The University Library and Collaborations for Health, an interfaculty initiative, are jointly establishing two new, state-of-the art facilities in Mills Library to house the McMaster Health Forum and the Lyons New Media Centre.

The facilities are being built in adjacent space on the fourth floor of Mills, with construction starting in January and to be completed by early May, 2010.

The study space and collections now housed in the area will be relocated to other areas within the library to ensure that users will continue to have access to the study carrels from the reading room and the books currently in that location.

The McMaster Health Forum is a newly-formed organization that aspires to be recognized as a global hub for improving health outcomes through collective problem-solving. The new facilities will provide the Forum with meeting venues, a space for simultaneous or concurrent gatherings and a workspace for Fellows (both undergraduate and graduate students), Visiting Leaders and staff.

The organization has secured more than $1.25 million in funding from organizations such as the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to support its initiatives.

"The McMaster Health Forum has received enthusiastic endorsement from University leadership," said Susan Denburg, director of Collaborations for Health and associate vice-president, academic for the Faculty of Health Sciences. "In addressing pressing health issues with stakeholders and decision-makers, we have the opportunity to enable and showcase exciting collaboration involving our faculty and students. We are also looking forward to the technological collaboration that will arise through co-location with the Lyons New Media Centre."

The New Media Centre is a natural expansion of the existing Lyons Media Centre. Complimenting the current media collection, now merged into the Library's collection, the Lyons New Media Centre will become an incubator for the innovative use of new and traditional media in teaching, learning and research at McMaster. Centre staff will provide a wide variety of services including support and consultation for digital media projects, including video and audio editing, assistance for faculty who want to digitize materials for classes, short courses on editing video, creating DVDs, producing podcasts and using the Web for research and the exploration and promotion of new media to support teaching, learning and research.

The space will include video and audio editing workstations, group viewing rooms, video-gaming rooms and a small media teaching centre. A variety of equipment will be made available for student and faculty use including portable audio recorders, high-definition camcorders and a green screen.

University Librarian Jeff Trzeciak says he's thrilled to have the two new centres take up residence in the Library.

"The Library is pleased to be the home for these important new centres. The design of the spaces will facilitate the hosting of important debates and dialogues on critical topics that can later be discovered, used and reused for learning and research. The two spaces complement each other perfectly and are representative of the changing role of the University Library."

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