URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Fall_2019_Melissa-McCarthy

URI student discovering the potential of a virtual reality mask.

In the days of card catalogs and microfilm, hushed students and researchers crouched over tables at the university library, peering at books and weathered journals. Librarians maintained order for the collection of millions of books, and they pointed lost souls to the proper stacks to find an obscure copy of a key journal for course assignments. Modern tech consisted of an electronic typewriter with a dry-erase ribbon. Today, while still a study haven rich with books and research resources, the library has been evolving into a community hub of information and data in ways patrons never imagined. At the University of Rhode Island (URI), Karim B. Boughida, dean of University Libraries, says the Robert L. Carothers Library and Learning Commons, founded in 1892 and moved to its present location in 1964, is shifting from being transactional to transformational in its mission. Rather than rest solely on the book and analog resources business, a much more expansive and valuable role awaits the flagship library and its sister libraries at the Providence and Narragansett campuses. The Providence Campus Library supports the Feinstein College of Education and Professional Studies, and the College of Nursing. The Pell Marine Science Library has unique and rare collections on oceanography, marine biology,

Cutting Edge Information TECHNOLOGIES Transforming the Library From Card Catalogues to

written by AMY DUNKLE

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