3D Printing in an Academic Library * One Year Later
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Transcript 3D Printing in an Academic Library * One Year Later
3D Printing in an Academic
Library – One Year Later
Marc Comeau & Michael Groenendyk
3D Printing?
Is This The Future of 3D Printing?
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Or Is This?
Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Curtiss_Autoplane_1917.jpg
Should we be doing this?
Mission scope-creep?
Novelty? Printing trinkets?
Do people know how to use it?
Too early to adopt?
Could be very influential technology?
Bring relevant tools to patrons?
Inspiring new forms of content creation?
Why would we put a 3D Printer in
a Library?
Importance of 3D visualization in our
culture
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Object designs
Video games, movies
Medical imaging
Mining, gas
Printer reduces barriers of bringing
digital objects into reality
Bridge digital divide around this
technology
Will it work? Let’s Find Out!
Difficult to predict, so we’re not going to
try
Low cost overhead + free labour
Had a good fit for deployment
Dive in headfirst and see if there’s water
Developing a 3D Printing Service
Research began January 2012
◦ Health and safety
◦ One of the first services of this kind
◦ Difficulty in finding relevant information
Bought a Makerbot Replicator
Hurry up and wait (for delivery)
Troubleshooting and testing
Deployment to Help Desk in Killam
Learning Commons in June
Initial User Base
Launch happened during summer
◦ Different campus environment
Use by engineering and architecture
students
◦ Engineering graduate students and their thesis
projects
◦ Faculty of Architecture professor involvement
◦ Unexpected
Initial Reaction
First time seeing 3D printing in a library
Accessibility of the printer appreciated
Cost was also well received
◦ $1 per hour
Lots of questions
Difficulty in bridging the gap between
questions and use
Promoting the Service
On campus promotions
CBC interviews
Presentations to various faculties
Presentation at NSCAD
Directly engaging students
Fall 2012 Semester
User base continued growing
Much higher usage from computer
science students
Usage from NSCC and NSCAD
Still hard to attract students from other
faculties
Change in User Base in Winter
Steady use through Winter 2013
semester
Increasingly used for school related
projects
Stronger interest from science
departments like biology and chemistry
Many questions
Change In The Broader Landscape
While our own service grew and changed,
so did everything else
Devices
Service offerings
Users
Growing Popularity of 3D Printers
in Libraries
Last summer only a handful of libraries
offered 3D printing
Now there are close to 50 libraries
Majority in United States (38 total)
Public libraries are the most common
providers
◦ 74% public libraries, 22% academic, 4% school
Expanding 3D Printing Industry
Investment into 3D printing start-ups
Cheaper 3D printers – Solidoodle
Next generation Makerbot: Replicator 2
◦ Optimized for PLA
Cube 3D printers now sold in Staples
Wider Selection
Growing variety of 3D printers to choose
from
$500 - $5000 range
Different printing materials
3D Printers Popular in Libraries
Replicator 2
Solid Doodle 2
RepRap and similar kits
◦ Mendel, Prusa, Ditto
Stratasys
Ways Libraries Are Offering 3D
Printing
Consultation basis for many academic
libraries
◦ Little to no web presence
Demonstrations or demo sessions
Tutorials for simple designs
Rent the 3D printer itself
◦ Charge for plastic used
Adapting our own Service
Purchase of two MakerBot Replicator 2s,
two more coming.
PLA plastic source in Montreal
Wider variety of materials
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Transparent
Glow-in the dark
Nylon *
Wood *
Improvement in quality and consistency of
pieces we can produce
Migrating to Replicator 2
Optimized for PLA
Building board does not heat
Importance of properly aligning platform
each build
Replicator 2 build quality problems
Difficulty in using closed source
MakerWare software
Process Overview
Some changes in submission system
Migration into ticket system
Added documentation
Plastic feeding modifications
Benefit of being able to print multiple jobs
Faster print times
Problems and Attempted Solutions
by Libraries
Hardware maintenance and software
learning curves
Makerspace environments
◦ Outside experts inside libraries
◦ Librarians attending makerspace events
Classes in 3D design
Time set aside for librarian/student
consultations
Monthly Users and Submissions
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Users
Submissions
New vs Repeat Users
20
18
16
14
12
10
Unique Users
8
6
4
2
0
Repeat Users
Users by Faculty
27%
34%
Engineering
Architecture
Computer Science
Other
27%
12%
User Created vs Download Models
50
45
40
35
30
Created
25
Downloaded
20
15
10
5
0
June
July
August
September October November December
January
February
March
April
Student vs Faculty Usage
98% student users
Very few faculty users
Faculty interest in engineering, computer
science and architecture
◦ Links between this and developing user base
Engineering Projects
RC Cars
Robotics parts
Test gears and motors
Early stage prototypes
Rings, necklaces, etc.
Bio-Medical Engineering
Conversions of 3D models
Visualization of human organs
Early stage prototypes of new tools and
products
Computer Science Students
Arduino chip cases
Robotics parts / gears
Lots of experimenting
Largely submissions of non-academic
designs
Architecture Students
Building models
Self-designed
Segments of cities
GIS data conversion
Google Earth
Local Business Users
Dental molds
Product prototypes
◦ Hockey skates
◦ Toys
Building models
GIS data visualization
Models from the 3D Model
Repository
Dalhousie Crest
Dalhousie Engineering Logos
Thomas McCulloch Museum
It’s Been A Great Start
139 users, 271 model submissions
Ongoing interest
Including from a number of other libraries
Service has matured
Built local capacity
Many challenges remain
How to Teach 3D Modelling
Lots of questions around how to create
models
Or how to create printable models
Open source software made available to
students
Instructions on how to do this explained
at the Killam IT Help Desk
Current Plans
Continued promotion
Continue to develop relationships with
existing users, especially non-traditional
Offer basic 3D design tutorial used in
training
Expansion to other libraries (and more)
Load sharing amongst sites
Developing Ideas
Partnering with C@P sites to train and
collaborate on new deployments
16 new printers going to all parts of Nova
Scotia
Combined, 20 deployed available to the
public by the fall
Three full-day training sessions
Mailing list, shared knowledge base and
more
Develop a Makerspace?
Makerspace: essentially a community
space for making things
◦ Commonly see open source hardware and
software projects
◦ Arduino, Raspberry Pi, robotics
Difficulty in bringing larger, noisier
makerspace tools into a library setting
The makers are already there, a 3D
printer will reveal them quickly
Should we be doing this?
A good amount of downloaded “trinkets”
Operating a 3D printer is difficult due to
early adoption
No inroads with faculty yet
Expectations. People want a perfect
model
Time intensive
Should we be doing this?
Students are using it, Students are
creating
We were too early and it was awesome!
Different disciplines are using it
Building an awareness
Building a literacy in emerging technology
We’re growing, demand is increasing
Should WE be doing this?
YES!
Should YOU be doing this?
It depends
Requires capacity, time, effort
If you build it, some will come, some won’t
Promotion will be needed, connecting the
dots for patrons
Technology is evolving, not evolved
Cost is reasonable
New kind of engagement
It’s awesome!
Questions?