Winning Entries
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Library Competition 2025 Entries What do you think your student life will be like? What technology will you expect to be using? How will you expect to access information; and exchange knowledge and information? Show us how you imagine SIM Library’s future. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Prize Winner SIM library plays an important role in supporting the development of the student allowing them enrich their learning for lifelong education opportunities and easing their research work burdens by providing access to electronic information and training in digital literacy. It is very essential for SIM to uphold the world class standard in this fast-moving society. Despite students' apparent preference for paper textbooks, SIM would switch to digital and electronic textbook vendors like CourseSmart are can be launched to help them. A digital textbook that is merely a PDF on a tablet that students can carry around would be easy for us as a society to carry around rather than carrying five textbooks to school. The SIM library can have home to a mini-cinema with wide range of DVDs and Blue-rays available with a wonderful sound system installed. The library roof top as a garden is Ecofriendly and also a beautiful place to study at. Besides the garden, the small pavilions along the fish ponds, where you can sit and relax will enhance the student life. We can also have multi-floor meeting area has a linearity that harmonizes with the grid effect created by the many apertures in the cubic exterior. In 2025, I expect to see Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS). To match its cutting-edge design pioneering technology is necessity. ASRS can be introduced, to use robot cranes to pick up books and convey them to the front desk, where it helps user in increased inventory control and tracking, including greater flexibility. This system is implemented and proven successful in the University of Sydney. Epistemic games could be launched; they are computer games that are essentially about learning to think in professionally innovative ways. The Epistemic Games Group has provided several examples. One such instance is students are cast as high-powered negotiators who need to decide the fate of a real medical controversy. In another, they must become graphical artists in order to create an exhibit of mathematical art in the style of M.C. Escher. Urban Science, the game featured in the above video, assigns students the task of redesigning Madison, Wisconsin. Guitar Hero tournament, very popular video-game can be launched to attract non- library users for the very first time. It's popular among both male and female gamer; another is that it can be played on almost every console (as well as mobile phones).
Instant messaging services such as MeeboMe, Facebook and AIM WinZi can be added to librarian profiles as a Chat service available to users to ask for help. Librarians can add library users to their Friends lists. This way library is expanded into digital reference service. Last but not least, a themed unconference room can be launched. A themed camp will keep participants talking about issues around a single agreed-upon topic, offering participants a more focused experience. These cutting-edge programs, innovative services and hottest technologies are expected in the Fast Forward Vision of 2025.
Jahabar Sathick Salma Mahjabeen RMIT, Accountancy student
2nd Prize Winner In year 2025, I expect technology to gain even more grounds in its advancement and things will become even more high tech for all users. Many students will be making use of their high tech smartphones which can represent a unique identity for each of them and also serve as an important information and knowledge sharing tool for them. This can benefit not only to themselves, but to other library users and the library staffs as well. I felt that materials can be borrowed via thumbprint scanning in the future which will make the borrowing process even quicker and less of a hassle for the students. Deadlines for materials to be returned will be alerted via smart watches or other smart accessories introduced in the later part of the year. Alerts on new materials and returned materials for re-borrowing can also be implemented into the applications installed with these smart accessories. Students can use their smartphones and scan the library with a special library application which can act as a GPS to lead them to their desired library materials. Inside the application, there will be a ‘find similar interest’ tab which will alert and lead users of similar interest for meetups when they are together in the library. This allows users of similar interests to interact and share their knowledge even more efficiently than before while expanding their personal social circle with new friends. For part-time students who are very busy with their commitments while juggling school with office work and does not have time to visit the library to get the materials they need, they can use the library application to courier the books which they need to them with a fee charged. When the books are delivered to them, they can acknowledge and borrowed the books officially via their library application by scanning the receipt provided by the sender. For returning of books, the same process can be done with a fee charged as well. Alternatively, students can use the application to search and contact other users who had borrowed the books they need via the message tab in the application. They can meet up in a convenient place and use the application to confirm and transferred the ‘borrowed ownership’ of the book to the other user. This can save them a lot of time as both parties need not go down to the library to borrow and return the books. For students who dislike carrying and flipping through bulky reference books, soft copies of the e-materials can be provided to them via the application or library website. They will be given access codes with expiry dates. E-materials will have copyright protection malware to prevent abuse.
