Making the future makers. Makerspace curriculum in library and information science graduate programs and continuing education
| Published date | 18 November 2019 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-01-2019-0005 |
| Date | 18 November 2019 |
| Pages | 781-793 |
| Author | Monica Grace Maceli |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
Making the future makers
Makerspace curriculum in library
and information science graduate programs
and continuing education
Monica Grace Maceli
School of Information, Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science,
New York, New York, USA
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore curriculum related to makerspaces and
making within library and information science graduate programs and continuing education opportunities
available to librarians. These findings are compared against prior assessments of makerspace-related
educational offerings, as well as contrasted with recent practitioner survey results indicating the number of
library practitioners involved in makerspace work and their needs.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper employs content analysis to assess makerspace topics
within American Library Association (ALA)-accredited library and information science Masters programs’
course catalogs and in continuing education opportunities for librarians.
Findings –This work identified a total of eight courses from seven ALA-accredited Masters of Library
Science programs relating to makerspace and making topics. A series of past and current makerspace-related
continuing education opportunities were noted, with a variety of durations and structures, all offered in online
format. As compared to prior research, these findings describe a notable increase in training and curriculum
relating to library makerspaces.
Research limitations/implications –A limitation of this work is the difficulty in assessing frequency of
course offerings, details regarding special topics courses and the potential continuing education materials
that may have been removed from the internet since their offering.
Originality/value –Although significant research efforts have focused on makerspaces, little work has
directly assessed the ongoing impact of the makerspace trend on library and information science graduate
programs and continuing education opportunities.
Keywords Information technology, Libraries, Continuing education, Makerspaces,
Librarian competencies, Librarian education
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
In recent years, a great deal of hype and anticipation has surrounded the concept of the
makerspace and the intersection with library services, with interest coming from a variety
of fields and perspectives, both academic and practitioner based. Broadly defined as
collaborative, informal, community-based learning spaces for creative activity, makerspaces
may include arts and crafts, novel technologies, tool collections, or other resources
supporting its users’inventive needs (Britton, 2012). As evidenced by the many library
practitioners and researchers w riting, theorizing and experime nting in this area,
makerspaces have a natural connection to libraries’long-standing focus on community
services, access to technology and educational efforts.
Libraries have long served as a home for innovative technology, often providing the
public’s first exposure to novel innovations (such as the internet or 3D printing). Formal
library scienceeducation has often struggled tokeep pace with the rapid rate of technological
change. Significant prior work has contin uously evaluated the technology-related
competencies necessary for librarians to possess and assessed these against educational
offerings in Masters of Library Science (MLS) degree programs (e.g. Hu, 2013; Singh and
Mehra, 2013; Maceli, 2015). The commitment of the field to both employ current technologies
effectivelyand position library practitioners to introducetheir communities to novel,emerging
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 37 No. 4, 2019
pp. 781-793
© Emerald PublishingLimited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-01-2019-0005
Received 7 January 2019
Revised 19 April 2019
17 June 2019
Accepted 17 June 2019
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
781
Making the
future makers
To continue reading
Request your trial