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Attention Dal Night Owls

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Are you a Dal or King’s student looking for a safe, secure place to study after midnight? Look no further.

Beginning the night of Sunday March 7th, the Learning Commons in the Killam Library will remain open after midnight, Sundays through Thursdays, until the last day of exams. Extended hours apply to the North and South Learning Commons only. The Help Desk, Circulation Desk, and upper library floors will close at midnight.
After midnight

  • Access to the Learning Commons after midnight requires a valid Dalhousie ID card (your DalCard). No need to get a new one; just swipe in with your current DalCard.
  • A swipe reader will be installed at the University Ave. entrance. All students must swipe their DalCard to gain access.
  • Students already in the Learning Commons/Atrium at midnight will be required to swipe their DalCard in a mobile card reader. (Students will not have to exit and re-enter the building).
  • The second – fifth floors of the library will close at midnight and students will be required to move to the Learning Commons or exit the building.

Parking/Safety

  • To improve safety, the McCain Building Parkade across from LeMarchant Street will offer free parking from midnight until 3:00am, Sundays through Thursdays, until the last day of exams.
  • If you are walking or biking, consider becoming “study buddies” with friends or classmates who live near you, and head home together. Remember, neither Metro Transit nor the Tiger Patrol operate at this hour!

Killam Learning Commons Workstation Survey

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Results are in! From November 26 to December 2, 2009, the Killam Library ran a survey in the Learning Commons to learn more about demand for our workstations. A whopping 946 workstation users responded to our pop-up invitation (a 40% response rate) and told us all the reasons why they prefer to use our workstations rather than their own laptops.

The biggest issues keeping people from using their laptops were inadequacies of the wireless signal and the inability to print from laptops, rated 3-5 on a scale of 0-5 by 52% and 57% of respondents respectively. The good news is that Dalhousie is installing a new wireless system across campus. By this summer, Killam library users should have much better wireless service, with wireless accessible in the stacks where there are more workspaces with electrical outlets. We are also working with our campus partners to enable laptop users to send print jobs to the Learning Commons printers.

Despite these improvements, however, respondents have indicated that they may still prefer to use the workstations due to the better ergonomics, great atmosphere and convenience of the Learning Commons.

We want Killam Library users to be able to choose the computing method they prefer. The excellent insight provided by these survey respondents means we are better able to ensure that they have these options. A big thank you to everyone who participated in this survey!

Killam LC Hours Extended for Dal Night Owls

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Midnight to 3:00 a.m., with valid Dalhousie ID
Sunday through Thursday
March 8 – April 24, 2010

Stressing about finals? Need more late night study time? We hear you!

Beginning March 8th, the Learning Commons in the Killam Library will remain open after midnight, Sundays through Thursdays, until the last day of exams.

  • Extended hours apply to the Learning Commons only. The Help Desk, Circulation Desk, and upper Library floors will close at midnight.
  • Access to the Learning Commons after midnight requires a valid Dalhousie ID card, also known as DalCard. If you are already in the Library, you will be asked to exit at regular closing hours and re-enterto swipe your ID card.
  • Getting home: To improve your safety when you leave campus, you can move your car into the McCain Building Parkade across from LeMarchant Street at midnight and park there at no additional charge.*
  • If you are walking or biking, consider becoming “study buddies” with friends or classmates who live near you, and head home together for improved safety.

Dal Night Owls is an initiative of Student Services and the Dalhousie Libraries.

*Prior to midnight, you can only park in the McCain Parkade if you purchase a ticket from the dispenser. We’re sorry we can’t make it free earlier, but this is the main parking area for events at the Arts Centre each evening. Cars must leave the Parkade when the Learning Commons closes at 3:00 a.m.

Mick Bottom Appointed LC Tech Lead

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We’re very happy to announce that, having successfully completed his 6-month probation, Mick Bottom is now officially the Learning Commons Technical Lead. Mick says:

“I am very pleased to have passed my probationary period. The past six months seem to have flown by and I have enjoyed every minute. I think the Killam Library is a fantastic place to be and there is also a fantastic group of people within it. I feel honoured to be part of that team.

The Learning Commons is already a terrific resource for students and more enhancements to the user experience are on the way in the coming months – watch this space!”

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