Innovate & Experiment Blog
Association of Creative Technologies in Academic Libraries (ACTAL)
Written by Oscar Keyes, Vanessa Rodriguez, and Kelsey Sheaffer
August 5, 2022
In the summer of 2020, a group of six librarians began meeting once a week to discuss their shared experiences with running interdisciplinary creative technology spaces in academic libraries in the southeast. Most of us had never previously met, but the community we built with each other was a fundamental support to get through the rough times of the pandemic and the subsequent gradual re-opening of our individual spaces. This informal community of practice was developed into the Southeastern Multimedia Librarians group (SEML), which also began offering shared programming to the member institutions and collaborating on research and scholarship.
One of first collaborations resulted in the chapter for this book, entitled “Off the Cutting Edge: Lessons Learned From Centering People in Creative Technology Space,” which wove together the different histories and experiences of our spaces. We reflected on how services like ours remain relevant across the rapidly changing landscape of various emerging technologies. One of the major themes was the importance of centering people, not tools, in our work, especially when considering the various issues related to digital accessibility and equity. Rather than being distracted by the shiniest, newest technologies, our spaces operate most effectively when we focus on making our current collections as accessible and approachable as possible. In all of our locations, staff training, expertise, and instructional support were a key factor for students and faculty connecting with and integrating creative technologies. Through sharing our experiences, a shared philosophical and pedagogical approach began to take shape.
We soon realized that this support system, coming from people who work in similar positions, was an interest that went beyond our region. In response, we are currently working towards building a professional organization: Association of Creative Technologies in Academic Libraries (ACTAL). ACTAL seeks to bring together people working in creative technologies – media labs, makerspaces, equipment loan, visualization spaces, and beyond – in academic libraries and is open to anyone who self-identifies as being interested in those areas. We are building ACTAL to be an organization that will support the employees of these unique library spaces and in turn, improve and expand these kinds of creative technologie resources at institutions.
In May, we made our first overture to create ACTAL by hosting a virtual potluck that was moderated by the original members of SEML. We had over sixty attendees across over forty institutions. Through small group conversations and prompts, we learned that many of our colleagues need people to talk to, about challenges, technical advice, and strategic planning, from people who intimately understand these resources. We need a range of expert resources: for those who are just beginning to build a space to those who need to develop continued advocacy plans. There was also a lot of interest in creating spaces for gathering: informal chats, monthly check-ins, and even a conference.
The inaugural ACTAL conference will take place in November 2022. The main conference will be Nov 15-17 at NC State University in Raleigh, NC. We will also hold virtual roundtables Nov 9-10. The Call for Proposals is now open and the deadline is August 15, 2022. We invite anyone interested in creative technologies and spaces in academic libraries to apply!
Using Maker Workshops to Develop a Culture of Student Belonging
Written by Annalise Phillips
May 1, 2022
Makerspaces are often seen as hubs of creative design, innovation, and collaboration. But how does a student become a maker? In the UC Berkeley library we deliberately seek to bring in new and underrepresented makerspace users. One of the most successful strategies we’ve come up with is developing inclusive, novice-centered workshops. High interest topics with low stakes projects appeal to broad audiences, and become a gateway to further making. Once students have had a successful makerspace experience, many of them return for individual project work. The strategies below have helped us encourage our students to see themselves as makers and to see our makerspace as for them.
Develop low stakes workshops with a high success rate
One of our most successful strategies has been to offer skill based workshops with high-interest and low stakes projects. Recently, the Makerspace’s Undergraduate Library Fellows hosted a large open house to increase awareness of the service and promote its new location. The workshop focused on three projects: button making, vinyl cutting/heat press and embroidery and drew over 50 new users to the space. Participants were given a library tote bag and encouraged to visit the different stations for light touch introductions to new skills. These easy-entry projects help build a sense of creative confidence and expose users to a variety of available technologies and materials. Our experience has been that a successful and positive first encounter brings users back for more involved or individualized projects.
Students learn to embroider while attending the Makerspace open house.
A group of students uses vinyl cutouts to customize their bags.
Representation
When designing new workshops we feature artists and makers from marginalized and underrepresented groups. Focusing on artists and makers who look like our diverse student body helps students visualize themselves in the space. It creates a welcoming and inviting environment and it supports our core values as a space where everyone is welcome.
A recent embroidery workshop featured the art of illustrator Tequitia Andrews.
Rotate topics regularly
Regularly changing topics provides several opportunities to bring in new users. Most simply, different topics appeal to different audiences. Rotating allows us to feature new artists and media, and frequently changing topics encourages users to come back to try new things.
