Jim Hunt Library Progress, Photos

frank
10/21 12:18 PM

Why even bother with books? Why not just scan the pages and make them pdf files?

smitty
10/21 12:43 PM

Sounds like one of many showpiece technologies that the university spends a crapton of money on, which is abandoned due to upkeep after a few years and then becomes a symbol of how far we’ve come and how silly and shortsighted previous generations were.  The library isn’t about books, it’s about getting away from your roommate to study and for misanthropes to hide in the corners and masturbate.

JBS
10/21 02:08 PM

Looks awesome.  Smitty, I know this girl who I think you’d like.  Her name’s Debbie Downer.

David Hiscoe
10/21 03:55 PM

David:

Thanks for the great photos and the article.  One small clarification: the Hunt Library will have tens of thousands of books out on display for browsing—they’ll be the ones that students and faculty use most often.  The robotic bookBot automated book delivery system will hold less-used items, letting users browse them online with a great new virtual browse system.  You’ll be able to look up a book and see all the books that would normally be setting next to it on regular book shelves.  Hit the “retrieve” button and your books will be ready for pickup in minutes.

Frank: 

US copyright laws are complicated, but unless the book was published before 1923, there’s a good chance that it’s not legal to just scan it.  The NCSU Libraries is all about providing everything we can online, but it will be decades before paper-based books—especially older ones that weren’t initially published in digital format—aren’t needed by our students and faculty. 

David Hiscoe
NCSU Libraries

Synaesthete
10/21 09:15 PM

While digital is currently in-vogue, and kicking back with an iPad or Kindle has many advantages to a printed book, I don’t see getting rid of books anytime soon.  It’s hard to imagine what the world will be like after the “everything digital” fad fades away.  Traditional mediums like books have a long history, and it’s still an extremely cheap and accessible means of acquiring content.  Furthermore, as human beings we are extremely sensory and aesthetic, whether we know it or not.  The tendency for digital to limit the full multi-sensory experience of reading, listening to music, etc. means that it will never fully supersede traditional ‘analog’ mediums.  Once the vogue of digital has faded, we will continue to use analog mediums just because they provide a good multi-sensory experience and are nearly as convenient as digital alternatives.  I really love the combination of digital and analog, as in this new library, to get the absolute best of both formats.

Synaesthete
10/21 09:25 PM

Here’s a justification for printed books I haven’t heard before.  A printed book absorbs smells from the environment as well as through natural aging.  The olfactory is one of the more powerful triggers of memory.  The last time I cracked open my copy of Catcher in the Rye, not only did the smell of that book trigger my memory of the book’s contents, it also triggered my memory of that time and place I first read the book.  I think this effect occurs in most people, whether or not they are sensitive enough to notice.  I’ll never get that from a Kindle or iPad (unless it had an inbuilt odor generator, which would be awesome).

orulz
10/23 11:52 AM

In stark contrast to the awesomeness of this building, have a gander at the rather tremendously disappointing plans for the Greens at Centennial Campus apartment complex.

http://www.raleighnc.gov/content/PlanCurrent/Documents/DevelopmentPlansReview/PlansInReview/2011/PlansSubmittalMapsByType/GroupHousing/GH-006-11.pdf

Synaesthete
10/23 06:16 PM

^I wonder what’s behind this recurring style of residential condos.  They’re barely more stylish than college dorm rooms (and I’ve actually seen more inspiring dormitories recently).  How difficult is it to do something more interesting?  Style aside, there’s a lack of “shared community resources”.  Take the gorgeous communal courtyards of Founder’s Row or Grosvenor Gardens.  What happened to big inspiring lobbies with a friendly security guard, maybe combined with a nice cafe, with real artwork.  I’m sick of the dinky mid-rise pools, almost complete lack of courtyards, tiny hotel-like gyms, and lobbies that act solely as a sales office.  What’s the point of high-density living without the shared spaces and good landscaping?  Why live so closely packed if you’re just scooting down an empty hall in to your little isolated living box?  Centennial Campus is an amazing concept… I like consistency in a master plan, but the residential architecture must starkly contrast the sterilized laboratories and classrooms.  This library inspires innovation and knowledge, and likewise the residential buildings must inspire comfort and community.

Synaesthete
10/23 06:29 PM

^^On further inspection, I just realized that the “style” of this place isn’t even remotely in line with Centennial Campus.  It looks like another Wolf Village.  I thought that campus was supposed to be a showcase for the best of NCSU.  Why not get some College of Design types to work out something more inspirational?