66 · Survey Results: Survey Questions and Responses
Staffing the makerspace. Keeping up with the demand.
Technology can be unreliable. 3-D printing is a slow technology that can lead to bottlenecks at busy times. Patron-
designed files can have errors so they are unable to print correctly without repair/redesign.
The staff time needed to adequately support the service. The display space needed to showcase the objects. The
funding required for a new “non-traditional” service.
The technology itself is tempermental. Providing staff support.
The time commitment. Keeping student staff trained. Keeping up with demand.
Time consuming. Troubleshooting problems can be difficult since this is newer technology. This sector is rapidly
changing so it was difficult to determine what technology to purchase.
Yet to be fully determined.
FUTURE CASTING
53. Please briefly describe what you envision as the role of rapid fabrication and makerspace services
in the future of research libraries. N=42
A central department-free place on campus for this technology is key, since the applications are so broad. Many
individual researchers might lack the funding or expertise to utilize the equipment. Having a library service solves this
problem and opens up the technology to the entire community.
As a catalyst for innovation.
As a component of scholarly communication, e.g., the visual display of quantitative data can now be 3-D.
As the technology becomes cheaper, service providers will move into higher-end printing as more people have access
to cheaper 3-D printing. Service providers will also likely provide for printing of other types of materials not available in
cheaper printers such as nylon, metals, and soluble support materials.
Assisting in the development and creation of critical making projects and bringing tangible and 3-D work into areas of
research where it both has existed and traditionally may not have been possible previously.
At a basic level, libraries can provide the resources for experimentation and creative uses of materials. For example, the
director of our Art Library has some interest in how 3-D printing could be used by studio art students.
At the university schools and departments proactively provided these services. Therefore the Libraries facilitates the
individual schools and programs when needed.
Brings people together. A place to put technical skills into practice.
Given typical tight budget environments and space limitations across most universities today, it is important that
academic libraries considering any services in the future will need to connect those services to the particular academic
needs of the campus. Without doing that, any new service will not be successful. So, an assessment of need,
applicability, and redundancy on campus is essential and will be highly individualized by campus. As an example, a
well-appointed makerspace is less than a block from the library on campus. Other questions related to makerspaces
relate to who would maintain the equipment (the library or IT (or other unit)) would libraries find themselves called
upon to archive the products of these services would there be internal uses for the technology (spare parts for obsolete
technology in library) would this makerspace also include low-tech tools such as hammers, measuring tape, hand-tools
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