The evolution of the LC service model has been driven by several forces including: changes in user needs & expectations; changes in teaching theory & instructional design; changes in technology; changes in society.
In the early 1990s, the emergence of the internet & world wide web caused the increased use of online search engines.
The increased use of databases caused libraries to create student computer labs in or near their reference departments to provide increased access to databases.
Libraries also created special units (such as Media Services) to assist students with new media formats & technologies.
In the 1990s & early 2000s, the Information Commons (IC) model began emerging as a new service delivery model in academic libraries. This model went beyond the “access & retrieval” function of traditional reference service and supported the full range of information literacy activities, helping students access, evaluate, manage, integrate and create knowledge.
Beginning about 2005, the IC model began to evolve into the LC model, shifting the focus from information retrieval to learning.
Although the terms IC and LC are often used interchangeably, it is useful to understand them as different levels of a similar concept. IC is the earlier term (dating from the early 1990s); LC is the present term (dating from about 2005). On some NA campuses, libraries first successfully implemented ICs &, later, expanded their services & facilities to include collaborative programs of learning support, renaming them LCs.