The New Lied Library At The University Of Nevada, Las Vegas

There will always be unintended effects of new technologies. Some of these unintended effects will be fortuitous and some less so (Nardi and O’Day, 1999, p. 41). Fixed-feature space is one of the basic ways of organizing the activities of individuals and groups. It includes material manifestations as well as the hidden, internalized designed that govern behavior as man moves about on this earth. Buildings are one expression of fixed-feature patterns, but buildings are also grouped together in characteristic ways as well as being divided internally according to culturally determined designs (Hall, 1966, p. 97). One of the unintended effects of new information technology has been the obsolescence of the buildings housing the technology. This seems surprising in part because the technology itself does not directly depend on any particular configuration of physical space. Indeed, the portability of new devices like laptop computers (mine weighs a scant 3.5lb or 1.6kg) seems to defy spatial restrictions. It weighs no more than some textbooks, and holds in its battery enough power for several hours of active work. I can use my laptop sitting on a bench beside the Red Cedar River with the usual gaggle of ducks quacking for bread just as well as I can use it in my office in the technology-rich Digital and Multimedia Center. It is even possible for me to use a wireless network and connect to e-mail, the Internet, even library databases when outside, or while sitting in an unimproved 1960s era building with too few electric outlets and no Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) ports. Information technology can be buildingindependent, but our buildings are not technology-independent. When inside, it makes sense to save the laptop battery by plugging it into the nearest outlet, which means that seats near outlets go first. This phenomenon is particularly obvious in airports, where hordes of business travelers scout every wall and pillar for an open plug, and will even sit on the floor in their pinstripes, if necessary. When inside, it also makes sense to use a cable to link to a network connection. Physical connections are faster, more secure, and less prone to interruption. As voluntary-use facilities, libraries will grow emptier if they offer mainly pre-laptop seating, too few workstations, and do not create an ambience where the physical space matches the cultural space of modern technology. The latter is not easy to achieve. Buildings take a long time to design and build. Once built, the best of them last indefinitely and leave a legacy of wrong guesses and immutable infrastructures, which puts architects and planners in the uncomfortable role of seers examining the entrails of a slaughtered computer for visions of the future. The culture of the contemporary technologyfriendly building has some familiar aspects. People wish to sit comfortably, have plenty of light (though glare is now more of a problem), and be able to look up at some distant