Alexa Finley 2/12/13

Assignment One
The figured world that my group and I chose to observe is the J Murrey Atkins Library here at UNCC. We expected this environment to be quiet and to mostly consist of students and faculty from the school. The school library provides a decent study place for students, and it also provides students with desktop computers to do homework or study. My group went to the library to observe this environment on February 5th, 6th, and 8th. On the first observation day, we observed groups on the third floor of the library. In one particular group, everyone was on a laptop doing math homework. There was one person who appeared to be leading the group and helping people with the math. When we arrived on the third floor, there were five people in the group, but there were only two people in the group when we left, and the group leader was gone. One of the two that was there when we left seemed frustrated with the work because he was the main person the group leaders attention was directed to. On the second observation day, there were more people in the library. We observed the second floor of the library. People here were on the library computers and some were doing homework or writing papers. Others were surfing the internet instead, and some were listening to music. Some were isolated from other people. There were people texting on their phones as well, and some people were distracted and looking around. A person was talking on their phone, which was breaking a norm for this environment. This bothered people around them and they seemed oblivious to the fact that they were irritating others. On the third day, most people in the library were on the first floor. There werent many people in the library on this day. The environment seemed more comfortable. It seems like talking and eating are more accepted on a Friday afternoon. There were groups studying, and a group was using a whiteboard to study for a science class. Even though the people were studying, they were still talking and seemed more relaxed.