User Input
We solicit feedback at all stages of our workshop design process. Before planning programs we reach out to potential user groups to gauge interest in topics, determine which time frames are most inclusive and identify potential barriers to enrollment. During programs we check in with users regularly. Depending on the topic, workshop registration is kept fairly low to ensure staff can check in with each participant. After workshops, users are invited to provide feedback to help us improve our programs and plan future events.
A student completes an exit survey after attending a workshop.
Multiple Access Points
Flexible timing has been key in bringing in new users. We rotate workshop times to include mornings and afternoons and provide a mix of pre-registered and drop in programs. As our space expands we hope to be even more flexible and inclusive with workshop timing, branching into evenings and weekends.
Providing asynchronous materials through our Libguide and the library’s LevelUp page has also helped to increase access and visibility to novice users.
Vary formatting for large and small groups
The open house we hosted earlier this month demonstrated the need for mixed-size workshops. The large format encouraged students to come with groups of their friends and brought more users into the space than we typically see. The smaller formats of our regular workshops allow for more individual facilitation and a deeper dive into a topic. They also allow us to introduce tools and technology that we only have a small number of, like our sewing machines. To account for the lower enrollment, we offer these small workshops more frequently than we do the larger programs.
Build a welcoming physical environment
Finally, one of the most important strategies we’ve discovered to encourage novice users is to build a welcoming physical environment. We keep familiar tools right up front where library users passing by can see them. We post signs all over our space with our drop-in hours and a QR code for our appointments and Libbguide where potential users can learn more about our programs and offerings.
Students scan a QR code for more information while attending a workshop.
As in all making, the UC Berkeley Library Makerspace is a work in progress. We are constantly evolving, learning from our users, making mistakes and trying new things. We’d love to hear more about your makerspace journey or answer any questions. Please reach out to asphillips@berkeley.edu!
A bit about the history and the future of this book!
Written by Elias Tzoc and Sarah Nagle
March 16, 2022
It all started at a June 2020 meeting, Sarah had some special news to share after a successful and well attended virtual presentation at the LOEX conference. She was invited to consider writing a book on the topic of experiential learning in higher education. We knew that a book project was going to be a 12-18 month commitment, and this was in the middle of the pandemic crisis. At the time, we were also planning for a potential re-opening of the Makerspace at Miami University Libraries for Fall 2020 and we, just like many others, had many questions about the near future. In short, we had all kinds of reasons to say no to the book project. However, we also knew that our early successes in supporting innovative, inclusive and experiential learning opportunities at Miami University would be important to document and share with the broader library community. Thus, we decided to schedule a brainstorming meeting soon after and draft an outline for a potential book proposal. At our next meeting, it became clear that the readers of such a book would benefit from reading and learning about similar initiatives at other academic libraries … and that’s how Innovation and Experiential Learning in Academic Libraries got started!
From there on, it was a number of emails with the publisher contacts, from writing and submitting the book proposal, starting a call for chapters campaign, reviewing and selecting the final 12 chapters, reading and providing feedback for the first drafts, to working on the final manuscripts and all supplemental materials. The call for chapters, for which we received over 50 submissions, also confirmed how many academic libraries are actively responding and aligning resources that further support emerging services to meet the needs of 21st-century students. We are so proud of the 25 voices from 16 academic libraries represented in the book. As you will learn, the case studies and examples are from a wide range of types of academic libraries, from undergraduate to more research-focused institutions.
As we approached the publication phase of the book project, we also began to think about the future of the book. We realized that it would be beneficial to find ways to allow the conversation to continue and invite others to add their voices and perspectives to this project … and that’s the goal of this companion website. As you select and read your chapters of interest, you may come back to this site and find ways to connect with the authors.
As we all know, the pandemic forced institutions to transform working, teaching and learning practices. By doing so, they also built competencies necessary for Digital Transformation or Dx, which in short is about doing things differently and purposefully. In the context of libraries, the article Impact of Digital Transformation on the Future of Library Work considers four possible impacts: digital goods, operational agility, customer-centricity, and library workforce. Many also believe that academic libraries will continue to implement Dx type of initiatives that will further/better support emerging teaching and learning needs. Examples could include: custom and inclusive library portals, next generation of discovery layers, dynamic and reconfigurable learning spaces, immersive physical and virtual labs, robust scholarly communication systems, etc.
So, if you’re interested in writing a blog post about academic libraries and innovation, makerspaces, multi-literacies, digital scholarship/humanities, emerging technologies, diversity, entrepreneurship, digital transformation, please get in touch with us!
Keep an eye on this blog! Over the next several months, we will feature posts from chapter authors on a wide range of topics relating to their exciting and innovative work. Who knows, as the forms of scholarship continue to change … blog posts on this website could take some other publishing directions. For example: a journal, a second edition of the book, or something else. Help us define that future!