library thesis project

B.Arch Thesis – A Public Library: An Approach To Regeneration, At Kharghar, Navi Mumbai, Maharshtra, India, by Ishita Parmar

• July 11, 2017

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ABSTRACT : In today’s time with the emergence of the internet and digitalization of the books and information, this has enormously influenced the manner in which we consume information. With the developments of new methods and types of media, the traditional role of a public library is to question. The significance of the physical collection within a certain environment versus a quick internet search at any given point of time within any environment, questions the sustainability of a public library and the resources it offers.

Library needs to be transformed as an active social space. A public library is just not a space to access physical and digital data but also create an environment to initiate interaction of people and exchange of ideas takes place amoung all people of diverse backgrounds and age groups visiting the library.

Public library; the most democratic and one of the few spaces under the public realm of the city have tremendous potentials to transform into value-addition as community information, knowledge, resource and service centers.

What is a Library?

The public library, the local gateway to knowledge , provides a basic condition for a lifelong learning, independent decision making and cultural development of the individual and social groups. – UNESCO Manifesto, 1994

Changing concepts of a Public library

Traditional libraries have quickly redefined themselves as hybrid libraries which are a combination of a conventional library and a new electronic network library.

The rise of the internet and digitalized content makes the policy makers librarians and public believe that the public library is losing its relevance. This conviction is reflected in the way a lot of libraries are transforming. The most clear and observant shift is that libraries are no longer describing their primary role as being a provider of information. The evolution of the role of library in society over the centuries from private resource to civic monuments to a functional building to living room of the city is today in flux. In this multiplicity of roles of the library extends itself further in service of a multi-faceted society, challenging conjectures of its impending obsolescence.

Libraries are civic spaces where knowledge is circulated in all media. The systematic arrangement of the data, the reading spaces and the interaction with the librarian, derived from a user pattern enhance the user experience. There will be spaces where these functions overlap like the reception spaces, the large atriums and the reading halls where there is visual and physical connection with the other spaces providing a multi-generational experience. The play of natural light and the expansive reading hall, the connection of the inside to the outside, formal and informal reading spaces, data collection (physical entities such as books, newspapers, magazines, is to computer rooms), provide a sense of volume to which the user relate, giving a dual experience to all kinds of people entering the library. Libraries also play a major role in providing literacy to the homeless, giving rise to knowledge societies.

• Low literacy rates
• Limited access to technology
• Limited availability of linguistically relevant reading material
• Lack of national policies for promotion of ICT as a tool for development, political and administrative matters.

The Need for Regeneration:

The reason that libraries continue to exist is their ability to adapt. Libraries adopt to the changing priorities and the changing economic status of their service areas. Libraries being most democratic and community centric points are perceived to be under threat from a shrinking public realm one side and digitalization on the other hand. Today with social media libraries serve many customers who never even come to the library, but yet libraries must continue to build flexible spaces to accommodate new uses and new technologies. While libraries may need to house fewer physical materials, they need space for their members to generate their own materials and space for the community to come together and share ideas. Regeneration would allow public library to behave as community information, knowledge, resource and information center.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

• To understand reasons for unequal distribution of knowledge. Studying the various formal and Informal mediums of Education.
• To study the changing trends of mediums of information and knowledge resources in terms of suiting the user requirement.
• To understand the role of a public library not only as a storage of books but also in terms of individual development.
• To study the variety of users/readers coming to a public library in terms of the age, background etc.
• To understand allied functions of public library as a cultural hub.
• To understand social role and social relevance of a public library.
• To formulate a design solution or regeneration of a public library such that it provides basic literacy and social development goals and at the same time become a center of exploration and innovation for the people of the community.

OBJECTIVES:

Provide access to knowledge in printed and other formats to support formal and informal education. To actively support literacy campaigns as literacy is the key to education and knowledge.

Play a key role in collecting, organizing and exploiting information as well as providing access to a wide range of information sources. To bridge the gap by providing public access to the internet as well as providing information in traditional formats.

Provide access to major collections of the world’s literature and knowledge, including the community’s own literature. Make fundamental contribution to daily survival and social and economic development by being directly involved in providing information to people of developing countries. To provide basic user education.

To meet the needs of the children and young people.

