close

Open Innovation

You delivered and we were grateful.

Not to forget the fun and praise.

We, the library team, foster a culture of active innovation to continually improve and expand the HSG library’s services. We also want to hear from you, our clients, and value your feedback. Share your ideas and innovations with us!

Physical Open Innovation at the library, 4.11. - 3.12.2021

During four weeks we put a flip chart with a blank sheet in front of you and asked for your ideas and wishes. The result was full sheets of paper and lively discussions on the spot and on paper.

We were nice to each other, but also honest.

We thank all participants for the active, friendly and objective dialogue. This is not a matter of course and makes us very happy!

We do not want to withhold from you what issues you are concerned with, how we respond to them and what suggestions we can follow up on.

The thematic request has been forwarded to our subject librarians for business economics and IT. If you have specific suggestions for media you want us to acquire, please use our online purchase suggestion form. You can also use it to suggest specific electronic media. We currently have around 250,000 e-books in our collection.

According to one comment on the flip chart, our WiFi networks is struggling during times of intense usage. Our IT department has reacted and measured connectivity. The upper floor of the library will be fitted with a new access point in the coming weeks.

One comment mentions that there are too few plug sockets near the green desks on the ground floor as well as a lack of plug sockets near the standing desks on the upper floor. This is also the case for the second row around the gallery. We state: electricity is the new gold! Despite the rather tricky task of laying cables in this area, we power-up two rows around the gallery. One of them will stay without for more flexibility with events. Also the standing desks and the green desks will stay unwired. Due to security reasons we cannot lay more cables on the escape routes. But: for more energy there are power banks and extensionleads at the circulation desk for daily loan. 

The automatic doors into the library and the reading room were complaint as too slow and narrow. Unfortunately we can not change the width of the doors. However, we are able to speed things up a bit. Facility management has already taken care of that.

We are sorry that we can not implement the suggestion to enforce and police the break disks. We simply do not have any resources to clear study places and we think we’d better leave policing to the professionals. Break disks work, if everyone helps to make them work. Use the break disks and feel free to clear study places without a disk or where disks have expired. That way everyone should be well practised for the next exam preparation phase.

We love the idea of permanently installing the break discs on the individual study desks! Unfortunately many desks are lacking vertical surfaces to which we could affix them to. We can’t use the desktops due to how they get cleaned. Also it would be a massive effort to fit and control each study desk individually. However, we will keep this suggestion in our mind.

We have received many suggestions to expand our already large range of gadgets. Bluetooth headsets, second generation Apple pencils, and laptop fixtures were all on the list.

Bluetooth headseats need a certain recharching time after usage, which reduces the frequency of the loan. For this reason we chose headseats with cable when we recently bought new ones.

Laptop fixtures are a great thing. That's why we acquire a few and have a look on the usage. Thank you for that idea!

Apple Pencil's of the new generation are tricky. They only can be recharged by induction on the iPads of the same generation. Therefore we cannot check or recharge them ourselfs. Nevertheless we are searching for a alternative pen, which can be used as well for the iPad 2nd Generation.

We are delighted by the many requests for longer opening hours on the flipchart. The library is a popular place and some of you lwould even like to stay with us 24/7!

Unfortunately several factors hinder the extension of our opening hours:

  • The time before opening is necessarily needed, not only by library staff but also by facility management, for a variety of tasks. Be tha for activities with higher noise emissions or maintenance of the study spaces. Tidying and cleaning the library, which is used by approximately 1'500 people everyday, is important. That’s also why opening on Sundays with just security guards is an experiment, which we will now test during learning phase in winter 2022.
  • The numbers of people present in the library during term time evening hours fluctutate, according to our own, regular counts, in the lower two digit figures. These numbers do not justify extening opening hours or opening on Sundays during term time.

During the exam preparation time we are open until 11pm and on Sundays. You can see all our opening hours here.

