Quote :

"Not sure the automatic retrieval system is necessary. That's typically a big investment (we have several at my work) and with everything going more and more electronic, is it really worth it for something that will be used less and less as things become digital."

The automated retrieval system (ARS) is designed to free up floor space. Every square foot of space of ARS frees up between 7 and 9 square feet that would otherwise be dedicated to traditional shelving. This space savings comes as books are organized by size instead of call number and much more densely packed. Software keeps track of each book in the system and retrieval requests are automatic... patrons should be able to make them from the catalog and retrieve their books in five minutes.

Because of the ARS, the Hunt Library can have a lot more than just rows of bookshelves and still meet the need of housing two million volumes. Something in the range of 50 reservable study rooms, multiple learning commons, and labs will fill the freed space.

In addition, D.H. Hill Library can start to reduce shelving in the stacks and the opportunity to add new patron study spaces will exist. Satellite shelving may also be reduced, as currently the Libraries are over capacity and multiple off-site locations are being used to house lower-use materials... which comes at an ongoing cost.

3/29/2011 11:45:08 PM

what will the system look like, will it be visible to visitors? i think it would be cool to watch.

3/30/2011 7:54:11 AM

for page 3

Construction is going pretty well...according to these webcams

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary/camera.html

Camera 1: http://152.14.22.251/view/viewer_index.shtml

hahaha holy shit you can control the webcams

Camera 2: http://152.14.48.66/view/viewer_index.shtml

Quote :

"Enjoy the Experience-Each viewer gets to control the camera for 60 seconds. If you aren’t first in line, you can see at the bottom of the web page what number you are in the queue and how long your wait will be. "

3/30/2011 8:06:16 AM

just set the camera to the portajohn...

5/28/2011 2:42:52 PM

When is the estimated completion date?

5/29/2011 5:45:40 AM

http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/huntlibrary/timeline.html

5/29/2011 9:21:52 AM

bump

12/18/2012 8:20:29 PM

Opens up on the 2nd of Jan. All the tech inside is easily worth $Texas

12/18/2012 8:28:52 PM

[Edited on December 19, 2012 at 3:48 PM. Reason : .]

12/19/2012 3:47:56 PM

are they having any kind of ribbon cutting ceremony?

12/19/2012 4:45:26 PM

No idea, they had some kind of party there last night, but it isn't officially done yet.

12/19/2012 5:09:13 PM

It opens January 2nd. The library is complete - they are just furnishing it now. I took a tour about a month ago and it was pretty awesome. The robotic machines are ridiculous and huge. The books are stored by frequency of check out, not title or call numbers.

There is a nice Cisco teleconference machine, the only other one not on Cisco's campus in NC...also, they had an awesome conference room with "smart glass", so when you want privacy, you hit a button and it goes from clear to opaque.

12/19/2012 5:57:51 PM

Also, the game room as like a 10 ft screen. They were playing Skyrim on it earlier today.

12/19/2012 5:58:59 PM

http://www.wral.com/news/education/image_gallery/11892923/

12/19/2012 9:52:31 PM

^^^ If you mean a Cisco Telepresence unit, theres quite a few in NC.

Kinda funny, Fleming's Steakhouse up at Crabtree Mall has one. They say its a way to have a family dinner without the family present. They evdently have one in all their locations.

Heh, I thought the library had opened ages ago. Ill have to swing by sometime now that its done, considering I watched it start to be constructed.

[Edited on December 19, 2012 at 9:58 PM. Reason : s]

12/19/2012 9:57:25 PM

I would prefer to study in a bland sterile building with little distraction. That looks like it would have way too much cool stuff in it for me to focus on work.

12/20/2012 5:50:47 PM

Yea what level of Cisco Telepresence is in there? I have 3 rooms with this setup at work, and another 2-3 at satellite locations in the Triangle.

12/20/2012 7:55:52 PM

anybody else get a letter from the library asking for money?

12/20/2012 8:25:59 PM

Biggest waste of money on campus. Sure, collegiate sports are a waste too, but at least they generate some revenue. Libraries don't make anything. It's a library...a giant storage closet for crusty books few people will ever read(and even fewer now that you can't browse the bookstacks). It doesn't need to be designed by some Frank Loyd Wright wannabe or have playstations in every study room. It's an ostentatious symbol of everything that's wrong with overpriced secondary education in America.

[Edited on December 20, 2012 at 8:38 PM. Reason : Do they plan on demolishing the old library?]

12/20/2012 8:34:40 PM

with that logic, they would demolish main campus

12/20/2012 9:36:49 PM

So they are demolishing main campus?

12/20/2012 10:41:27 PM

SMC just posts random trolls, ignore it

12/20/2012 11:42:18 PM

Yeah, they already started tearing it down.

12/20/2012 11:42:47 PM

What else would they use it for? I doubt it would be very good as classroom space. It was built to house books(well, not the old student union part) I wonder if the floors were reinforced more than in a typical 9 story building.

12/21/2012 12:51:15 AM

Main campus is being bulldozed to build a city park paid for by a property tax increase on people who live on cul-de-sacs around the state

12/21/2012 1:14:25 AM

lol actually went through main campus today and like half the roads are closed/torn up so they pretty much have started tearing it down.

12/21/2012 1:26:33 AM

hahahaha i managed to break camera 2...put it in joystick mode and did something, told it to go "home" and it's just moving around randomly. Even when I close out and come back to it, still just moving about all willy nilly


sorry everyone

12/21/2012 2:36:05 AM

LOL.

12/21/2012 5:58:09 AM

12/21/2012 9:55:41 AM

They just started demolishing EB1, I guess usage of the common area in there overlaps too much with the library!

