SPEC Kit 348: Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services · 17
SURVEY QUESTIONS AND RESPONSES
The SPEC Survey on Rapid Fabrication/Makerspace Services was designed by Dr. Micah Altman,
Director of Research and Head/Scientist, Program on Information Science for the MIT Libraries Matthew
Bernhardt, Web Developer for the MIT Libraries Digital Library Application Development team Lisa R.
Horowitz, Assessment &Linguistics Librarian Wenqing Lu, research intern in the MIT Libraries Program
on Information Science and Randi Shapiro, assistant to the MIT Libraries Director and the MIT Libraries
Program on Information Science. These results are based on 64 responses from the 124 ARL member
libraries (52%) by the deadline of June 12, 2015. The survey’s introductory text and questions are reproduced
below, followed by the response data and selected comments from the respondents.
Rapid fabrication technologies, or “3-D printing,” to use the less accurate but more familiar term, have undergone rapid evolution
and are now used for medical implants, prosthetics, teaching aids, information visualization, research on rare/fragile objects,
architecture, art, and advanced manufacturing. These technologies are rapidly lowering a number of different barriers faced by
researchers (and others), barriers that had previously made it prohibitively difficult for most individuals, researchers, or organizations
to manufacture objects without substantial investment in obtaining manufacturing skills and equipment, to manufacture complex
objects, to offer a wide variety of different objects, to easily customize and individualize manufacturing, to manufacture objects
locally or onsite, to manufacture objects with little lead time (or just-in-time), or to easily and precisely replicate physical objects.
These technologies produce intellectual assets—sensor and digitization data, as well as models and methods that are potentially
valuable to other researchers for future reuse and replication. Moreover, these technologies offer the opportunity to create spaces
(“makerspaces”) that facilitate research, collaboration, information discovery and management, and a form of technical and
information literacy.
The goal of this survey is to provide information to senior library staff that will support decisions related to engagement with 3-D
printing, rapid fabrication and digitization technologies, and makerspaces in general. And in particular to inform decisions regarding
the types of service offerings libraries can provide, level of service, level of resource commitment, potential clientele needs, and
evaluation of the service. The specific objectives of the survey are to provide systematic, well-structured, baseline information on ARL
member libraries’ policies, services, investments in, and experiences with supporting fabrication services and makerspaces.
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