The Role of Library in a School of Architecture, A Study of the Built Environment Library of SBU

The swing of the pendulum between centralization and decentralization of the higher education (HE) system has generally been towards the former in the Iranian context in the past decade. This has prompted some academics, particularly those who find their disciplines left out to react by highlighting intrinsic differences in teaching and studying methods across the HE spectrum. Built Environment disciplines are no exceptions in this regard as their interdisciplinary nature has always made it difficult to classify them as science, art or engineering, and hence to expect research and study methods associated with either. The present research initially started not to highlight the differences between Built Environment and other libraries, but to scrutinize the ways in which this particular library is used. Further examinations cast light on managerial and cultural issues behind what authors believe to be the underuse of the library. However, the research also highlighted possible discipline-specific reasons for such underuse. Authors are convinced, however, that not only what is considered as norms in library usage standards should be applied to this library cautiously, but also that there is a need to rethink the role of a library in research and teaching excellence in this particular context.