Sunday, December 5, 2010

The West Tower of Wells Library


The West Tower of the Wells Library, probably the only place an undergraduate student will ever explore during their time at IU. While it is located inside of the main library at IU, the West Tower really doesn’t contain that many books or research material. Although, what it lacks in books it more than makes up for in technology, group and individual resources and study areas. 

Beginning on the first floor of the West Tower is what is known as the Information Commons. This entire floor is where students have access to numerous black and white printer stations, group and individual computer terminals, two large format, color plotters, a color laser printer, information clusters for large groups or classes and the UITS Help Desk. All of the resources on this floor are available to all IU students at little or no cost.

The second floor is what I consider to be a quiet study extension of the Information Commons area. This floor prohibits cell phone use, loud talking, group work and any other noise generating activities. Some reading/research materials are available on this floor, as well as individual computer workstations, couches, work tables with individual power outlets, and a print release station and printer.
The third floor is also dedicated as a quiet study floor for individual work. In addition to all the features of the second floor, this floor is also home to Writing Tutorial Services (WTS). WTS offers free planning and revision assistance to IU students on writing assignments and other written coursework. Students must usually schedule an appointment with WTS as many students utilize this resource.
Moving on to the fourth floor, students will find an enormous sea of desk clusters that are intended for group work. Although more private stations are available for presentation practice or skype interviews, these facilities must be requested/reserved and are often in use throughout the day. Regardless, plenty of space is available on this floor for any size group with no noise restrictions.

Finally, the fifth floor of the West Tower is a smaller version of the fourth, with large group computer workstations. Large tables and wide screen monitors make this the perfect floor for groups working on PowerPoint presentations, Excel spreadsheets or just writing a group research paper. No reservations can be made for these workstations, but there is almost always an available station. A printer and UITS technology consultant are also available at all times.

So if you haven’t already explored the West Tower, now is the perfect time. With the semester coming to a close and finals just around the corner, the right place to study, print and collaborate on your final project(s) may just be at the Library?

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