An important role of the public library is providing a focus for cultural and artistic development in the community helping to shape and support the cultural identity of the community. This can be achieved by working in partnerships with the appropriate local and regional organizations. The public library has an important role as a public and meeting space. This is particularly important in communities where there are few places people meet, sometimes addressed as “the drawing room of the community.”

DESIGN BRIEF and PROGRAM:

The library building situated in Kharghar will be a cohesive set of strategies for spaces, function , structure, climate sensitivity, vertical circulation wind and ventilation, biodiversity, urban ecology and iconicity.

Navi Mumbai acting as twin city to the city of Mumbai, is set to become a smart city. Kharghar, out of the 14 nodes of Navi Mumbai is identified as a “smart city” “brownfield project”, by CIDCO , to be developed having the state of the art amenities and plans for improving social and civic amenities. Kharghar as mentioned earlier is primarily a residential and institutional town, the home of major schools, colleges and educational institutions will be a booster for the viability and sustenance of the public library.

The idea is to understand and establish relationship with the components being:

• RESOUCES PROVODED
• SPACES: FORMAL AND INFORMAL
• USER / READER

of the public library building generating the institution to behave as an open public forum and as a urban catalyst to keep stimulating the process of creating intellectual communities.

The spaces will be planned on the principle of flexibility and adaptability to cater to the current needs of user population, library staff, and library media along with the changing face of the public library as a social and cultural space.

APPROACH TO DESIGN:

The derivation of the program based on the categories and the site lead to an instant reaction of the floor plates to be stacked. This process lead to an understanding of two major components of the design that is the floor plates and building floor plates since it is a singular block building.

The Vertical Zoning: The stacking arrangement of floor plates is based on the idea of compartmentalized flexibility where each floor plate is self-contained with a specific activity and the services required for its efficient functioning but still inter-related through the interplay of floor plates and a set of external stairs behaving as social spots.

The Façade: The façade grid has its origin back to the smallest component of a public library being “the book” which led to the development of a bookshelf. The façade/skin of the building is essentially consisting of 3

FRAMES each performing a specific function: FRAME 1: active frame consisting of the bookshelf FRAME 2: curtain glazing: weather responsive FRAME 3: Skeleton or the interface of the building and the surrounding and vice versa.

The three frames form an integral part of the design as they also facilitate an alternative route of exploring the building with the external stairs allowing the users/readers to come across various activities at different levels.

Ishita Parmar

• Architecture education , B.Arch Thesis , mumbai

One Response

Hey, I’m an architecture student and was willing to take public library as my thesis topic. Could you pls tell that is this the proposed site or a hypothetical one?

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Library and Information Science Theses and Dissertations

This collection contains theses and dissertations from the Department of Library and Information Science, collected from the Scholarship@Western Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

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Exploiting Semantic Similarity Between Citation Contexts For Direct Citation Weighting And Residual Citation , Toluwase Victor Asubiaro

The Use of Intimate Partner Violence Websites: Website Awareness, Visibility, Information Quality, Perceived Usefulness, and Frequency of Use , Sze Hang Lee

Theses/Dissertations from 2020 2020

The General Artificial Intellect , Ramon S. Diab

The Public Library as Past Become Space , Greg Nightingale

Making Sense of Online Public Health Debates with Visual Analytics Systems , Anton Ninkov

Information, Employment, and Settlement of Immigrants: Exploring the Role of Information Behaviour in the Settlement of Bangladesh Immigrants in Canada , Nafiz Zaman Shuva

Theses/Dissertations from 2019 2019

Accessibility And Academic Libraries: A Comparative Case Study , Claire Burrows

The Information Practices of New Kadampa Buddhists: From "Dharma of Scripture" to "Dharma of Insight" , Roger Chabot

Narratives of Sexuality in the Lives of Young Women Readers , Davin L. Helkenberg

Strategic and Subversive: The Case of the Disappearing Diaphragm and Women’s Information Practices , Sherilyn M. Williams

Theses/Dissertations from 2018 2018

Informing care: Mapping the social organization of families’ information work in an aging in place climate , Nicole K. Dalmer

A Study of Six Nations Public Library: Rights and Access to Information , Alison Frayne

Information Freedoms and the Case for Anonymous Community , Rachel Melis

Academic Librarians and the Space/Time of Information Literacy, the Neoliberal University, and the Global Knowledge Economy , Karen P. Nicholson

