Research center opens at PSU library
The second floor of the PSU library is now home to the new research and learning center. The new research center, which opened its doors last Monday, is an area where students will have access to various subjects of research in one convenient place.
Before the research center opened, students would have to travel from floor to floor in order to research a particular field of interest. For example: if a student wanted to research political science, the research section would be on the fourth floor. If a student wanted to research science, the student would go to the fifth floor.
“This new facility simply puts all fields of interest for research on one floor of the library,” library director Tom Pfingsten said.
The idea for this move to the second floor dates back almost five years ago, and construction began in July. The library had to raise $2.86 million to start this new facility. The federal government contributed $500,000, $1.43 million came from state-issued bonds and the rest were from donations.
Although everything is not in place yet, such as all of the books, Michael Bowman, the science librarian, hopes that the finishing touches will be completed by the beginning of next week.
Within the new center, there are 44 new computers for use of the research facilities. Any students registered at PSU are allowed to these computers, with an ODIN account. Outside users must have ID, and are allowed to have one session at the computer for two hours a day. To obtain an ODIN account, go to any PSU computer lab to register.
One of the features that the staff finds most useful, is the new consultation stations. There are three stations, located in the rear of the library, overlooking the football field, where students, by appointment only, can have a librarian help them with their research.
“This is available for both single students as well as groups of students who want to research something for a project,” Bowman said.
“We’ve been quite busy this year,” Bowman commented.
When the research facilities were scattered around the library, talking to librarians became quite difficult. “With one floor donated to research, there will almost always be a librarian at the front desk to help students,” Pfingsten said.
Originally on the second floor were general newspapers, magazines and psychology research, these have all been moved throughout the library.
The library also has a homepage. To see the library’s Web site type: www.lib.pdx.edu. Open 24 hours a day for PSU students, the library is located in the South Park Blocks, at the corner of Southwest Park and Harrison.
