Frequently Asked Questions about the Information Commons
What is the Information Commons' (IC) mission?
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As a partnership between the Indiana University Bloomington (IUB) Libraries and University Information Technology Services, the Information Commons (IC) supports
and enhances student learning and research by providing state of the art technology and resources in an academic environment. We provides reference services,
media services, and instructional services and support to IUB faculty and students. In addition, ICUGLS is responsible for outreach,
cultural programming, and building collections that support undergraduate coursework and learning.
- The Information Commons 1 provides an environment conducive to active learning and collaborative work.
- The Information Commons 2 provides a productive environment for quiet, individual work.
What are the IC's policies?
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All IC users must adhere to the following
- Respect for others and appropriate personal conduct are requirements for making the dynamic and academic environment of the IC possible.
- Any person who is disrupting or whose behavior threatens to disrupt the work of others in the IC will be asked to cease the disruptive activity or may be asked to leave.
- Unattended computers will be restarted after 15 minutes when patrons are waiting to use the IC equipment.
- Sleeping, offensive bodily hygiene, or behavior that results in complaints or threatens to damage library property, disruptive behavior, food/beverage distribution,
soliciting, roughhousing, pets, rollerblades/skates, bicycles, etc. are not permitted in the IC.
Users of the IC1 must adhere to the following
- Cell phone ringers must be turned off or set to vibrate.
- Individuals using a "Priority Use" group workstation or multimedia workstation will be asked to move to another workstation, if the equipment is needed
for its intended priority use. In addition, an individual may not "hold" a workstation for a group and there is only one workstation per group.
- Speak in normal conversational tones
- From midnight to 8am use of the IC is restricted to IU faculty, staff, and students. Anyone who cannot upon request present a valid
IU Photo ID or proof of official affiliation with IU will be asked to leave.
Users of the IC2 must adhere to the following
- Cell-phones must be turned off.
- Group work is not permitted.
- Limited talking / soft voices
Where is the IC located?
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The IC is located in the Herman B Wells Library on 1320 East Tenth Street, Bloomington, Indiana. Within the Herman B Wells Library we are
located in the West Tower on the 1st - 5th floors.
What partnerships make up the IC?
What is the shared service model of Library and IT staff?
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IC1 Reference and Technology Consulting Desk
Library reference services and technology support share a large service desk in the center of the first floor of the IC. Librarians, support staff, and School of Library and Information Science graduate student employees of
ICUGLS provide reference services for 101 hours of the 168 hours that the IC1 is open each week. Library staff handles over 22,000 reference interactions each year. There is typically one librarian and a library staff person or
graduate student employee on duty during reference hours. Upper-level undergraduate student-employees of the STC provide support 24 hours a day for the more than 180 software applications on the IC workstations. There are typically one
student shift supervisor and one to four technology consultants who handle over 37,000 interactions a year. The technology consultants are hired based on customer service experience and receive resource based training.
Library Circulation and IT Support Center Desk: Library circulation services and IT account and hardware support are located at a service counter at the entrance to the IC1. Undergraduate student employees (from Customer and
Access Services Department) provide circulation services 121 hours each week. Full-time staff and part-time student employees from the UITS Support Center offer walk-in help with IT accounts and repair personal computers and
laptops for student, faculty, and staff for a fee. Support Center services are offered 92 hours per week.
IC2 Information and Technology Support
Directional assistance and technology support are offered at the service desk in the IC2, which is open 117 hours per week. ICUS undergraduate student employees staff the desk 58 hours per week and provide assistance to
library users in locating call numbers for the Core Collection, answering basic directional questions, and shelving and shelf-reading the Core Collection. The STC undergraduate students staff the IC2 desk all hours the lab is open and
provide software support for the 68 fixed workstations and students using the 90 data jacks and wireless connectivity for their laptops and they enforce the quiet and other IC policies.
What types of library services are offered in the IC?
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Reference Services
- Research for course assignments & personal interest.
- Identifying and locating library materials in all formats, including print and electronic.
- Identifying primary and secondary information sources.
- Database searching (e.g. using boolean operators, controlled vocabulary, etc.).
- Effective use of the World Wide Web, including how to evaluate web sites.
- Identifying campus support services
Library Instruction Sessions
- Course integrated hands-on library instruction sessions.
- Requested by faculty and instructors.
- Taught by librarians and graduate assistants.
- Three Instruction Clusters located in the IC1 (each cluster has 1 teacher station, 26 individual workstations, which are available for public computing when not in use).
- Sessions cover research strategies, focusing a research topic, database searching, information evaluation, citing sources, etc.
Circulation Services
The circulation desk in the IC shares space with the UITS Support Center and circulates the following materials:
- Reading materials from the Undergraduate Core Collection
- Laptop computers
- Headphones
- Scientific calculators
What types of IT services/technologies are offered in the IC?
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Adaptive Technology Center
The Adaptive Technology Center (ATC) provides a variety of programs and technology based solutions that are designed to assist disabled students:
- High speed scanning.
- Other alternate media: Braille, tactile graphics, .mp3 audio books, etc.
- Hardware and software loaner programs.
- Web accessibility consulting
IT Training Workshops
There are Software and programming workshops available to students (no charge), staff, faculty, and the public:
-Workshops include Access, UNIX, Dreamweaver, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Perl/CGI, Flash, EndNote, SPSS, etc.
Student Technology Center
Consultants provide technical assistance for patrons using computers and other devices in the IC including:
- Software for word processing, spreadsheets, etc.
- Multimedia applications like PhotoShop and Final Cut Pro
- Using the large, color plotter to print banners, signs, and artwork (special fees apply for color printing).
- Troubleshooting student software and computing problems.
Support Center
- Walk-in consulting: Reset forgotten passwords, Recovery of files, Troubleshoot student computing accounts.
- Carry-in/Extended consulting: Configure personal computer to use wireless network, Install and configure software (available through IU or
customer's personal copy), Scan personal computer for viruses and adware/spyware.
What is Indiana University's code of students' rights, responsibilities and conduct?
What are Indiana University's information technology policies?
What are Indiana University Libraries' privacy policies?