For late returned book payments and for using niche services in the library such as printing or photocopying, payment can be paid via the library application with MasterCard or by tapping their EZ link card behind their smartphone using NFC function. This will provide a good form of convenience for the students. Kwek Meng Kiat, Kenny Finance student, UniSIM Consolation Prize Winners In year 2025, my student life in the SIM library is silent, exciting, efficient and a great knowledge base that I can devote my time to gather knowledge for the course I am currently in and also for my own interests. The library will mainly use solar energy instead of electricity to keep the lights on and to keep the computers running. In addition, there will be no physical keyboards for the computers in the library as right in front of the computer screen would be a keyboard drawing on the table, where you touch the respective letters of the drawing on the table, it will show up accordingly on the screen. Thus, it eliminates both the sound created by the keyboards and also the wear and tear of the keyboards in the library. The contents of the books in the library reaches out to all of the students in SIM and will be fully put in good use. As I will be able to choose how I would like to read the book for all books in the library will be available in the form of both Hardcopy (from the library)and Softcopy (from online at the ease of home or anywhere). This makes it more efficient, as for example when a student borrows the last Hardcopy of the same book, I who is unable to borrow that copy of the book would be able to read the same book online. Thus, the bookshelves with space in between them for people to walk through will be a thing from the past as when I want to get a hardcopy of a book from the library, I will receive it from the book dispenser that contains all the books in the library just like the snacks vending machine where you type out the book name you are looking for in the machine and you will be able to check the number of books that are still available and when you press "confirmed", that book will drop out for me to receive. This makes it more efficient as I would no longer have to hunt for books and be able to save my time. Furthermore, it will create more space in the library where you can add more study tables or computers. Alternatively, when I wish to have the hardcopy of the books and yet finds it inconvenient to go down to the library, I can request for the book I want to be delivered to my house door step at a fee, the same goes with returning the library books, it can also be returned by a delivery service. In the library webpage, there will be a "XChange Knowledge" button where students can go in to contribute their research articles for certain subjects and topics and also view other
student's research articles. There will be a system that a student would have to contribute one of their research articles so as to read three other articles available in the exchange centre. Tan Siew Hwee Annabel Accountancy student, RMIT
Currently in the year 2015, we are only able to use computers and manually access to books. we need to go through quite the hassle to borrow books. So for the year 2025 it will be a totally different experience. Students will have robots to get them their books. They just have to verbally speak to the robot and it would get you the book/item you are looking for. Also in this case they also no need to scan their books to withdraw. Also students can play games in a 3 dimensional room instead of the boring board games we are playing currently. Also E books will be in 3D format where it comes in form of a thumb drive format. we can just click on it and an image comes out like a book and u just have to use your hand to flip through the pages. People will have a system that keeps track of all the books and websites they have read in the library. so next time if they want to share info with their friends, they can just refer to the system. Also the current problems students are facing is forgetting the return date of the items they borrowed. Thus to facilitate this system, students do not need to borrow books in the future. They just have to key in the book they want to borrow in the library and it will be emailed in soft-copy to their SIM email. Student discussion rooms will be built underground where there will be individual cubicles that has food and water facilities. They just have to pre-book the room one week before. Also currently instead of issuing laptops and iPads they will be given watches that allows access to information and internet that can be viewed in 3D. They will also be able to print by just clicking on the watch. Students who want to take a nap in the library the sofas can automatically change to a bed and they can take a nap for a while before attending class, but however the maximum time limit is 30 min. So in the future these are one of the many creations and advancements in technology that allows students to easily access to information and exchange information easily with much more facilities accessible for students. Vanithasshri D/O Krishnan Accountancy & Finance student, UOL