2006/07 has been a very busy year for Library and Learning Resources at University of the Arts London. Work continues on the development of the virtual library environment. Endeavor’s Voyager is being used for circulation, cataloguing, ILLs and acquisitions whilst Serials Solution has been adopted to improve access to e-journals. Ex-Libris’s resource discovery products, SFX and MetaLib, will be implemented in the future, hopefully in time for the start of the new academic year.

As a supplement to college-based facilities two University-level initiatives were successfully launched in 2006/07 – the Learning Zone in October 2006 and the Archives and Special Collections Centre in March 2007 (see below for more information).

The Learning Zone @ The Student Hub

The Student Hub opened in October 2006 as a place where students from across the University can come to work and learn, to seek support and advice, and to socialize and relax. An integral part of the Student Hub is the Learning Zone. This facility is very informal and flexible in character to encourage an ambience of creativity and community. Students can move furniture around to suit their needs in a large open plan space or they can choose to work as small groups within one of the two fully-equipped break-out pods.

The Learning Zone is a wireless environment with a laptop lending service to supplement the fixed IT workstations. In addition to the IT facilities, presentation and artwork equipment is provided alongside a collection of core library texts. The emphasis of the space is on student empowerment and as part of this commitment students are employed to provide frontline peer support. During term time the Learning Zone is open seven days a week and late into the evenings. It is already proving to be a very popular facility with many students.

The University Archives and Special Collections Centre and the Stanley Kubrick Archives

The first phase of the University Archives and Special Collections Centre was completed in January 2007. The facility includes a climate-controlled secure storage area, a small public enquiry room, display space, collection management and digitization area. 

The Stanley Kubrick Archives was delivered to the Centre in early March and work is now underway on the initial sorting, processing and cataloguing of this extensive collection - items span from personal correspondence, annotated scripts and call schedules through to set design layouts, costumes and stage props.

The University is working on an international fundraising campaign alongside the submission of a Heritage Lottery Bid to finance plans for Phase II of this major University project to create a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary flagship Centre that will hold a wide range of collections and facilities appropriate to teaching, learning and research within arts, design and communication.

Pat Christie
Director of Library and Learning Resources
University of the Arts London