Collaborative Design - Collaborative Technologies and Applications for Interactive Information Design - page 214

Poly serves as one of twenty three campuses.
This high level 'system' is termed 'Learning
Commons' - a phrase which refers to a physical,
technological, social, and intellectual place (or
space) for collaborative learning (Somerville &
Harlan, 2008; Somerville & Collins, 2008). In the
view of project participants, the Cal Poly library
environment had become a learning commons
over the course of the project.
Before this project began, workplace partici-
pants had never collectively reflected on their roles
in a holistic context. As Figure 4 demonstrates,
one of the most profound outcomes of this three
year rethinking project is clarification of work-
place participants' relationships to internal and
external stakeholders. These insights emerge quite
naturally, as one of the defining characteristics of
SSM practice is intentionally entertaining multiple
perspectives. Furthermore, by its very nature, Soft
Systems Methodology creates a relational context
that encourages individuals' recognition of the
aspects of their workplace expertise which, when
shared, advances collective knowledge creation
and integration (Checkland, 2000), even as it
extends boundaries of influence and concern.
Organizational learning is also revealed
through comparison of the Rich Pictures generated
by project participants. These images demonstrate
the maturation indicators that, early on, librarians
agreed were significant to student learning. They
were therefore able, at project's end, to appreciate
their own learning in these terms: learning is about
change in conceptions, learning always has a con-
tent as well as a process, learning is embodied in
the relationship between the learner and the subject
matter, and advancement of learning depends on
the readiness to change perspectives.

leader. She served as creator of the contexts for
the conversation-based relational information ex-
periences that fueled collaborations with campus
partners—i.e., co-design activities. In doing so
with coaching from the external consultant, she
advanced SSM's learning orientation to enable
librarians and staff to become both reflective
(re)learners and also responsive action-takers
(Somerville, Huston, et al ., 2005; Somerville,
Schader, et al ., 2005). Organizational purposes
were revisited, constituency relationships were
reinvented, and workplace roles were re-imagined
within the context of a 'big picture' appreciation
for the larger academic enterprise. Through this
organizational discovery process, librarians and
staff developed a shared vision for a repurposed
organization. They came to appreciate and em-
brace new applications for their expertise within
the larger context of the university's core knowl-
edge creation and dissemination mission.
In recognition of the considerable organiza-
tional benefits achieved through embedding SSM
in the workplace culture, the leader and consul-
tant anticipate that leaders in other libraries and
information organizations will choose to involve
external SSM consultants in context specific proj-
ects. Therefore, they developed an activity model
to enable organizational leaders to embed SSM
philosophy and practices within the workplace
and thereby facilitate recoverability according to
principles suggested by Checkland and Holwell
(1998b). The model in Figure 5 is based on the
experience and learning which we now recognize
accrued during the three year project. In short,
it illustrates the aspects we found necessary for
enabling staff engagement in participatory and
collaborative re-designing processes. This model
evolved over the life of the project; a first version
to guide the intervention was developed and re-
ported in Mirijamdotter and Somerville (2004).
Subsequently, facets of the multi-dimensional
approach represented in this model have been
reported in conference papers and journal articles
(Somerville & Mirjamdotter, 2005; Somerville et

librAry orgAnizAtion
leAdershiP

The transformation of the workplace environ-
ment was orchestrated by the organizational