The Michigan State University Libraries and the College of Arts & Letters are partnering to build a state-of-the-art Digital Scholarship Lab. The 8,000-square-foot space in the Main Library will feature a 360-degree immersive visualization room that will accommodate up to 20 students along with a Virtual Reality room for experimentation with VR headsets.
There will be dedicated lab space and informal gathering areas to facilitate cross-disciplinary collaboration. Students in every major will be able to use the advanced and graphics-intensive computing software and interactive visualization for research projects and scholarly exploration. Offering extended hours, including nights and weekends, to accommodate the realities of student life, this space will be unique among specialized computing spaces on campus.
“We have an enormous amount of interest in digital scholarship, immersive visualization, and virtual reality from students and faculty across disciplines, and we are excited to be able to create a space that will encourage research and teaching around these cutting-edge concepts,” said Terri Miller, Assistant Director for Public Services in the MSU Libraries. “This space will be an idea incubator for faculty and students from all over the University who are interested in exploring and integrating digital scholarship into their research and teaching.”
The Digital Scholarship Lab will be available to faculty to support their research and promote innovative instruction. Librarians and faculty partners across disciplines will promote a wide range of research endeavors through consultation, advising, workshops, and instruction sessions. The space will bring collections, resources, tools, and expertise together, all in one place.
“The College of Arts & Letters is thrilled to partner with the MSU Libraries on the development of the Digital Scholarship Lab,” said Christopher P. Long, Dean of the College of Arts & Letters. “Our collaboration has created a dynamic and innovative space in which students, faculty, and staff can work together to advance leading-edge digital scholarship that will elevate MSU’s widely recognized strengths in the digital arts and humanities.”
The Lab will be adjacent to Hollander MakeCentral on the second floor of the Main Library’s west wing, extending the MSU Libraries’ support for emerging technologies for teaching and learning across disciplines. Construction of the Digital Scholarship Lab is already underway. The space will open during the Spring 2018 semester.
