The Information Arcade: A Library and Electronic Learning Facility for 2000 and Beyond

Abstract

In April 1992, The University of Iowa Libraries received a $752,000 grant from the Carver Charitable Trust to develop an electronic learning and information center in the Main University Library. A planning group of faculty, computing center staff and librarians designed the facility which opened in August 1992.The Information Arcade is a 6,000 square foot facility containing 82 state-of-the-art workstations including Macintosh Quadra, NeXT, and IBM PS/2's. All workstations are networked, have multi-media capacity and peripherals. All are connected to the campus network and the Internet. The Arcade contains a 24-workstation classroom with a Quadra and IBM-equipped podium with full projection capability. An extensive collection of electronic resources is being developed, including CD-ROMs, videodisks, full text databases, multi-media databases and development tools.The Information Arcade integrates classroom teaching and learning with the electronic and traditional resources of the library. Twenty-six courses, across the entire curriculum, were taught in the Arcade each term in the 1992-93 academic year. All courses utilize multi-media and are developed by the faculty in the Arcade with the assistance of librarians and computer center staff.The presentation will cover the following topics:1. Background and planning2. Description of the facility3. Challenges during implementation and opening4. Role of the Arcade within the campus community5. Extension of the Arcade resources beyond the campus6. Demonstration of faculty and student multi-media projects developed in the Arcade7. The vision for the future