Our sanitary facilities have caused quite a stir on the flip chart. This is an area outside of our expertise, so we forwarded your suggestions relating to cleanliness, working soap dispensers, and malfunctioning taps to our facility management.

A full body mirror you’ll have to get for yourself, and it’s not even necessary in our opinion, as we think you’re all beautiful. You can hang your coats and bags on the hooks on the cubicle doors. Paper towels were replaced with hand dryers for ecological reasons.

Your wish to have the toilets in their old place, accessible from within the reading room, will be a tad difficult to put into practice. The reason why we rearranged the toilets was the loud noise of of the hand dryers, which was all too audible at the study desks.

We commend your eagerness to stay healthy by eating your five-a-day. Offering free fruit however would rather counteract our “no eating in the libray” policy. We are more than happy to gift you free marker pen though, just pop by and pick one up from the circulation desk. Just please don’t use them in any library books.

We of course would love to offer you more space to study. Yet, as you may be aware of when visiting the library, is already pretty crowded in our reading room. Always make sure to use seatfinder to see how busy the library is and where alternative space is offered. We would also like to recommend you the HSG student podcast interview with Dominik Isler, the new intendant of the learning centre. Word has it, that there will be additional study spaces in the SQUARE during exam preparation term.

We would happily comply with your wish to have a special room to clear your head space, however, space is in short supply. Are you aware of the relaxation room in the main building? Or you could use our wide offering of classes and facilities of the Unisport. Maybe there will even be a dedicated space for relaxing in SQUARE from February 2022 onwards? We’ll keep our eyes opend.

Interesting input concerning a booking system for study places. As if we had guessed: a member of the library team will dedicate its bachelor thesis to this topic and evaluate a future implementation. We stay tuned!

There was a desire for a water fountain by the toilets. There is actually one in the reading room ground floor close to the new acquisitions shelf. This short detour gives you a few more steps und head airing after using the toilets. Stay healthy!

Temperatures have led to heated tempers... too cold?... too warm?... it's complicated. Generally speaking the temperatures we measured in the library building over the last couple of weeks were at the lower end of the spectrum. Facility management was eagerly adjusting and fixing this issue. Our tipp: The ground floor is the warmest, especially towards the window front. Please refrain from fiddeling with our radiators yourself, if you feel it's too warm find a different desk. Any messing about has implications for the whole room. Thank you!

This list is not complete and will be continuously updated. Status: 18.01.2022

HSG Library Digital Wall of Ideas

Our wall of ideas offers a space for suggestions, comments, ideas or feedback on any or all of our services. Take inspiration from the suggestions we have received previously and share your thoughts with us. We will directly reply to your contributions.

Open innovation projects

Already we were able to implement many suggestions from the Wall of Ideas and from direct feedback from our clients. In the following we will present a short selection of succesful projects.

We can quench more than your thirst for knowledge. In response to a suggestion of the Wall of Ideas we have installed a drinking fountain in the library, enabling you to easily refill your water bottles.

To conveniently and easily print from your study desk was a wish from the Wall of Ideas we were able to fulfill. Print2me is our wireless printing service.

Our clients wanted to be able to eagerly use our digital search tools on their portable devices. Back then it was not yet “responsive design” but an app that was demanded. We did succesfully launch the app. However, in the meantime our regular website has become fully compatible with mobile devices, hence why the app is no longer in use.

Taking note of a project paper from our students we created our own notepaper with plenty of space for your thoughts and even a few words on current library services. The content is updated monthly and the paper availabls at the circulation desk. This is what we call a win-win situation!

With pleasure we have acted upon the suggestion to provide options to hang your coats anf bags near our study spaces. Near the comfortable chairs we have put up a coatrack and we fitted the standing desks with hooks.

Quick Links

Contact

University of St.Gallen
Library
Dufourstrasse 50
CH-9000 St.Gallen
+41 71 224 22 70
bibliothekunisg.ch
+41 79 836 87 76 (WhatsApp-Chat)
 hsglibrary   HSGBibliothekSanktGallen

north