This Wednesday was our second 3D printing workshop and it really left me wanting more! That’s not to say that the workshop was insufficient, but that it did it’s job of making me realize how possible and realistic it is for me to create and print 3D models. For her second workshop, Michelle introduced the open source program Inkscape (“drawing” software comparable to Adobe Illustrator). In Inkscape, users can change black and white images/objects into vector images that can then be imported into Tinkercad and manipulated. The same thing can be done with text as well. I got another look at the maker movement in some of my readings this week. I read two papers by the Deloitte Center for the Edge, A Movement In The Making and Impact of the Maker Movement. The two papers, particularly the latter, explore the economic and cultural impact makerspaces and the maker movement are having and will continue to have in the future. I am somewhat familiar with the ways the movement is manifesting itself in the education world (i.e. this whole grant project) and had heard it tossed around that the movement is predicted to revitalize the manufacturing industry in the country. But I had never really heard it put into such precise and optimistic (is that the right word?) terms. One of the points I found interesting in A Movement In The Making was Dale Dougherty’s breakdown of makers into three categories: 1) zero to maker, 2) maker to maker, and 3) maker to market. These seem to capture the different aspects of the movement pretty well. Zero to maker (the level at which I proudly know I am most rooted in) is those who are just learning and/or putting their skills to use. This category quite nicely captures the idea that everyone is a maker, that the access to ideas and technology are putting making back in peoples’ hands. The maker to maker aspect captures the sense of community, sharing, and building on others’ ideas that is so vital to the maker world. And clearly maker to market reflects the economic impact of the market. Possibly my favorite line or concept from both articles was the seemingly contradictory idea that our digital technologies are, paradoxically, leading us back to the physical realm. “Physical ‘making’ is the new frontier,” the authors say. When so many lament the “end of society” because of the machines, it is refreshing to think of the potential renaissance that all of these machines could be leading to. While I often wondered whether the authors were a bit idealistic or self-serving in their predictions about the impact the maker movement has/will have, I am also hopeful that they are mostly right. Their ideas clearly strike a chord with me and how I would like to see the world continue to evolve in the future. | “The same forces that are democratizing information— improved cost-performance of technology driving digitization and connectivity— are also lowering the cost to produce physical objects.” --A Movement In The Making, Deloitte Center For The Edge |
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So, as it is with the laws of the universe, a Blackboard malfunction coincided with our first workshop on 3D printing this week. However, I don’t think this really slowed down the pace of the workshop. In fact, it may have actually helped in some ways, since Michelle was able to record a tutorial introducing us (I consider myself a participant) to some basic 3D modeling tools without the interruption of other technical difficulties.
One of the most notable revelations I’ve had thus far working with the makerspace team is the value of open source software. As a young, naive undergrad and even during my professional duties as a writer/page designer at a small newspaper, I was often snobbish about having to use such open source software as Open Office - it didn’t work the way I WANTED it to. I was spoiled and, having never really incurred the costs for such software, blissfully ignorant of how prohibitive those costs are. The wonderful thing about Michelle’s workshop this week was that all of the tools she used (with the exception of the printer itself) were free. The development of web applications has really enhanced access to these tools and allows people to harness their experimental and creative powers much more easily. I cannot imagine having to pay for proprietary software in order to tinker with (pardon the pun!) Tinkercad, the application we used for 3D modeling. The availability of such programs really fits well with the maker mindset of sharing and collaboration and greatly increases one’s ability to try new things. Within 30 seconds, and at no cost, I was ready to start basic 3D modeling, or to modify the free downloadable models available at Thingiverse. I can go home and share this with my sister, or send her the link and let her try it on her own. I am not prohibited by the fear of paying for a program that I will never use, and in this case, I’m not even slowed down by the need to download the program. The workshop itself was a great introduction to Tinkercad, which is surprisingly easy and intuitive to use. I am looking forward to next week and to hopefully making some neat additions to our poster for ALISE (fingers crossed)!
