Digital accessibility can feel like a broad and technical topic, but many of the most impactful improvements come from small, practical design choices. Often, small changes can make course materials clearer, easier to navigate, and more usable for a wider range of learners. This session introduces the basics of digital accessibility through common digital media objects such as videos, graphics, presentations, documents, and web content. Participants will identify common accessibility and usability issues, and explore practical ways to improve content while also making it more visually clear, engaging, and effective for learners. Grounded in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), this session focuses on realistic strategies that academic professionals can start using right away. Participants will leave with practical ideas, quick wins, and a better understanding of how accessibility supports better design and learning experiences for everyone.
As academic libraries expand support for digital scholarship, media creation, and experiential learning, recording studio spaces offer emerging opportunities to support faculty, students, and campus partners. In this session, we will discuss Coastal Carolina University Libraries’ process for planning, prototyping, and launching a suite of recording studio rooms within our recently constructed library building. We will describe how our team approached the early planning process, tested different equipment and room configurations, gathered feedback, and used those results to refine our studio model.The presentation will also address how we are developing instruction and outreach for faculty, including strategies for introducing the studios as tools for course projects, research communication, podcasting, livestreaming, and multimedia assignments. Our current setup includes one traditional podcasting audio recording studio, one studio designed for livestreaming applications, and one video recording studio with a wide-angle camera and green screen currently under construction. We will cover the configuration of each, and the benefits and challenges we faced in implementing them. Attendees will leave with practical considerations for implementing similar spaces, including recommendations for equipment planning, room design, user training, documentation, staffing, and ongoing service and support models that make recording studios approachable for users with varying levels of technical experience.
The Medbery Makerspace opened in February 2024. It quickly became a popular service within the library. In the first semester, equipment and furniture were rearranged several times to create better flow once we saw how things were used. 6 months after being open we were tearing hole in the wall to expand into the next room. Now 2 years after opening we are finally removing the carpet and using this opportunity to rethink our layout once more. Through trial and error combined with keen observation, our space continues to improve. I’ll share the fun and pain we’ve experienced changing the space multiple times in a couple of years and what we’ve learned about flow in our makerspace.
3D printer waste, specifically PLA, presents a problem for Makerspaces. This can not be commingled with other recyclables, and though there are claims of compostability, specialized industrial composters are required to effectively break down the material. It is of course possible to buy equipment to break down the waste and extrude as new filament, but the machinery is costly and tolerances for filament diameter are tight. In addition to these issues, PLA can only be remelted so many times before it degrades. In 2026 the CCU Makerspace developed a plan to reuse the waste PLA was in an unconventional way. We ground up the material and then mixed it with epoxy to create flower pots that were given away to students in celebration of Earth Day This session will provide a brief overview of our planning, staffing, methodologies for using PLA and epoxy as well as a timeline of the project from January through April. The session will also provide some basic statistics on the distribution of the recycled pots including impact on social media metrics and student perceptions.
This presentation argues that first-time users decide whether a makerspace is “for them” within moments of arrival, often before speaking to a single person. It challenges the assumption that onboarding begins with instruction or staff support, instead positioning the environment itself as the primary interface for participation. What a space communicates through signage, layout, tool visibility, and organization can invite engagement or quietly signal exclusion.Drawing on findings from a multi-year research program, the presentation examines how first-time users read and interpret makerspaces through three recurring framings: “this is for me” as signals of welcome, “this is not for me” as signals of exclusion, and “this could be for me” as moments of surprise and delight. These interpretations emerge through rapid, often unspoken assessments of the space rather than through formal guidance.The presentation introduces the concept of passive guidance to describe how users rely on environmental cues to navigate participation. Instead of immediately seeking interpersonal help, first-time users look for clues that indicate what is possible, expected, and allowed. In this way, the space communicates before any human interaction occurs.This work calls for a shift in how makerspaces and similar environments are designed. Rather than treating inclusion as something delivered through people, it highlights the importance of designing spaces that make belonging and participation immediately legible through clear, intuitive, and accessible environmental cues.
This presentation chronicles the development of the first-ever 360° Powwow archive at NC State University, a landmark project born from a year-long collaboration with NC State Libraries and DELTA. Driven by a personal search for community and the discovery of profound cultural parallels between Polynesian and Native American traditions, this initiative uses immersive visualization technology to capture the sensory and spiritual essence of the powwow. Beyond its technical achievement in digital preservation, the project serves as a powerful testament to cultural resilience and the necessity of diverse representation within university archives. By documenting these traditions in a 360-degree format, the project ensures that the spirit of fellowship and the strength of Indigenous communities are not only preserved for historical record but remain accessible and 'alive' for future generations to experience.