Theses/Dissertations from 2017 2017

Expertise, Mediation, and Technological Surrogacy: A Mixed Method Critical Analysis of a Point of Care Evidence Resource , Selinda Adelle Berg

The E-Writing Experiences of Literary Authors , Kathleen Schreurs

Theses/Dissertations from 2016 2016

Understanding Collaborative Sensemaking for System Design — An Investigation of Musicians' Practice , Nadia Conroy

Laying the Foundation for Copyright Policy and Practice in Canadian Universities , Lisa Di Valentino

Towards Evidence-Informed Agriculture Policy Making: Investigating the Knowledge Translation Practices of Researchers in the National Agriculture Research Institutes in Nigeria , Isioma N. Elueze

Different Approaches for Different Folks , Alexandre Fortier

Creating Context from Curiosity: The Role of Serendipity in the Research Process of Historians in Physical and Digital Environments , Kim Martin

Alternate Academy: Investigating the Use of Open Educational Resources by Students at the University of Lagos in Nigeria , Daniel Onaifo

Theses/Dissertations from 2015 2015

Contentious information: Accounts of knowledge production, circulation and consumption in transitional Egypt , Ahmad Kamal

Multilingual Information Access: Practices and Perceptions of Bi/multilingual Academic Users , Peggy I. Nzomo

Words to Live By: How Experience Shapes our Information World at Work, Play and in Everyday Life , Angela Pollak

Watching Storytelling: Visual Information in Oral Narratives , James Ripley

Theses/Dissertations from 2014 2014

Empowering Women Entrepreneurs in Africa: Investigating Information Access and Use of Information and Communication Technologies by Women-Owned Enterprises in Zambia , Daniel Mumba

Young adults reflect on the experience of reading comics in contemporary society: Overcoming the commonplace and recognizing complexity , Lucia Cederia Serantes

Theses/Dissertations from 2013 2013

Space, Power and the Public Library: A Multicase Examination of the Public Library as Organization Space , Matthew R. Griffis

Knowledge Organization Practices in Everyday Life: Divergent Constructions of Healthy Eating , Jill R. McTavish

Semantics-based Automated Quality Assessment of Depression Treatment Web Documents , Yanjun Zhang

Theses/Dissertations from 2012 2012

Making Sense of Document Collections with Map-Based Visualizations , Olga Buchel

A Critical Historical Analysis of the Public Performance Right , Louis J. D'Alton

Intellectual Property and Its Alternatives: Incentives, Innovation and Ideology , Michael B. McNally

Theses/Dissertations from 2010 2010

The Information Practices of People Living with Depression: Constructing Credibility and Authority , Tami Oliphant

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Getting Started

There are two/three things you must do to before you start researching your thesis/project: 

• Pick a topic (see the Tips on Finding as Thesis or Project Topic & Getting Started box to the right for help)
• Write and submit a proposal (see The Proposal box below for help)
• Submit an IRB Review form if your thesis or project involves studying living human subjects (see the Institutional Review box below)

The Proposal

A thesis/project proposal is a short essay laying out what you intend to study for your thesis/project that you will submit to your advisor(s).  It typically includes a bibliography of potential works you may utilize (your final bibliography in your thesis will of course be much bigger), and as such it involves some background research.  A proposal is partially a formality: your advisor(s) should already be generally aware of what you intend to study before you submit your proposal because you should have already been talking to them about it!  With that in mind, talk with your advisor(s) to see what they want you to cover, how long they want it to be, and when they want it submitted.

Check out the following articles for more advise:

• Demystifying the Dissertation Proposal
• Writing a Dissertation Proposal: Outline and Example
• How to Write a Research Proposal: Examples & Templates
• Preparing the Thesis Proposal Defense

Institutional Review

If your thesis research involves studying living human subjects, then you must get approval from the MLTS Institutional Review Board (IRB) before you begin your research.  For more information, please see our IRB website .

