Collection Centric to User Centric Academic Library Spaces: Building Requirements of Net Generation Users

Abstract

This paper intends to examine the needs of the net generation users regarding library spaces. In the light of the data collected from 81 users from University of Hyderabad and Maulana Azad National Urdu University, the study looks into the preferences of users and whether the increasing use of Internet requires changes in the library spaces for the future generation. The modern academic community including teachers, students and researchers are more oriented towards using information available on the internet. There is a tendency of the users to spend more time on the web. Libraries are looked up on as learning spaces for collaborative and networked learning. The future of libraries lies in providing a platform to the users where they can converse, collaborate and share the information. Hence, library buildings in the 21^st century are moving away from traditional collection-centric to user-centric service rich libraries.