Growing Knowledge: The Evolution of Research

Posted by Celia Walter | 12 Jul, 2010

 

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to the press briefing at the British Library to hear about their new exhibition and project: Growing Knowledge: The Evolution of Research.This is going to be both an exhibition and work of research to see how research is evolving and changing due to the use of new and different technologies.

We started off with an overview of the British Library, which measures collections in millions and kilometres. Questions that need answering include 'what should the future of the library be?' and 'Where are we going with reseach?' The idea is to explore different technologies, such as various types and forms of monitors and screens to see how these can be used within the research environment. Cheering words to hear were that change is necessary in order to remain relevent, so the exhibition will encourage interaction with the tools and also seek feedback. Visitors will have an immersive experience, playing with the Microsoft surface table (which will be displaying the huge Garibaldi Panorama) , and trying out different 'pod' like work stations.

The BL is being partnered in this project with organisations such as HP, Microsoft, Hayworth (furniture manufacturers), Jisc and they'll also have a first ever Researcher in Residence, Dr Aleks Krotoski.

It looks a really interesting exhibition/experiment and will be available from 12th October 2010 until 16th July 2011. The link goes to the website and the twitter hashtag is #blgk

From Phil Bradley's weblog