Other Readings on Getting Started

• A Beginner's Guide to Starting the Research Process
• The Dissertation Journey: How to Get Started
• The PhD Thesis: A Crash Course in Project Management

Tips on Finding a Thesis or Project Topic & Getting Started

Writing a thesis or project can be daunting, particularly if you have never done anything like it before.  If it is any solace, you are not alone!  Here are a few observations from someone who has gone through the process on how to find and pick a good thesis/project topic:

• Find a topic that REALLY interests you.  You will be spending a lot of time on researching and writing your thesis/project; the more you enjoy your topic, then less of a burden it will be!
• Find a topic that is feasible to work with for a thesis/project.   A thesis/project is typically not more than 100 pages; you also have a time limit for finishing and submitting your thesis.  You therefore cannot research and write about something that would be too big or that would take too long to research in a year. With that said...
• If your starting topic is too big, you can narrow it down!  It is quite normal for a student to start out with an infeasibly large topic for a thesis/project (I did!).  If you start out wanting to examine a large topic, consider, for example, a deep-dive examination of a single source within that topic, or applying a single methodology to a large topic.
• Your thesis/project topic can (and probably will) evolve and change.  It is normal to see the direction you plan on going in your proposal lead to something different, or even something completely different.  Just stay in touch with your advisor!
• Do something original with your thesis/project.   Consider a finished thesis to be the first draft of a future academic journal article.  A thesis is supposed to be an original contribution to your particular academic field of study.  Of course, all scholarship builds off the work of earlier scholarship, so the original aspect of your thesis may be an examination of something that others have already examined, but from a new lens or methodology.
• Examine or integrate issues that are in vogue amongst professionals in the field you want to work.   If you are earning your degree in order to help you obtain a particular job, then researching and writing about a hot topic in that professional field can help you position yourself as a better potential hire.
• Talk to your advisor and other experts in your areas of interest.  They will likely have ideas on potential topics or ways to narrow down your topic.
• Ask a librarian for help.   Schedule a reference appointment with a librarian to help you find potential sources.
• Keep an open mind, and let your evidence steer you; do not steer your evidence.   You may know your topic well, but you cannot let that predetermine the results of your research.  You should not have a fully-formed thesis statement at the beginning; at most, you can have a hypothesis.  Be careful not to be too invested in this hypothesis; if your research proves your hypothesis wrong, then that is good research!
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What is a thesis?

What is a dissertation, getting started, staying on track.

A thesis is a long-term project that you work on over the course of a semester or a year. Theses have a very wide variety of styles and content, so we encourage you to look at prior examples and work closely with faculty to develop yours. 

Before you begin, make sure that you are familiar with the dissertation genre—what it is for and what it looks like.

Generally speaking, a dissertation’s purpose is to prove that you have the expertise necessary to fulfill your doctoral-degree requirements by showing depth of knowledge and independent thinking.

The form of a dissertation may vary by discipline. Be sure to follow the specific guidelines of your department.

• PhD This site directs candidates to the GSAS website about dissertations , with links to checklists,  planning, formatting, acknowledgments, submission, and publishing options. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus . Consult with your committee chair about specific requirements and standards for your dissertation.
• DDES This document covers planning, patent filing, submission guidelines, publishing options, formatting guidelines, sample pages, citation guidelines, and a list of common errors to avoid. There is also a link to guidelines for the prospectus .
• Scholarly Pursuits (GSAS) This searchable booklet from Harvard GSAS is a comprehensive guide to writing dissertations, dissertation-fellowship applications, academic journal articles, and academic job documents.

Finding an original topic can be a daunting and overwhelming task. These key concepts can help you focus and save time.

Finding a topic for your thesis or dissertation should start with a research question that excites or at least interests you. A rigorous, engaging, and original project will require continuous curiosity about your topic, about your own thoughts on the topic, and about what other scholars have said on your topic. Avoid getting boxed in by thinking you know what you want to say from the beginning; let your research and your writing evolve as you explore and fine-tune your focus through constant questioning and exploration.

Get a sense of the broader picture before you narrow your focus and attempt to frame an argument. Read, skim, and otherwise familiarize yourself with what other scholars have done in areas related to your proposed topic. Briefly explore topics tangentially related to yours to broaden your perspective and increase your chance of finding a unique angle to pursue.