12/21/2012 10:06:12 AM

you faggots

[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 10:31 AM. Reason : asdf]

12/21/2012 10:31:18 AM

Actually, after looking at the architect's other projects, the library could have turned out much MUCH worse than the horrid squiggle come to life that it is. One house is intentionally made to look like the foundation collapsed. I'm speechless.

http://www.snoarc.no/#/projects/

I'd post photos, but their website is badly designed(don't designers usually want images of their work to be shared and talked about?). Turn treeview off to just browse photos.

I predict that styles will soon shift back to more traditional structures and there will be calls to tear this building down within 25 years, much like Poe Hall. Perhaps they will be able to just cover the exterior with a new facade when the time comes.

[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 12:35 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2012 12:30:36 PM

"but guys, why don't we just use more bricks! what does an internally renowned architecture firm who designed award winning structures such as the Library of Alexandria know about designing libraries!"

12/21/2012 1:19:25 PM

Yeah, I looked at that library earlier. Can't really say I'm a fan. Looks like a terrible waste of space and subject to flooding.(fear of fire, perhaps? hahaha) It seems to me that a building meant to house and protect priceless knowledge shouldn't have giant skylights and be built below sea level.




[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 1:32 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2012 1:30:06 PM

In regards to the new James B Hunt Library...the interior looks nice but the exterior is pretty meh. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of modern architecture and modern-influenced contemporary architecture but something about this just seems like it is trying too hard.

[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 1:33 PM. Reason : ]

12/21/2012 1:32:36 PM

Have you walked around it, or just driven by and seen th loading dock side?

12/21/2012 3:52:25 PM

I'm a big fan of Hunt. I guess all of you forgot how much D.H. Thrill sucked. There were like 10 meeting rooms for the entire building. Hunt has like 100. Plus the view is better and it doesn't look like a state prison.

12/21/2012 4:05:26 PM

I love Hunt Library. I think it's bold and I'm overjoyed that the powers that be actually approved something daring and modern for once, rather than the office park architecture that is the hallmark of Centennial so far. I actually like almost all of Snohetta's projects though--the "collapsing foundation" house is pretty cool as well.

You probably also wouldn't have been a fan of the "indeterminate facade" Best Products store in Houston, commonly recognized as one of the most innovative designs ever built for a big box retailer:

(Perhaps a non-sequitur but the collapsing house reminded me of it, and it was definitely a daring project when it was built in '74. Sadly lost now.

I certainly hope the library isn't ever reskinned in a more traditional style. Such projects almost always end up looking forced, awkward, and/or bland. I'm not against traditional styles--historic preservation is a passion of mine--but in a situation like this, when a new building goes up with the opportunity to be a landmark for its area, something fresh, modern, and nontraditional is the way to go in my opinion.

[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 4:42 PM. Reason : d]

12/21/2012 4:41:33 PM

Quote :

"I'm a big fan of Hunt. I guess all of you forgot how much D.H. Thrill sucked. There were like 10 meeting rooms for the entire building. Hunt has like 100. Plus the view is better and it doesn't look like a state prison. "

Yeah, there are so many group meeting rooms, each with white board walls and a 32 inch tv/monitor.

12/21/2012 5:26:00 PM

Exterior doesn't look great, but at least it's different than the normal buildings on Centennial. The features look pretty awesome though. The space (especially during exams) in DH Hill doesn't come close to meeting the needs of the number of students State has now. Plus half the desks in DH Hill don't even have outlets. Plan on taking a look once its all opened up.

12/21/2012 10:08:32 PM

The BEST store on Western Blvd(now big lots I think) looked almost that trashy and they weren't even trying.

Quote :

"One Saturday afternoon in the late 1970s, when Best Products was going great guns, I spent a couple of hours on the edge of the parking lot, watching the consumers, of which there were many. Observation: nobody, not one single customer, looked UP. Nobody paid attention to the building. People drove in, parked, got out, went in, bought, came out, left, with never a glance at the extremely indeterminate facade. Even after all these years, I’m still not sure what to make of that universal indifference to one of the few truly--and intentionally--funny buildings in the world."

I wonder if they'll use curtains or faux panels to hide those massive Hunt Library windows like they ended up doing on the Hillsborough street side of DH Hill. I wonder if the sun will get in people's eyes as they try to read. I wonder if anyone will ever look up.

_______________________________________________________________________

It can be assumed from reading this thread that libraries and the books within are essentially obsolete. The vast majority of users will simply consider it a giant meeting/study/surftheweb building, which is fine, except that it is far from the majority of dorms. I suppose the dorms will come to centennial soon enough to spoil that grand view from the library's windows. I doubt a square inch of centennial will be left unpaved one day...other than the golf course.


[Edited on December 21, 2012 at 10:55 PM. Reason : .]

12/21/2012 10:44:53 PM

Dorms on Centennial?
http://www.ncsu.edu/housing/apartments/wolfridge/community.php

12/22/2012 5:31:13 PM

Their building dorm dorms too

12/22/2012 5:33:42 PM

Quote :

"The BEST store on Western Blvd(now big lots I think) looked almost that trashy and they weren't even trying."

holy blast from the past, batman. i had completely forgotten about that ever existing. i think i was like, what, 8 when it closed down?

12/25/2012 5:27:47 PM

anyone working in the library know when they will complete hiring?

12/25/2012 5:42:34 PM

For which department?

12/25/2012 5:46:36 PM

library staff

librarians and special librarians I reckon

12/25/2012 5:48:28 PM

No idea, I only work with the IT staff.

12/25/2012 5:49:12 PM

Building opens on January 2nd.

12/25/2012 10:45:42 PM

Opens tomorrow at 8am. Who's campin' out tonight?

1/1/2013 9:54:44 PM