This week, Beth proposed that Michelle and I consider attending the ALISE and/or mid-winter ALA conferences in Chicago in January, with the goal of presenting a poster at one or the other. After some research, we realized that ALISE hosts a Works In Progress poster session during their annual conference. This is especially exciting for me, because it presents a number of great opportunities (not to sound self-centered or anything). One, it gives me the opportunity to attend some of my first conferences as a soon-to-be professional librarian. It also gives me the opportunity to visit Chicago, somewhere I’ve never been and a city that holds some special significance to my family (my grandmother’s sister lived there for most of her adult life). Finally, it gives me the chance to come up with a really great deliverable for the practicum/independent study portion of my role with the team.
I am also quite excited about the possibility to present a poster on such an interesting and relatively innovative topic and something that I am so interested in sharing. The Mobile Makerspace project is remarkably in line with the “Re-imagining LIS Education” portion of the poster session theme. Below is our abstract/poster description that will hopefully land us a spot at the ALISE conference. Here’s hoping! LIS Education - Making Makers In the past few years, there has been a shift in thinking that libraries have a responsibility as spaces for creation. With that in mind, it is important to prepare and familiarize librarians-in-making with makerspaces. The Mobile Makerspace Team at the University of North Carolina Greensboro’s Jackson Library received a Library Services and Technology (LSTA) grant from the North Carolina State Library for the 2014 - 2015 year. The grant furthers the team’s goal of educating LIS students and others about the world of makers and makerspaces with the message that EVERYONE IS A MAKER. As two LIS students working on this grant project, we have helped spearhead this project for our classmates and colleagues. Our resources include a 3D printer, Arduino kits, a laptop with open source software, and a mobile cart to hold them all - comprising the Mobile Makerspace. Our poster will include discussion on our involvement in the initiative, what we have accomplished so far, such as workshops and assessment creation, what we have learned and what comes next. The poster will bring the products and results of our venture to the conference with a three-dimensional twist and will include LED lights and sample 3D modeling projects. Preliminary assessment results will also be available to explore the impact our workshop sessions may have had on participants’ perceptions of their “maker” abilities. This week we met with Bob Anemone, chair of UNCG’s Anthropology Department. One of the goals of the LSTA grant is to reach out to academic departments on campus and show them how 3D modeling/printing and circuit technology can be incorporated into their curriculum. This was not much of a leap for the Anthropology department. In fact, the department (or Bob, actually) has a 3D scanner which it already uses to create 3D images of various artifacts.
We particularly got a close-up look at several mammalian teeth and jawbones Bob and his students found during recent digs. His undergraduate assistant, Ashley, explained to us that patterns on the teeth could indicate everything from the animal’s diet down to its species. It’s her job to scan the teeth and jawbones and other objects using the scanner, a process that even at its fastest takes several hours. The scans can be saved as any number of image file types, including PDFs, which can then be manipulated on several dimensions. The obvious value of 3D printing in that environment is to create scaled replicas of artifacts, like teeth, that can be increased in size, measured, handled by students, or sent to colleagues. In fact, Bob said, there is a certain amount of sharing among colleagues of 3D scans. In some aspects, it increases access to physical items in ways that molds and casts may not. This was one area of particular interest to him, the accuracy of such replicas. A potential research project would be to compare the accuracy and precision of different replicas (casts, 3D prints, 3D images) to the original by comparing measurements. This was an application, Bob said, where 3D technology may (dare I say it) surpass even the purity of the physical object, the ability for much more precise measurements of hard-to-measure surfaces. I probably showed my ignorance, or idealism, when I asked whether 3D technology was incorporated into the Anthropology curriculum AT ALL. The answer, I’m told, is no. While Bob and his undergraduate assistants are becoming versed in the possibilities, the department itself has no formal or informal education on the subject. In a previous job as a newspaper reporter, I was accustomed to being at least 10 years behind such current trends, but I was definitely surprised that even in a field where there is such a direct application, the transition is relatively slow. I can see both positive and negative aspects to this. While it’s a little disappointing that these awesome tools are not being totally taken advantage of (and yes, I understand budgetary and bureaucratic restraints), it’s also pretty neat to realize just what a positive force something like the Mobile Makerspace can be in educating others about what’s available.