Critical Reading

Critical reading is the opposite of passive reading. Instead of merely reading for information to absorb, critical reading also involves careful, sustained thinking about what you are reading. This process may include analyzing the author’s motives and assumptions, asking what might be left out of the discussion, considering what you agree with or disagree with in the author’s statements and why you agree or disagree, and exploring connections or contradictions between scholarly arguments. Here is a resource to help hone your critical-reading skills:

http://writing.umn.edu/sws/assets/pdf/quicktips/criticalread.pdf

Conversation

Your thesis or dissertation will incorporate some ideas from other scholars whose work you researched. By reading critically and following your curiosity, you will develop your own ideas and claims, and these contributions are the core of your project. You will also acknowledge the work of scholars who came before you, and you must accurately and fairly attribute this work and define your place within the larger discussion. Make sure that you know how to quote, summarize, paraphrase ,  integrate , and cite secondary sources to avoid plagiarism and to show the depth and breadth of your knowledge.

A thesis is a long-term, large project that involves both research and writing; it is easy to lose focus, motivation, and momentum. Here are suggestions for achieving the result you want in the time you have.

The dissertation is probably the largest project you have undertaken, and a lot of the work is self-directed. The project can feel daunting or even overwhelming unless you break it down into manageable pieces and create a timeline for completing each smaller task. Be realistic but also challenge yourself, and be forgiving of yourself if you miss a self-imposed deadline here and there.

Your program will also have specific deadlines for different requirements, including establishing a committee, submitting a prospectus, completing the dissertation, defending the dissertation, and submitting your work. Consult your department’s website for these dates and incorporate them into the timeline for your work.

Accountability

Sometimes self-imposed deadlines do not feel urgent unless there is accountability to someone beyond yourself. To increase your motivation to complete tasks on schedule, set dates with your committee chair to submit pre-determined pieces of a chapter. You can also arrange with a fellow doctoral student to check on each other’s progress. Research and writing can be lonely, so it is also nice to share that journey with someone and support each other through the process.

Common Pitfalls

The most common challenges for students writing a dissertation are writer’s block, information-overload, and the compulsion to keep researching forever.

There are many strategies for avoiding writer’s block, such as freewriting, outlining, taking a walk, starting in the middle, and creating an ideal work environment for your particular learning style. Pay attention to what helps you and try different things until you find what works.

Efficient researching techniques are essential to avoiding information-overload. Here are a couple of resources about strategies for finding sources and quickly obtaining essential information from them.

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/subject_specific_writing/writing_in_literature/writing_in_literature_detailed_discussion/reading_criticism.html

https://students.dartmouth.edu/academic-skills/learning-resources/learning-strategies/reading-techniques

Finally, remember that there is always more to learn and your dissertation cannot incorporate everything. Follow your curiosity but also set limits on the scope of your work. It helps to create a folder entitled “future projects” for topics and sources that interest you but that do not fit neatly into the dissertation. Also remember that future scholars will build off of your work, so leave something for them to do.

Browsing through theses and dissertations of the past can help to get a sense of your options and gain inspiration but be careful to use current guidelines and refer to your committee instead of relying on these examples for form or formatting.

DASH Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard.

HOLLIS Harvard Library’s catalog provides access to ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global .

MIT Architecture has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Rhode Island School of Design has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

University of South Florida has a list of their graduates’ dissertations and theses.

Harvard GSD has a list of projects, including theses and professors’ research.

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Harvard University Digital Accessibility Policy

The Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) is an international organization dedicated to promoting the adoption, creation, use, dissemination, and preservation of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs). We support electronic publishing and open access to scholarship in order to enhance the sharing of knowledge worldwide.

Etd 2024 call for proposals extended.

In response to numerous request, the paper/poster abstract and workshop proposal submission deadline for the ETD 2024 symposium has been extended to May 17 2024. It is hoped that this will give additional potential authors enough time to submit their work.

The Call for Papers for ETD2024 is now open!

27th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations *Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Visibility at a Global Scale* /Join us, along with global leaders, from Wednesday, October 30th to Friday, November 1st, in Livingstone, Zambia./ The theme for ETD 2024 is “Electronic Thesis …

ETD 2024 Announcement

We are thrilled to announce that the 27th International Symposium on Electronic #Theses and #Dissertations (#ETD2024) will take place on October 30th to November 1st in Livingstone, Zambia. Hosted by The University Of Zambia (UNZA), Higher Education Authority of Zambia and Zambia Research and Education Network together with …

We are thrilled to announce that the 27th International Symposium on Electronic #Theses and #Dissertations (#ETD2024) will take place on October 30th to November 1st in Livingstone, Zambia.  Hosted by The University Of Zambia (UNZA), Higher Education Authority of Zambia and Zambia Research and Education Network together with NDLTD.  …

