Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
14 • PRINTACTION • APRIL 2014
In the 1450s, Johannes Gutenberg’s de-velopment of combining metal move-able type, oil-based ink, and the wood-
en hand press into a printing process led to an explosion of popular literacy – fos-tering new possibilities for every person in the civilized world to read and write. But now, in 2014, literacy has acquired a broader definition. In many North American towns and cities, public librar-ies are revising their services based on a definition of literacy that includes not just the ability to read and write words, but also the ability to operate digital technology and program digital code.
Public libraries now offer computer programming, 3D printing, and maker spaces as components of literacy. This ex-panded definition, together with partial funding from the Metcalf Foundation, led the Toronto Public Library (TPL) to create a $44,000 digital media lab, called the Digital Innovation Hub, which drew considerable attention from the press when it opened in February at its popu-lar downtown Toronto Reference Library location, near the heavily trafficked in-tersection of Bloor and Yonge Streets.
“Literacy comes in several forms, and new technology plays a bigger and bigger role in how people acquire knowledge,” explains Ab Velasco, Project Leader, Digi-tal Content and Innovation for TPL, who recently gave me a tour of the new Hub. “From the early days of computers, the library has made digital technology avail-able to the public and supported them in learning how to use it, so the Hub is just an extension of the same principle.”
Velasco says the taskforce which planned the Hub consisted of TPL staff from a cross-section of such depart-ments as IT, Web Services, Policy and Planning, and Marketing and Commu-
nications, aided by a survey of the TPL community and consultations with other libraries. He says Fayetteville Free Library (in a suburb of Syracuse, New York) was the trailblazer in creating facilities like the Hub and that its model has since been followed by libraries in Edmonton, Chicago and Innisfil (20 minutes south of Barrie, Ontario).
How the Hub worksFor free and for up to two hours a day, TPL cardholders can reserve one of the Hub’s nine workstations, each dedicated to either Audio/Video Editing, 3D Scan-ning, VCR-to-Digital Conversion, Web/Graphic/3D Design, or Coding/Pro-gramming. Users can obtain help from one of the digital design technicians con-stantly on duty whose expertise varies among each of the processes for which the Hub is equipped. Users can also book time on an array of other high-tech de-vices, including:
• One of two MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printers (about $2,500 each),
• High-definition video cameras,• A green screen (background for
digital photography or videography that enables the image or video being shot to be superimposed on a second image or video),
• A variety of big-name-brand tablets and laptops, and
• Smart Pens (electronic ballpoint pens that digitize, store, and transfer what is written or drawn to a computer).
In a Learning Centre beside the Hub, the Library provides training sessions (some up to 2 1/2 hour long) on subjects like Photoshop (Parts I and II), Website De-sign (Parts 1 and II), Introductory 3D Design, and 3D Printer Certification.
March Break classes for students are offered for 3D Printing, Video, or DJ-ing. Again, all classes are free to TPL cardholders and require only advance booking (although spaces are limited.)
Next, Velasco says, a course on Computer Programming will be added. And because high-school teachers have expressed the desire to build digital literacy amongst their students, TPL is developing a School Visits Program for the Hub, as well as video training modules. A fur-ther $50,000 from the Metcalf Foun-dation will enable TPL to develop and deliver outreach technology programs to youth in underemployed areas. Ad-ditionally, two more Digital Innovation Hubs are scheduled for TPL’s Fort York and Scarborough Civic Centre loca-tions – two new branches expected to open later this year, bringing TPL’s to-tal number of branches to exactly 100.
3D printing and maker spaceVelasco says since the first Hub opened, 3D printing has proven especially pop-ular, and the 20 3D Printer Certification classes TPL had scheduled for February and March were fully booked within three days. The certification courses are mandatory before using TPL’s 3D print-ers. About 60 of the 300 people who signed up for them also obtained their first TPL card at the same time.
Just as TPL charges users nominal fees for black-and-white and colour copies, 3D-printer users pay a surcharge of $1 plus five cents per minute, with a two-hour-a-day limit on printer time. Thus users can print a consumer-grade proj-ect, such as a smartphone case, in about 90 minutes for about $5.50; but if they wanted to print something more com-plicated and time-consuming, such as an engineering or architectural prototype, Velasco says they instead would have to use one of Toronto’s commercial sup-pliers of 3D printing. TPL also does not allow 3D printing of weapons, sexually explicit materials, and other items that contravene the Library’s published Rules of Conduct.
Some of the Hub’s other newfangled gear is aimed at the “maker” community. This is a subculture of do-it-yourselfers who enjoy creating things in their spare time, often new and unique inventions, using electronics, robotics, 3D printing, computer numerical controls, metal-working, or woodworking. The theme of Make Magazine, one of the niche publications for this community, is to celebrate “your right to tweak, hack, and
The Modern Library
VICTORIA GAITSKELL
The massive Toronto Reference Library has undergone significant transformation, led by Ab Velasco, Project Leader of Digital Content and Innovation.
