Monthly Archives: October 2013

An All-in-One Guide to the Maker Culture and 3D Printing

Posted on by

wired_cover

The maker culture is a thriving movement amongst all types of people who want to create and design their own objects, crafts, or computer code.  This DIY community is using state-of-the-art technology such as 3D printers to design and craft their own 3D objects.  This introductory guide will give you an overview of today’s maker movement, resources for getting started, 3D printer reviews, links to actual project designs and instructions, maker publications, events, and directories, videos about 3D printing and maker culture, and an article list of resources about libraries and makerspaces.

 

    What is the Maker Movement?

  1. The Maker Movement
    This is an excellent article from Raising Geeks about the beginnings and evolution of the Maker movement.  It provides a wealth of links to articles, videos, resources, and community locations of makerspaces.  It’s a must-read for anyone looking into the maker culture.
  2. Maker culture
    This Wikipedia article gives a great overview of the Maker movement and provides plenty of links to similar subcultures such as hackerspaces, DIY culture, etc.
  3. Is the ‘Maker Movement’ the next Industrial Revolution?
    ZDNet writers provide a great article on the maker culture with this piece which describes the movement as a “social revolution”.
  4. What Is the Maker Movement and Why Should You Care?
    The Huffington Post’s Tech blog has an exellent article discussing the maker culture, here’s just a snippet: “Craft nights are replacing book clubs. Libraries and museums are being turned into “Makerspaces,” physical locations where people can come together to make. The sale of sewing kits in Walmart stores has recently gone up 30 percent. And just last year, someone created Christmas cookies using a 3D printer.”

    5.  

    make_3d

    Getting Started Guides

  5. Make: Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing
    Make magazine has some excellent guides to getting started with 3D printing including their special issue, The Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing which is available online.
  6. 3D Printing for Beginners
    This website provides many guides for getting started.  Newbies will be taught the ins and outs of 3D modeling software, what materials to use for 3D printing, and much more.
  7. How to Get Started with 3D Printing (Without Spending a Fortune)
    The folks at Lifehacker have put together this great guide to getting started with 3D printing.  They provide videos, ideas inspiration, and 3D printer reviews.
  8. Introduction to 3D Printing
    This is a great guide from Instructables that will set you on your way to 3D printing bliss.  It discusses technologies, printers, materials, Online communities and services, designing and printing, and examples.

    9.  

    Check out the full post An All-in-One Guide to the Maker Culture and 3D Printing on iLibrarian.

More Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies

Posted on by

This is the second installment in the Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies series.  Here are 5 more terror-ific films featuring bookish people and settings!

 

1) The Church (1989)

church

This ’80′s Italian horror flick features a cataloger named Evan who has been hired to organize the book collection in a gothic cathedral but instead unleashes an ancient evil.  The librarian is possessed by a demon and becomes a monster.

 

2) Stephen King’s It

it

Mike Hanlon is the town librarian in Derry, Maine which is terrorized by a murderous clown called “It” every 30 years.  Being a librarian, Mike keeps detailed historical records which help his group of childhood friends who call themselves “The Loser Club” as they gather together once more to battle the demon.  This one was originally a TV mini-series and was surprisingly terrifiying!

 

Click for the full post More Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies which appeared first on OEDB.org.

32 Library Stories You May Have Missed in September

Posted on by

This Fall is starting off strong with plenty of library-related stories, news items, and tutorials.  In case you’re just getting caught up on what’s happening in the field, here are 32 great articles and posts from last month.

  1. 10 Wearable Tech Gadgets Librarians (and everyone else!) Will Love
  2. Full library discovery
  3. Oyster, The Netflix of Books
  4. Librarians Are NOT Knowledge Keepers – Pass It On. 
  5. Tumblr is a great way to reach teen patrons

Check out the full post 32 Library Stories You May Have Missed in September on iLibrarian.

Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies

Posted on by

What do smart people do when faced with all manner of the undead, the end of days, and/or the apocalypse? They go to the library to look it up! But the library is not always the safest place to be in horror movies, nor are the librarians always what they seem. Here are five horror movies that feature libraries and librarians.

1) The Horror of Dracula

dracula

In this 1958 telling of the classic Dracula tale, Jonathan Harker is hired as the Count’s new librarian. But instead of cataloging his collection, Harker’s true intent is to rid the world of Dracula’s evil. This was the first in Hammer Horror’s series of Dracula films and starred Christopher Lee as the Count and Peter Cushing as Van Helsing.

 

See the full post Libraries and Librarians in Horror Movies on iLibrarian.

35 Free Live Webinars for Librarians in October

Posted on by

This Fall is full of opportunities for learning new skills and techniques. Here are 35 free professional development sessions that will be held live online this month. Check them out:

  1. Tuesday Oct 8
    2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern)
     Creating a Makerspace Culture (Booklist)
    Some of today’s most incredible innovations are coming from the global community of makers–thinkers, inventors, and programmers sharing information and using technology to push new ideas forward. Through programming and community partnerships, your library can help drive this powerful new movement forward by becoming a makerspace. In this hour-long, free webinar hosted by University of Michigan School of Information professor Kristin Fontichiaro, authors from Cherry Lake Publishing’s Makers as Innovators series will share their lessons learned from creating a makerspace culture. Tune into this exciting webinar to learn tips and secrets to unlocking creative energy, innovation, and action in your library, staff, and patrons!

    2.  

  2. Tuesday Oct 8
    2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern)
    Geek the Library: Launch a Local Campaign (Geek the Library)
    Get a complete Geek the Library overview and your questions answered in a live format. Our informational webinars are a simple way to learn about the details before committing to participate in the program.

    3.  

  3. Tuesday Oct 8
    2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern)
     Instructional Design for the Real World (InSync Training)
    Join in for a fast, fun tour of quick tools and tricks that will support rapid instructional design, cut to the heart of needs analysis, and improve communication with subject matter experts and managers and others requesting training solutions.

    4.  

  4. Tuesday Oct 8
    2:00 – 3:00 pm (Eastern)
     Serving Readers: Beyond the Basics (WebJunction)
    As libraries evolve and adapt to changing circumstances, it is crucial to our continued community relevance that we retain and serve our core constituency of readers. Reader’s advisory specialists from The Seattle Public Library will expand on the basic premises and practices of reader’s advisory, sharing how to apply these practices across new platforms and technologies, enlist social media and catalogs to serve readers, and use form-based and virtual reader’s advisory. Learn expert techniques for using the latest generation of advisory resources and other ways to better serve readers in libraries large and small.

    5.  

See the full post 35 Free Live Webinars for Librarians in October on iLibrarian.

Wearable Technology in Action

Posted on by

Last week I blogged about 10 Wearable Tech Gadgets Librarians (and everyone else!) Will Love and I mentioned the Hero3 Wearable Camera. Since that post a dramatic rescue was filmed using that camera that was worn on a fireman’s helmet. The video has gone viral, receiving over 15 million views. Check out this heartwarming video, perfect for a Friday!

See the full post Wearable Technology in Action on iLibrarian.