library opens it doors to students, Getchell will sit empty for at least a year to conserve energy and money, Zink said. Minimal utilities will be left on to keep the pipes from freezing.
The closure saddens Alisa Huckle, who has stacked documents and books onto shelves at Getchell for more than 20 years. Now, the library technician loads and accesses the works into a robot in the Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center.
Huckle said the new system will take some getting used to, which can make the transition difficult. At Getchell, she memorized the locations of where to find requested documents. Now, she’s still sorting out the four or five different places things could be. She said she feels like a new employee.
“It’s just a very different world,” Huckle said, who started out as a student worker at Getchell in the early 1980s. “This is the future. It’s like going to Mars — you meet new people, you learn new things. Everyone is having to adapt.”
The Mathewson Automated Retrieval System, the robot dubbed MARS, holds about two million books. Library staff archived books in the system that don’t circulate often, freeing up about 100,000 square feet of space for study areas and computer labs.
When students request a book from the online catalog or at the library services desk, library staff and student workers, nicknamed Martians, type in a call number and the robot brings the book to the staff member.
Employees have trekked between Getchell and the library since June and have loaded 100,000 books into MARS so far. They expect to finish bringing the other 400,000 books to the retrieval system by the end of May 2009.
Huckle said the transition is necessary.
“If we’re behind the times, we’re hurting (students),” she said. “We need to move forward. If we stayed at the old building, we wouldn’t be serving students and faculty.”
Among the improvements is the @One lounge on the first floor of the library. It features three computer labs, equipped with PCs and Macs that are up-to-date with the latest software for mapping, sciences and video editing. Staff is always nearby to help with any questions.
Rusty Torell, a 26-year-old English major, said he plans to spend a few hours per day in the library. He said the new computers read his flash drive, which helps him save essays in progress.
Once the inventory is delivered in September, students can check out various equipment including cameras, laptops, camcorders and DVDs at the multimedia desk on the first floor. A viewing room complete with high-definition screens and seating is next to the check-out stand.
The second floor is the main entrance to the library and is home to the library services and help desks. There are also more computers, studying areas and popular books in the stacks. Bytes Café, which will serve sandwiches, salads, sushi and Peet’s coffee should open in September.
The third through fifth floors provide group and individual study rooms situated near windows with views of the Truckee Meadows, the Sierra Nevada Mountains and most of campus. Special collections, like Basque studies and arts collections, are on the higher levels.
Ben Beal, a 21-year-old environmental engineering major, said one of the building’s best features is the space. Beal, who worked at Getchell for more than two years, said he’s turned students away when computer labs and other areas filled up.
“Now, there’s plenty of room,” Beal said about the 295,000-square-foot library. “It has plenty of resources.”
Tod Colegrove, @One services manager, used to joke that running between Getchell and the library while moving equipment was fitness training for the new building. Now that he’s working at the library, he said he is grateful for the practice because the new building is so large.
Aside from the physical move, the transition represents a leap into the digital era because of the building’s advanced features, Zink said.
Several staff members said they welcome the change, but miss Getchell’s history.
“It feels like the end of an era with the closing of Getchell,” Huckle said. “It’s like saying goodbye to an old friend. Now, it’s like meeting a new friend and learning all about them — the positives and the negatives.”
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