Chapter 20 Instructor Supplement:
Creation Culture and Makerspaces

Chapter 20 Learning Objectives

After completing this chapter, readers should have a better understanding of the big ideas behind the creation culture and how – by looking beyond fads to the wants, needs, and aspirations of makers – information professionals can create sustainable, welcoming spaces

Chapter 20 Instructor PowerPoint

Downloadable PowerPoint presentation and PowerPoint notes for course instruction. These files are only accessible to instructors who have adopted Information Services Today: An Introduction (3rd ed) for their course. To request access, please click on the images below or email Sandy Hirsh.

Chapter 20 Discussion Questions

The following questions are included in the textbook

1. Good information centers keep tabs on what community members – both current and potential patrons – want and need. Planning around those wants and needs can help limited budgets be spent more wisely. What needs and wants do you see in your community? What systems are in place at the organizational level to find out this information in an ongoing way?

2. What is the advantage of focusing a makerspace on STEM tools, digital tools, and/or a wide variety of tools and materials? What could unintended consequences be of limiting the range of maker activities offered?

Additional Discussion Questions Provided by Author

For these questions, imagine that you have been asked to take over your institution’s makerspace, creative arts programming, or design lab.

1. What questions might you ask of your supervisors and patrons prior to making any changes or launching initiatives?

2. How do you define “creation” or “creativity”? Would your colleagues agree? What about a supervisor? How might you find common ground? Why might that be important? When might it not be helpful to do so?

3. What do you see as your service population’s wants, needs, and delights? How did you discover these? How might you discover them?

4. The need for “good optics” has had an outsized impact on maker initiatives. What kinds of activities do you think stakeholders and power brokers in your community would find “valuable”? Which might receive less value?

5. Who is in your broader maker ecosystem? What other libraries, schools, information centers, community makerspaces, community centers, continuing education sites, etc., are also engaging in this kind of work? Make a case that your institution needs to duplicate some of the other institutions’ services. Now make a case that duplication is wasteful. Which feels more “right”? Why?

Handouts

The following documents are formatted to share with students as handouts.

Related Chapters

The following chapters are referenced in Chapter 20 and may assist in expanding your classroom instruction and discussions.

• Chapter 4: Information Communities

• Chapter 6: Social Justice

• Chapter 7: Equity of Access, Diversity, and Inclusion

• Chapter 8: Literacy and Media Centers: School Libraries

• Chapter 9: Learning and Research Institutions: Academic Libraries

• Chapter 10: Community Anchors for Lifelong Learning: Public Libraries

• Chapter 27: Managing Collections

• Chapter 33: Information Ethics

• Chapter 40: Leadership Skills for Today’s Global Information Landscape