Well, I believe I may have missed a post between snow days and rearranging my schedule following them, so this may be a catch-all for some of the things I’ve been doing and thinking about the past two weeks. First, I wanted to provide a couple of links for some neat things I got to do this week. In my management course we have been discussing the book First, Break All The Rules and the importance of focusing on strengths rather than weaknesses in the workplace. While I’m not crazy about everything mentioned in the book, I found this seemingly simple insight very powerful. On our class discussion board, one of my classmates posted a link to the Gallup’s Clifton StrengthsFinder tool (Gallup also conducted the research that was the basis for FBATR). When I found out they also use the StrengthsFinder at ZSR, I decided to fork over the small fee out of curiosity. My Top 5 Strengths were identified as: Input, Adaptability, Empathy, Context, and Developer. Find out more about what those mean by checking out the report in the portfolio section. The highlight of my week was probably the visit with ZSR’s Preservation Librarian, Craig Fansler, to see the antique letterpress (pictured) donated to the library by Carl Hein. Craig talked about the resurgence of the letterpress in the wake of new technology, and it’s really neat to see it used regularly for bookmarks, invitations, and other uses in the library. It hasn’t been that long, but it reminded me of my work at the newspaper and made me feel at home. I could always tell which press our print shop manager, Early Bailey, was running by the sounds coming from the back of the building. This week, my supervisor, Chelcie, met with me to discuss some potential summer internship opportunities. I had expressed some interest in finding something to keep me occupied over the summer, and she was kind enough to look over some of the internships I found and offer some professional advice. She also asked me two questions for which I realized I didn’t really have answers – What do I want out of a potential internship and Where do I envision myself after graduation? – I wasn’t really satisfied with my answers to these questions and have been thinking about it since. I went into grad school as a blank slate. I knew I liked reading and that sharing/preserving/making accessible information was important to me. I knew I had an interest in archives, simply because of my overarching fascination with the past and the belief that preserving it is vital. I also knew that I could not ignore the presence of technology in the field and viewed it as one of the major benefits of entering the library studies program. With all of that being said, I feel more than fortunate that I was offered this unexpected opportunity at ZSR, particularly so early in my graduate school career, because it meets so many of those expectations. But I don’t know that I had actively considered what I want when I get out of school, because from past experience where I wanted to be and where I ended up are usually two completely different places (in both positive and negative ways). I am wary of being specific because I don’t want to be disappointed, yes, but also because I am open to where life will take me. However, I also know that avoiding decisions out of uncertainty is no excuse. I’m not the greatest planner, I think, because when I sit down and think about the future I visualize all of the possibilities and cannot imagine planning for everything that could possibly happen. That being said, I have been giving it some thought. So, what would I like out of a summer internship – or any other possible internships or learning opportunities during my time as an LIS student? The reason internships are so important to me is twofold. First, I believe that I cannot truly know about a job without the experience of actually performing the work. And, two, I know that potential employers are looking for that experience, even out of entry-level employees. So those are my practical reasons for wanting an internship. But what do I want out of a potential summer internship? I want skills that I cannot get in a classroom. I want skills that are not always easy to master and can be technical – metadata creation, digitization, cataloging. This may lack the specificity that some people need, but for me, it is a fairly well-defined goal. Where do I envision myself after graduate school? This is a much more difficult question for me to answer. I entered graduate school with a vision of providing service to people. I envision myself doing this in two very distinct ways. One is in a role very much like where I am now at ZSR, preserving the past in some meaningful way for the users of the future. The other way is in service to the public in a small, community library where I can help people directly. But as I said, I am open to many different points in between. My work this week at ZSR has continued much as last week did. It was somewhat interrupted by my snow day Wednesday, as you can see by my beautiful Tuesday afternoon view from the library's sixth floor (somewhat distorted because of the