Bradwell Institute

2:50-4:35PM
I went and worked at Bradwell Institute today. It was the first time I actually was able to put hours in there for a long time. When I walked in, I got right to work. There are several books and non-print items that need to be cataloged, so I will work on that until they are done. I also got a more thorough tour of the facility, a detailed floor plan, and a run-down of the schedule and other procedures. There were several students that were in the media center at the time working on the computer stations and there was a procedure for that that was explained to me. The students have computer cards that have barcodes that the students need to use and they are also required to sign in and out on a log.
One of the procedures that I am completely perplexed about, being that it is 2009 and a completely technological world, is that the media center still uses library cards to check out their books and other items. When I asked why they did this, she explained that the magnetic stickers were placed under the pockets, so instead of redoing all the books in a different manner, they just decided to continue to use the cards. The barcodes are placed on the cards instead of the actual books. I think this needs to be changed in the future in order to keep up with the technology and the times. However, I somewhat understand her reasoning for it.
The media center at Bradwell is incredibly spacious! That is one benefit to the center. I am going to use this space as my facility plan for FRIT 7132 and can't wait to really explore the space and create a vision for a completely different media center. With as much space as has been given to this center, I look forward to this assignment!