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Between living room and lecture hall
from "foresee - recognising signs, devising solutions, shaping the future", Annual Report of H-BRS 2022
The H-BRS library: redesigned and technically modernised
New furniture, new lighting, new design – the library at the Sankt Augustin campus is unrecognisable since undergoing its extensive renovation. “Thanks to great financial support from Marco Winzker, Vice President for Teaching, Learning and Further Education, we’ve been given the opportunity to modernise our library,” says Dr Armin Ehrhardt, director of the library. A lot has changed. The cosy seating creates an atmosphere “somewhere between a living room and a lecture hall”, finds Armin Ehrhardt. This is important because a pleasant atmosphere promotes learning. The library has also benefited technically, with large screens in every workroom, a WebEx desk and a one-button recording studio, where teachers can record video sequences and students can practise presentations. The student response is enthusiastic. Ehrhardt reports, “We notice this in the length of the stay – the library is often still quite full around 18:00, and study groups work well into the evening.”
New search system
The library team has not just renovated the central learning space for H-BRS students in terms of design and technology. Since July 2022, there has also been another change: Bib-Discover, the new search system of the H-BRS library. The system replaces the previous catalogue and offers a wide range of possibilities. “Bib-Discover is based on a completely new search index. The system searches the entire content of books and journals, no longer just the titles. So you find exactly what you need,” explains Ehrhardt. Thanks to Bib-Discover, students now have access to several million records, including many electronic sources. This way students can even access sources that are not part of the H-BRS library’s hold ings. New filter functions also make it easier to search the huge database.
Guests on the sofa
But not everything in the library is new – old favourites are back again, too. The reading series “Guests on the Sofa”, which has been running since 2000, was reinstated after the COVID pandemic break. Prominent guests took a seat on the sofa in 2022. Among others, Natalie Amiri read from her book about Afghanistan, Shelly Kupferberg about the life of her Jewish great-granduncle, and David Wagner about family traditions at Christmas, ensuring some enthralling evenings at the library.
Mindfulness exercises against stress are part of the training.
