A research project was undertaken recently to address the paucity of significant understanding of the conceptualisation and shared role of libraries in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector.
The Victorian Association of TAFE (Technical and Further Education) Libraries and the Centre for Community Networking Research, Monash University (www.ccnr.net), are partners in the project. The project explored the viability and scope of a Learning Commons model for Victorian TAFE libraries. The methodology was innovative, in that it used a mix of questionnaires, a wiki, and a Search Conference to elicit the views of all participants, who included researchers, library staff, and external experts. The primary finding of the project was that the role of a Learning Commons within an academic environment is the model which best captures the essence of the role of the TAFE library and its mission.
In the wider information and knowledge management community models of Information Commons provide precedents. Whilst most Information Commons are based on a partnership between the library and information technology services of an institution, to provide information and IT services for staff and students, it is a model which has been essentially library-centric. The Learning Commons builds on this commons model and its primary focus on technology, and promotes the facilitation of learning by all other means. It was the focus of shared learning and the shift to libraries as collaborative learning spaces, which has been a valued revelation from the research.