Continued on page 40
Full In-house Bindery
High Quality Short Run
FULL COLOUR Copying
4611 Burgoyne St.,Mississauga, ON L4W 1G3
Tel: 905.238.1307
Fax: 905.238.0589E-mail: [email protected]
BROKER PROTECTED
Full In-house Bindery
* Prompt Quotes.* .* .
* The ability to acceptfiles.
*for your convenience.
Timely TurnaroundCompetitive Pricing
HardCopies or Mac/PC
24 hr FTP file upload server
High Quality Short Run
FULL COLOUR Copying
Short and Long Run
Black & White
TradeImpressions_PA_Feb.indd 1 2014-01-20 11:34 AM
This says
you care about
the future of
our forests.
Ask for SFILook and ask for the SFI®
label for all your paper and packaging projects. It’s a symbol of responsible forestry.
Learn more at sfiprogram.org
SFI_PA_April.indd 1 2014-03-26 10:59 AM
40 • PRINTACTION • APRIL 2014
Tel: (905) 829-0000email: [email protected]
Printing Solutions On Demand for Your Business
PrePress• 24 / 7 T1-line hosted FTP site• NeW Epson 9900 calibrated proofer• HP Designjet 5500• Agfa Workflow with Full Proofing System
rJ Multi Litho Inc.2708 Coventry Rd.
Oakville, ONL6H 6R1
www.rjmultilitho.com
Presses• 40” 6 Colour Komori Lithrone + AQ• 40” 8 Colour Komori Lithrone + AQ Perfector
BINdery• Die Cutting• Cutting & Folding• Stitching• Wiro & Coil• Gluing• Shrink Wrapping• Collating• Drilling
RJ_Multi_PA_March.indd 1 2014-04-01 9:24 AM
Gaitskell Continued from page 14
bend any technology to your own will.”Items in the Hub’s inventory that
might especially appeal to makers include:
• Raspberry Pi computers (tiny, cheap computers expressly de-signed for educational applications and experiments),
• Arduino kits (open-source electronic boards that can control just about any do-it-yourself hard-ware project; Getting your coffee maker to tweet you after it finishes brewing), and
• Makey Makey kits (a device that lets you turn random objects, such as fruit or Play-Doh figurines, into computer-operating keys).
Part and parcel of the maker experience is that it generally occurs in collabora-tive spaces where people can connect and learn from each other as they tinker. Velasco comments: “Technology is great, but it becomes greater with a commu-nity and face-to-face interaction that utilizes, defines, and conceptualizes it. What is unique about the Hub is that we are hoping to build and foster a similar sense of community and collaborative learning here.”
“To succeed in today’s digital world, Torontonians need the opportunity to use emerging technologies in spaces that encourage collaboration and creativity,” stated City Librarian Jane Pyper, when TPL’s first Hub was introduced. In fact, TPL has codified these objectives as one of the four major initiatives comprising its 2012-2015 Strategic Plan; name-ly, to “Catalyze & Connect a City of Innovators, Entrepreneurs & Creators.”
TPL’s Website reads: “Through part-nerships, transformations of our phys-ical and virtual spaces, and the use of new and emerging technologies, Toron-to Public Library creates cultural and creative destinations that stimulate and support creativity, encourage collabora-tion, and spark experimentation and in-novation for creators and entrepreneurs of all ages.”
So far, these partnerships include outreach to such local maker spaces and communities as HackLab.TO, Mak-
erKids, and Site 3 coLaboratory, because, “all these spaces are very much about community defining the space and the technology, and that’s the feeling we’re trying to go for,” confirms Velasco.
Another partnership has enabled the Reference Library to bring on site the Toronto Mini Maker Faire, scheduled for November 22 and 23, 2014. Other part-nerships have resulted in Monthly Meet-ups – drop-in programs in the Reference Library’s Atrium with speakers and per-formances on such topics as Robotics: Creating a Star Wars Droid and When Wearable Tech Meets Art. Yet another of TPL’s innovations in collaboration is a Repair Café session where people can bring a broken household item and get help fixing it amid their neighbours.
TPL also recently inaugurated an In-novators in Residence program, com-mencing with 3D printing expert and digital fabrication artist Derek Quenne-ville of 3DPhacktory. Besides working on site for a six-week residency, Quenne-ville is slated to create a video training module; offer classes, demonstrations, and drop-in appointments for TPL’s cus-tomers; blog for TPL; and make himself generally available. Because the Hub is young, Velasco says further elaborations are still under consideration and will partly reflect how TPL staff witness peo-ple making use of the new facilities.
ca.linkedin.com/in/vicg8
@vicg8
vicg8.blogspot.ca
The Digital Innovation Hub at the Toronto Reference Library includes a Learning Centre with free courses on topics like Photoshop and Website design, as well as two MakerBot 3D printers (right).
