Library Reorientation for
Second-Year Architects
2006
Martin Aurand
Architecture Librarian
ma1f@andrew.cmu.edu
Andrew Carnegie founded Carnegie Tech in 1900, and architect
Henry Hornbostel designed the campus beginning in 1904.
The Carnegie Tech
Campus was
modeled in many
respects after
Thomas Jefferson’s
design for the
University of
Virginia.
But while
Jefferson’s
climactic building
was the campus
library, Carnegie
Tech’s was the
power plant with a
smokestack.
Carnegie thought libraries were very important, and
used his fortune to support hundreds of libraries
throughout the country, including a large public library
just down the street from Carnegie Tech. He figured
that the Carnegie Tech students could go there.
This never worked
very well, however, so
small libraries sprung
up on the Carnegie
Tech campus,
including one in the
College of Fine Arts.
This room now
houses the Studio for
Creative Inquiry.
When Carnegie Tech and the Mellon Institute for Industrial
Research merged in 1967, the new Carnegie Mellon
University inherited a library in the Mellon Institute building.
This facility still houses a biology and chemistry library.
When Wean Hall was built in 1972,
it included an Engineering and
Science Library. Collections cover
topics including engineering,
construction, building materials,
computer-aided design, etc.
Meanwhile, a central arts, humanities, and social sciences library was
built near the center of the campus in 1957-1961.
Hunt Library was named after donor Roy A. Hunt, an important
figure in the aluminum industry. Aluminum was used wherever
possible in the building. Students said that the aluminum fins
made the library look like a radiator.
Hunt Library’s generating idea is the book stack.
The module of the book stack determines most of the
building’s dimensions and spatial configurations.
books
books
Use Cameo, the Carnegie Mellon Libraries
catalog, to find books in our collections.
Books are shelved by
subject using a unique
number generated by
the Dewey Decimal
Classification system.
Books are also shelved by size.
Octavo
Quarto
STACKS
OVRSZQ
Folio
or Elephant Folio
FOLIOS
HUNT OVRSZQ-4 729.28 L7232
To find a book you need to know its library, its location
(which is often related to size and the floor that it is on),
and its call number.
articles
Use databases to find articles in periodicals.
The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals is a
subscription only database that identifies the articles
published in hundreds of architecture periodicals
Avery Index: Advanced Search
reference resources
A Carnegie Mellon Libraries subscription provides
access to this online encyclopedia of the arts
(including historic architecture).
A Carnegie Mellon Libraries subscription provides
enhanced access to this web site about
environmentally responsible building.
ARTstor: A Digital Image Library covering
art, architecture, and archaeology, including
Hartill Archive of Architecture and Allied Art and
Museum of Modern Art Architecture and Design Collection
archives
Deep Web vs. Free Web
Why only use
?
When @
> 1 million books
> 50,000 arts related books
~ 20,000 architecture books
100s subscriptions to online databases
1000s subscriptions to periodicals in paper and online
~ 100 subscriptions to architecture periodicals
~ 110,000 slides and digital images
~ 20,000 architectural drawings + other archival records
access to millions of other items via Interlibrary Loan
1 Architecture Research Guide
1 architecture librarian
Langston Hughes Library
Now in its fifth year, projet MOBILIVREBOOKMOBILE project is an annual touring
exhibition of artist books, zines, and independent
publications. Traveling by way of a vintage
Airstream, the BOOKMOBILE visits a variety of
venues in Canada and the US including community
centers, schools, libraries, festivals and artist-run
centers. A group of coordinators traveling with the
exhibition facilitate a series of workshops, artist
talks, and educational forums. The project has
exposed thousands of visitors to a unique
collection of independently produced book works.
http://www.mobilivre.org/
In a celebration of the Public Domain, the
Internet Archive's Bookmobile will be
coming to a town near you, bringing with
it the ability to access, download, and
print one of the almost 20,000 public
domain books currently available online.
http://www.archive.org/texts/bookmobile.php
http://www.oclc.org/reports/
http://www.ala.org/
• Libraries are changing and dynamic places. As our
communities grow and change, so do our libraries. Large and
small cities around the country have passed referenda in the
last decade to build new central libraries and branches to
accommodate growth and technological change.
• Public libraries are partners for vibrant and educated
communities.
• Three broad themes can be found in many of the new public
library building projects: more technology, including computer
centers and accommodations for wireless access; more
community and performance spaces, including auditoriums and
meeting rooms; and more vibrant and comfortable spaces,
including teen areas and coffee bars.
• Part of the vision for any new central library building is to
make it something of a “destination” for library users—families,
students, new immigrants, senior citizens and more.
• Americans visit libraries more than 1.2 billion times each year,
and this number continues to rise. A 2002 American Library
Association survey also found that library use rises during tough
economic times. Users turn to their libraries for free books, to
borrow DVDs, to learn new computer skills, to conduct job
searches and more.
• Libraries across the country have seen demographic changes
in the past 10 years and are working to meet the changing needs
of their users, including adding bilingual librarians, building
collections, expanding outreach services and increasing
programming. Unfortunately, many public libraries also are
working with tight budgets and growing recruitment needs.
• Many new libraries also are challenging people’s ideas as a
stuffy, slightly musty place. Cutting-edge architecture, innovative
design and reinvention are bringing more light, more beauty and
more personality to America’s libraries.