Amsterdam Adventures

Aarron and I chose the Central branch of the Seattle Public Library as the place to do our observation. As I started this, it was hard for me to see how this applies to our research since our research is all about a virtual place and not a physical space, but we thought the library was a good spot since it's used for a lot of different purposes.

I entered the library on the 5th Ave side which puts you on to the third level. Unfortunately, the floor on this level is being refinished, so the whole floor is cordoned off. It was a little strange to walk into that and I saw people sort of taken aback entering the building.



I went upstairs to the Mixing Chamber where people are using the computers or getting help from reference librarians. I noticed that it's mostly natural light in this room, so the room kept getting darker and lighter as the cloud cover came and went. I think this is really cool. It doesn't seem to impact how people use the room, but it gives the room an interesting appeal.

There are some cool sculptures behind the reference librarians that flash statistics about book circulation and the Dewey Decimal System. I wonder if anyone but the librarians pay much attention to them. The librarians were behind a somewhat imposing table and I question whether it is really a good design for librarian accessibility.




The building has some very cool features like the visible skeleton of the building that you look right through. It makes the line between inside and outside blur sometimes, especially on a nice day.

One thing I realized as I was doing this observation is that it's really hard for me not to pay attention to human behavior. I kept thinking about how the building and its design affects how people interact with the building and with others. It was hard for me just to think about the building and what I was getting from it. I also found it hard because I know so much about the building and its history and the complicated relationship staff and patrons have with it.

After doing this observation and thinking more about it, I think it will help me second hand. I am studying researchers who will be using this research method, so understanding the method and the application of it may help me to better understand my own research and analysis.