At Dartmouth College’s Jones Media Center (JMC), 30-second course promotional trailers are intentionally designed as more than marketing tools. From the beginning, the initiative has served as a creative outreach strategy to encourage faculty to think beyond traditional assignments and explore multimodal teaching, digital storytelling, podcasting, video production, and other media-rich approaches to learning. Created collaboratively by the JMC Digital Media Fellow and media staff, each trailer begins with conversations about course objectives, teaching methods, and meaningful media or visual elements connected to the course, as well as the kinds of experiences faculty hope students will have in their classrooms. The Fellow also works closely with the Dartmouth Libraries Communications Manager throughout the process to better understand branding, audience engagement, visual identity, and effective campus communication strategies. These discussions frequently open pathways to broader collaborations involving media assignments, public-facing scholarship, oral histories, community-engaged storytelling, and other creative projects supported by the media center.The finished trailers are displayed in JMC, across campus on digital signage, departmental websites, faculty pages, and online platforms, increasing visibility for courses while simultaneously showcasing the creative and instructional support available through the library and media center.This presentation will examine the workflow behind the trailers, the role of student media producers in the process, and how short-form media can function as an approachable entry point for deeper faculty engagement with multimodal pedagogy.
Visualization of complex molecular interactions in cell biology and immunology is challenging, yet necessary to understand how receptor-ligand engagement on the cell surface translates into immune activation and other functions. Understanding the molecular interactions in the submicroscopic world engenders advanced spatial awareness and requires the capacity to project 3D objects from the 2D rendition in publications and textbooks. 3D ball and stick models have traditionally been used in chemistry and molecular biology education as tactile and visual means to teach about molecular structures. However, these models do not represent biologically important receptor-ligand interactions. Students often assign incomplete biochemical meaning to the physical structures in textbooks because the way we conceive space is embodied. This presentation will describe the creation and successful implementation of laboratory modules in a 400-level immunology course for biology majors, with principles translatable to other upper-level courses. Students were engaged to familiarize with molecular structure, recognition, and interaction via complementary 3D printing and VR exploration using Nanome. Students physically and virtually manipulated two multi-part objects: a T-cell receptor and an antibody-antigen complex. Undergraduates reported that the lab sequences improved their functional and structural understanding of these challenging biomolecular complexes. Students also appreciated the personalized exploration of the structures in different representations, scales, and atomic resolution in the VR environment.
How do you transform a collection of tools into a thriving hub of innovation? This 30-minute workshop explores the evolution of makerspace electronics through the lens of my journey as the Innovative Media Librarian at UC Riverside and my prior tenure at the University of La Verne.Attendees will go behind the scenes of establishing successful electronics and robotics initiatives, including the development of UCR’s Robotics Lab—an extension of the Creat’R Lab. I will share the strategies used to scale programming from K-12 summer camps to high-demand workshops for diverse undergraduate and graduate populations.The session focuses on practical takeaways, addressing common challenges such as:Curriculum Design: Creating beginner-friendly entry points (like animatronics) for non-technical majors.Resource Management: Selecting the right tools for 3D modeling and fabrication to support diverse projects.Community Engagement: Building outreach programs that result in sold-out sessions and waitlists.Whether you are starting from scratch or looking to revitalize an existing space, this workshop provides a roadmap for building robust, sustainable electronics programming. Participants will leave with actionable insights on technical implementation and community-building to ensure that once their makerspace is built, the students will indeed come.
As academic institutions increasingly rely on video production for instructional materials and student assignments, the need for accessible, affordable, and flexible studio setups has never been greater. Yet many so-called "one-button" solutions are anything but simple, often proving difficult to set up, expensive to maintain, and overly reliant on proprietary hardware and software that can go obsolete without warning.In this session, I will share my experience developing the Simple Studio, a media production model built for academic libraries that prioritizes affordability, modularity, and long-term sustainability. Unlike vendor-dependent solutions, this approach uses components that can be sourced through multiple vendors, assembled in-house, and maintained without specialized expertise.The session covers the full process: assessing your space, selecting components, and implementing a studio design that centers both user ease and back-end manageability. I will also address common challenges including budget constraints, staff training, and ongoing upkeep. By examining both the front-end user experience and the back-end realities of running a studio, this session offers an honest and practical counterpoint to the complexity often hiding behind "simple" solutions.Whether you are starting from scratch or renovating an existing setup, attendees will leave with adaptable strategies and a clearer sense of what becomes possible when the workflow from both the front-end and back-end are truly "simple."