USETDA 2024 Conference September 25-27, 2024 in Provo, Utah

  The USETDA 2024 Conference will be held September 25-27, 2024 as a hybrid event in Provo, Utah on the campus of Brigham Young University and the Provo Marriott Hotel. For details visit https://www.usetda.org/usetda-conferences/usetda-2024/. Call for proposals. Important Dates Call for proposals …

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Guide for Thesis Research

• Introduction to the Thesis Process
• Project Planning
• Literature Review
• Theoretical Frameworks
• Research Methodology
• GC Honors Program Theses
• Thesis Submission Instructions This link opens in a new window
• Accessing Guilford Theses from 1898 to 2020 This link opens in a new window

Web Resources

• Developing a Thesis - Harvard College Writing Center
• How to Write Your Thesis - Columbia University
• Navigating the Dissertation - University of Southern California

Mapping Out Your Thesis Project

Good project planning will help you make the most out of your thesis experience. Here are some pointers:

• What are the specific requirements for theses in your department?
• What type of sources will you need?
• How much information will you need?
• What kind of data will you need to collect?
• Start your thesis project with enough time.
• Establish a working schedule.
• Establish benchmarks.
• ​Anticipate difficulties in the research process.
• Give yourself leeway to refine or alter your topic as needed.
• Be willing to try different strategies as you conduct your research.
• Databases you have consulted
• Search queries you have used
• Relevant sources you have located
• Have you found sufficient quality information?
• Have you answered your research questions?
• Can you develop and support a coherent argument with the sources that you have?
• Do you have enough to fulfill your thesis requirements?
• Give yourself time to analyze your sources. Consider how they tie together and help support the points you wish to make.
• Give yourself time to craft your written product. Make sure it effectively communicates the research you have done and the ideas you wish to express.
• Show drafts of your written product to others. Ask for their honest feedback, and take it into account.
• Be very clear about what you wish to say and how you will support it.
• Anticipate possible questions you might get.
• Rehearse as much as possible.
• Enjoy the experience!  
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• Last Updated: Jul 22, 2024 10:48 AM
• URL: https://library.guilford.edu/thesis-guide

Open Access Theses and Dissertations

Thursday, April 18, 8:20am (EDT): Searching is temporarily offline. We apologize for the inconvenience and are working to bring searching back up as quickly as possible.

Advanced research and scholarship. Theses and dissertations, free to find, free to use.

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Browse by author name (“Author name starts with…”).

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October 3, 2022. OATD is dealing with a number of misbehaved crawlers and robots, and is currently taking some steps to minimize their impact on the system. This may require you to click through some security screen. Our apologies for any inconvenience.

Recent Additions

See all of this week’s new additions.

About OATD.org

OATD.org aims to be the best possible resource for finding open access graduate theses and dissertations published around the world. Metadata (information about the theses) comes from over 1100 colleges, universities, and research institutions . OATD currently indexes 7,153,730 theses and dissertations.

About OATD (our FAQ) .

Visual OATD.org

We’re happy to present several data visualizations to give an overall sense of the OATD.org collection by county of publication, language, and field of study.

You may also want to consult these sites to search for other theses:

• Google Scholar
• NDLTD , the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations. NDLTD provides information and a search engine for electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), whether they are open access or not.
• Proquest Theses and Dissertations (PQDT), a database of dissertations and theses, whether they were published electronically or in print, and mostly available for purchase. Access to PQDT may be limited; consult your local library for access information.

An online magazine of Art, Architecture, Media, Culture, Sounds, Territories, Technology)

The Lenin Institute for Librarianship by Ivan Leonidov (1927)

October 30, 2018 by Fosco Lucarelli 1 Comment

Ivan Illich Leonidov (1902-1957) designed the Lenin Institute for Librarianship (the collective scientific and cultural center of the USSR) in 1927 as his thesis project at the VKhUTEMAS, the art and technical School of Moscow, with Alexander Vesnin as his tutor.

