談大學圖書館噪音來源與改善之道

The Sources of University Library Noise and Improved Methods

噪音一直以來都是圖書館管理中的一個嚴重問題，而現今圖書館為因應自動化的需求與更多的服務項目，不斷引進新的電腦、事務設備，更使得噪音問題必須特別重視。美國職業安全衛生總署（OSHA）的規範中指出，如在85dB以上的環境中連續待8小時以上，會對讀者的聽力造成傷害。而目前圖書館公用電腦區與多媒體中心的噪音來源之中，並沒有任何設備可以達到如此高之音量，即便加上讀者的談話聲也很難到達此一標準，但圖書館仍然不能輕忽音量較小的噪音來源所造成讀者使用效率的問題，包括疲勞、耳鳴、頭痛與精神壓力等，因此，如何防治此噪音來源亦值得圖書館加以重視。以新館舍而言，事前的空間規劃是非常重要的，噪音問題不只是圖書館形象問題，噪音更可能對讀者的使用造成影響，因此圖書館應落實噪音的管制與預防，以維護圖書館內環境的安寧。

Noise has always been a major problem in library management. Now in today's libraries, because of the need of library automation and more service items, new computers and office equipments have been brought in, which caused noise problems that librarians have to take into account. The guidelines of the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) point out that staying in the environment of more than 85dB will result in damages to readers' hearing. Although there is no equipment in the public computer area and multi media center in a library that can produce such high volume of noise, or even adding the talking voice of the readers, libraries still cannot ignore lower volume noise causing problems for efficiency of library use. Those problems may include fatigue, tinnitus, headache, and mental pressure. Therefore, libraries should take serious considerations about how to prevent these noises. For new library constructions, it is very important to do interior design beforehand. Not only is the noise problem important to the image of the library, it also affects readers' usage. Therefore, libraries should implement noise prevention and control to maintain a peaceful environment inside the library.