UBC iSchool’s research studio is now open! A recent donation from Vancouver Island librarian Roberta Ferguson Greig has contributed to the development of the space.
The Roberta F. Greig Research Laboratory is a 315-square foot (29 square metres) research studio.
Generously funded in part by a bequest from Greig, the facilities serve as an area for faculty and students to conduct research activities using modern audio-visual and computer equipment. This laboratory, updated in 2012, meets the long-standing need for a dedicated space within the iSchool to conduct lab-based research, rather than borrowing high-demand research resources from other departments.
The Roberta F. Greig Research Laboratory serves as an important component in establishing the iSchool’s strengthening research profile, as well as preparing students for the current job market. Some of the activities envisioned to occur in this “interactive information space” include website and software usability testing for systems design, video production, task-based information-seeking analysis, information visualization projects, as well as research, focus groups and interviews. Future uses are likely to include integrating some of the research laboratory’s potentially powerful resources into the curriculum of relevant courses, such as Information Visualization, and Research Methods, or courses using video as a pedagogical tool.
Born in Vancouver in 1924, Roberta Ferguson Greig graduated from Royal Jubilee Hospital with First Class Honours in Nursing. She joined the Victorian Order of Nurses, but those who knew her say her heart truly lay in the world of libraries. She eventually joined Vancouver Island Regional Library, and served as the head of the Parksville Branch for many years, until her retirement in 1991. She passed away in March 2009, and bequeathed a donation to the iSchool in her will.