The Institute is made of a series of individualized shapes embodied by clear geometrical forms – mostly rectangular boxes and a sphere – which are boldly composed together. The three main buildings of the institute are a massive library with five million books joined by the Institute of librarianship, both contained in a high-rise building; the auditorium which also functions as a planetarium and as a speaking platform for mass demonstrations, located in a huge glass sphere elevated from the floor through a metallic structure; and the actual research institute hosting the research labs, a horizontal slab, suspended, which also connects the two other buildings. The single volumes are related through the composition of two asymmetrical axes on a decentralized circular platform where both the auditorium and the library are located. The library axis is also prolonged by a straight suspended roadway leading to the city center.

An important feature of the overall design is the presence of steel cables with the double role of guy-wires in tension and radio communication antennae. The cables counterbalance the anti-gravitational effect of the highest buildings and especially that of the auditorium which appears as a hot-air balloon ready to take a flight. They also underline the idea of communication among the people working together in the institute and in the whole country.

The center was supposed to be located in Moscow, on the Lenin Hills, the highest spot in the city, just a few kilometers southwest of the Red Square. An aerial tramway with a central aerodrome and suspended roadway would have connected the institute with the center of the city while the radio station would have put it in communication with the whole country.

As to underline an era of unlimited faith in an upcoming technological world, the role of technology is formally and functionally expressed throughout the whole project, especially in the library where an automated book-delivery system with a vertical and horizontal conveyor system delivers the books directly from the stacks to the reading rooms.

The sphere is the most evolutive area: as an auditorium, it can host up to 4000 people, but it can be repartitioned through mobile suspended walls in order to contain smaller audiences. When half of the sphere is opened, and all the seats are withdrawn into the remaining half, it can also be used as a speaking platform for mass gatherings. The sphere of the Planetarium can turn into a science theater after projection screens are installed along the inside skin. A system of elevators provides access to the auditorium.

The whole institute is equipped with communication technology like telephones, radios, and remote televisual pieces of equipment so that the whole staff can work together at the same time.

Further reading : https://thecharnelhouse.org/2014/03/21/ivan-leonidovs-proposal-for-the-lenin-institute-in-moscow-1927/

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June 29, 2020 at 6:27 pm

Hi there! Great essay and fantastic illustrations. I’d be keen to re-use some of the Leonidov ‘Lenin Institute’ images in academic publications. Would you be able to let me know where you sourced them from? I want to confirm that they are indeed free of copyright (or to find out who holds the copyright, so I can apply for permission/license to reproduce). Many thanks!

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SOCKS is a project by Fosco Lucarelli and Mariabruna Fabrizi of MICROCITIES, Architecture Cityscape, Landscape . Except where otherwise noted, the content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 license . Whenever possible we try to attribute content (images, videos, and quotes) to their creators and original sources. Please feel free to write us if you notice misattributions or wish something to be removed. SOCKS is powered by WordPress .

Thesis & Project Formatting Electronic Submission Library Workshop

If you are a graduate student working on your thesis or project, you are invited to attend the workshops offered by the University Library.

The workshop will take place through zoom, once you register you will get a thank you notification along with the zoom links please make sure you note it.

The workshop will cover how to submit electronic and formatting guidelines for preparing your paper and will give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have about the process for submitting your paper to Graduate Studies.

For resources and where to obtain the PowerPoint presentations please follow the Library Guide.

The following days have been scheduled for the Library to host the Thesis/Project submission workshops in Fall 2023:

• Tuesday March 12th 4pm-5pm
• Wednesday March 13th 4pm-5pm
• Friday April 19th 4pm-5pm

If you should have any questions please contact Library Format Review Team at [email protected]

Take our workshop survey after you have attended the workshop.

**Please note this registration is for workshop only, if you want to schedule an appointment to have your paper review please contact us through email at [email protected]

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Thesis and Culminating Project Information

Culminating Activities

A main degree requirement on all students in graduate programs in the College of Liberal Arts is the completion of a culminating project, such as a thesis and oral defense thereof, a final comprehensive examination, a portfolio, or a non-thesis project.

Master's theses are original academic disquisitions on a problem or issue of disciplinary interest. Compositionally, they explain the significance of the undertaking, normally by stating the major assumptions and reviewing the relevant literature, and then elaborate on the methods of data collection and analysis of evidence, develop and critique the appropriate logical inferences and argumentation, and offer conclusions or recommendations for future work. The average length of the body of a Master's thesis is around 70 double-spaced pages. 

