The Project Objectives
One of the key elements of the 21st Century vision of Marshall University
as outlined in university documents, including the SB 547-required five-year
strategic plan, is the commitment that Marshall is to be "one of the
most technologically sophisticated universities of its size and type in
the nation." The library/information center project is the core of
that effort.
The library/information center project will accomplish the following objectives:
-It will provide some 120,000 square feet of space especially created to serve as the heart of the 21st Century interactive university--Marshall University.
-It will result in an ultramodern, nationally prominent library/information center focusing on undergraduate education and will include open stacks, abundance of computerized workstations for students, a 24-hour reading/computing lab, 250 individual study areas, two high technology presentation rooms, the university's computing center and media services. It will be a focal point for the entire campus.
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It will serve as the heart of a Southern West Virginia interactive learning
resource which will be hardwired into every high school in this part of
the state, providing unique, technologically sophisticated learning resources
to schools and public libraries alike.
-Because of recent developments with the VTLS library software used by all public libraries and most public college libraries in West Virginia, this facility will be the key to a virtual library system that will help set national standards well into the 21st Century.
-As a result of the shifting of undergraduate learning resources to the new facility, the university will be able to accomplish two additional objectives: (1) The existing library can be retrofitted within the project budget to serve as a unique location for government documents, specal collections, research materials and remote storage and (2) the resituating of campus grounds, including parking and access for the handicapped to university central facilities, will be accomplished.
-This new facility will be at the heart of a 21st Century electronic
community which will include schools, hospitals, businesses and governmental
units in the Charleston-Huntington area and all of Southern West Virginia.
Through partnerships with the Huntington and Charleston CLIN organizations,
the 2,000-mile fiber optic system Huntington now enjoys, full partnership
with Bell Atlantic West Virginia, the $10 million NSF-funded Appalachian
Learning Systems (ALS) recently awarded to Marshall (and the University
of Kentucky and Appalachian State University), the facility will truly be
the engine which drives education, health care and economic development
in the region for decades to come.
The Mission Statement
-The new facility is critical for Marshall to fulfill its mission as the interactive university for Southern West Virginia. As such, it is clearly consistent with the university's mission statement. In 1993, the students of Marshall University approved a new Library/Computing fee to support the university's initiatives in these areas, including providing support for the new facility.
Floor Design
The Library/Information Center floors will contain the following:
First Floor:-Main Entrance-Atrium-Reference Services and Collections-Circulation Services-After-hours Study/Computer Lab-24-hour Cafe-Special Training Room-Library Public Services Administration-Telecommunications Support Facility
Second Floor:-Open Stacks/Study Area-Lobby and Student Lounge-Study Rooms (small, medium, large)-Periodicals /Microforms-Media Services-Staff Lounge
Third Floor:-Open Stacks/Study Areas and Rooms-30 Seat Presentation Room-Computer Services Directors Suite-Library Director's Suite-Information Officer's Suite-Library Technical Service Area
Fourth Floor:--Student/Faculty, Computer/Multimedia Research-2 Conference Rooms-60 Seat Presentation Room- Computer Center Operations
Vision for the Future
Over the last 25 years, the academic library has changed markedly in
its mission, roles and infrastructure. The very concept of a library as
we have always known it has changed, thanks to the rapid development of
new information technology. Enormous challenges now face those who must
build a physical plant to house library and information services of the
future. Electronic bibliographic searching can be distributed with the same
interface to any location, including the faculty and student homes. Additionally,
the sharing of the VTLS electronic card catalogue dramatically reduces the
need for costly duplicate computer systems. We hope to fully implement "Virtua",
the next generation of VTLS electronic library system, by the scheduled
opening of the new facility. A new VTLS web gateway will be implemented
over the next year. The new Marshall University School 
of Medicine Health
Science Library being built on the Cabell Huntington Hospital campus will
be electronically integrated with our new facility. CD-ROM subscriptions,
card catalogue and journals will be shared across a fiber optic link. Graduate,
medical, nursing and allied health students will be able to share document
within and between each facility and campus. A Library Cooperation Agreement
between Marshall University and the West Virginia Graduate College was signed
in March of 1996.
--Text adapted from the Marshall Web Page
Artist's Vision of Completed facility courtesy of University Relations