screen). To continue a theme from last week, much of the past few days, for me, have been focused on time. I have come to appreciate the amount of time it takes to show each individual file the love and care it deserves. Ok, that may be a little bit facetious, but I do think it's important for me to realize the time investment that goes into converting and uploading individual files (in my case, the PDFs for the Old Gold & Black project), because it highlights the virtues of batch processing. It also underscores how investing the time in discovering ways to process batches of files is actually a time-saver in the long run. The internship this semester is coinciding with my Leadership and Management for Information Organizations class. Being in a new working environment has certainly given me the opportunity to reflect on previous experiences and to observe some of the ideas we are learning in class. One of our first required readings is First, Break All The Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently. As a rule, I am somewhat skeptical that these types of books can offer any wisdom that would be applicable in the "real world", but I have been pleasantly surprised. The book is based on years of workplace and management studies conducted by Gallup in companies across the United States. One of the themes in the book is (can you tell from the title?) to shy away from conventional management practices, which have a tendency to focus on the weaknesses of an employee's performance which usually cannot be changed. Certainly in my experience, the negatives have usually gotten the most attention (the squeaky wheel syndrome?), with the best intentions for improvement of course. But the book tells managers to instead focus on the positives and match employees' strengths with specific job duties. It is nice to see this in action in the digitization lab at ZSR. As my work with evaluating materials to include in the Secrest Artists Series digital exhibit continues, I look forward to exploring some of the issues related to large-scale digitization and copyright. Look for a post with all my amazing insights next week! Oh, and don't forget to see the progress of the OGB project in the keyword searchability progress chart. In my Foundations class last week we had our "Technology in the Profession" discussion. We were asked to think about the different technology we have in our individual lives and how we think technology is changing and will change the library/information science profession. It's an interesting reflective exercise for anyone to do - to examine how one uses technology in their personal and professional lives and force themselves to take a conscious look at it. Certainly starting this program and an internship in the field has forced me to do so.
I've never been an early adopter of technology, but I think a lot of that has to do with a lack of money. It's not so much that my family couldn't afford it, as much as that it was not a priority. This has carried over into my adult life. Growing up, a lot of my friends had personal computers and internet in their homes long before we did. We finally got one when I was 13 (in 1999), which I think was behind the curve. However, once we did, I was hooked. I have always loved the internet, the ability it has given me to communicate with my friends, and being able to find the answer to just about anything instantaneously. I have a Toshiba laptop that I occasionally use (I think it's probably 5 or 6 years old and falling apart, it was a hand me down from my parents), a Gateway desktop which is also about 5 years old, a Kindle Fire (given to me as a gift earlier this year), an iPad mini (also given to me as a gift a few months ago), a small "offbrand" mp3 player and my (non-smart) LG Banter phone. My personal life may not make me sound too tech savvy, however, my "professional" life has kept me abreast of a lot of the newer technology - from software programs like InDesign and Photoshop, to maintaining a social networking site for a business, to using Google docs. I don't feel so behind when I look at it from that perspective, or from realizing that a lot of technology is intuitive and builds on your existing knowledge - if you let it. Working at a community newspaper, I saw the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to the effects technology can have on a profession. We could rarely provide the access to breaking news like the TV news stations could (who had their own websites, while we did not), and we saw how the community admired their ability to be quick and the ease with which they could access that information. On the other hand, our Facebook page (our only online presence) was quite popular. Although I was never able to put it into practice, I imagined that there had to be some kind of perfect harmonious interaction between our web presence and the physical product. I'm convinced that with some creativity, technical knowledge, and an understanding of the community one serves, technology and the print product can (hopefully) survive together. |
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