A non-thesis project is an artistic or technical endeavor that is appropriate for the fine and applied arts or to more professional or vocational fields. Examples could include an ethnographic film, a novel or body of creative writing, or a significantly original software program. Non-thesis projects should include a project report. The average length of the body of a project report is around 30 double-spaced pages. Non-thesis projects need not be submitted for college review.

Students may not enroll in thesis or exam coursework until advanced to candidacy . For further information about theses, course units, and committee membership, including chairpersons or directors, please review the university thesis requirements . For further information about comprehensive examinations, portfolios, or non-thesis projects, please review the university exam requirements. For information about enrollment in GS700B, please review AS policy 18–03 and contact the Director of Graduate Studies with any additional questions.

Oral Defense

By Title V §40510 , an oral defense of the thesis is required of those students who pursue the thesis option for their culminating activity. For students who pursue the non-thesis project option, an oral defense is recommended but not required.

Thesis Deadlines

All theses from the College of Liberal Arts must ultimately be approved by all thesis committee members and Professor Sarah Schrank, Director of Graduate Studies, before being submitted to the University's Thesis Office. Theses submitted to the college for review must be in their finalized form, with all copyediting and formatting completed. The theses and signature pages are to be sent to Professor Sarah Schrank, Director of Graduate Studies ( [email protected] ). The college deadlines for theses submissions can be found here:

CSULB Thesis & Dissertation Office

The University's Thesis & Dissertation Office is housed on the 5 th floor of the CSULB Library in Room 501. There are numerous resources to help graduate students with the composition of their theses. Most importantly, please consult the University's formatting guidelines , as it details all formatting rules and requirements, and includes protocols for electronic submission . Various templates have also been provided, including the template for the thesis signature page , as well as Department-specific style guides . The Thesis Office also offers consultations for students prior to submission.

Master's Thesis/Project Formatting Library Guidelines

• Introduction
• Steps/Timeline
• Workshop Videos
• Electronic Submissions
• Departmental Style Guide
• Frequently Asked Questions

Supporting Materials for formatting your project or thesis

• Sample Guide
• Supporting Materials Landscape
• Masters Programs Colleges
• Formatting Checklist

Sequence of Parts

• Library Calendar

Formatting Guides

Formatting thesis/project guideline.

To help you prepare your thesis/project formatting paper, the graduate studies website steps toward completing your paper has a  formatting guide  that you can follow. 

For those who are using LaTex please visit the link below from the Math department , you can obtain the template.

  SEQUENCE OF PARTS

• Title Page. (no page number) The title page templates show the recommended form and spacing. Alter your font and typeface choices to conform to the rest of your document. The page is counted, but the number is not printed.    
• Committee Membership. (page ii) The Committee Membership page templates show the recommended form and spacing. Alter your font and typeface choices to conform to the rest of your document. The name of each member of the committee is included with department or discipline identification; the chairman is always listed first. Make sure the form of your name is consistent with what appears on the title page. In the date area, indicate the semester & year submitted. 
• Acknowledgement Page. (page iii) An acknowledgement page is optional and should be decided between the candidate and their major professor.  
• Abstract (page iii, iv, etc.) An abstract is required and should be at least 250 words.
• Table of  Contents ( page iv, v, etc.) Required. The template is an example of one format, but you may use other formats as recommended by your committee. Check for correct page numbers before final review and submission.
• List of Tables. ( If  any, continue with Roman Numerals) Separate page, following the table of contents.  
• List of Figures. ( If  any, continue with Roman Numerals) Separate page, following the list of tables, or if no list of tables, following the table of contents.      
• Text ( Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, etc.) The student’s thesis/project adviser will specify which style manual (citation) is to be followed. It is the responsibility of the student’s thesis/project committee to see that proper bibliographic forms are followed. When the thesis/project is presented to the format library reviewer for approval, you must identify the style manual used.
•  Bibliography / References. Use a style manual (citation) to construct your bibliography or list of references. Check with your advisor or department for the recommended style manual for your subject area. Complete citations are required .    
• Appendices. ( If  any) Provide numbering for all pages and list appendices in the table of contents. Proper margin requirements still apply.

You can download this page from the "Supporting materials for formatting your project or thesis" box on the left-hand sight. 

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• Next: Tutorials >>
• Last Updated: Jun 12, 2024 2:52 PM
• URL: https://libguides.library.cpp.edu/Libraryformatreview