The Problem With Gutenberg: post-literacy & makerspace strategy

By baruk on October 13, 2015

Makerspaces are physical spaces used to experiment with creation and manipulation of digital and physical objects, usually in a communal setting. These spaces are often related to the reduction of boundaries between the physical and the digital, such as with 3D printers. Post-literacy is a period when popular and institutional cultures no longer privilege reading and writing, and oral culture strategies are used for communication and learning. Makerspaces are demonstrated to be examples of post-literacy in action.

Makerspace strategy could thus apply learning and communication strategies from oral cultures. This talk will present post-literacy as a viable framework for makerspace strategy and direction, particularly for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Slides from NDF: The Problem With Gutenberg (The Gutenberg Parenthesis and Auckland Libraries’ Makerspaces) and a video of me trying to explain the slides.

The original paper at Victoria Uni, Welly: Making Postliteracy (w/ supervisor Dan Dorner‘s comments)

An earlier paper on NZLIMJ: Pre-literate Māori knowledge frameworks as post-literacy strategies

 

Posted in | 2 Responses

Measuring Makerspaces V2

By baruk on March 13, 2015

So. Refined the measures/goals from the last post, Measuring Makerspaces. This is what it is looking like now. Next to get ratified…and start measuring!

—

1. Grow-like-weed-itude:

  • This measures the resilience and sustainability of the idea from a staff and library system perspective
  • Based on the historical experience of guerrilla warfare, that suggests there is very little hope of destroying a revolutionary movement after it has the support of 15 to 25 per cent of the population (Griffith, 1961)

Measure: Number of libraries in Auckland Libraries system with permanent or semi-permanent maker activities

  • Baseline (2014/15): 7
  • Target (2015/16): 13
  • P&Bline: Help set up makerspaces in 16 public library systems (of 66) in Aotearoa New Zealand

2. Social-interesting-ness:

  • This measures the ability of makerspace ideas and activities to engage the community’s imagination
  • Based on a tweet (Bečela, 2014) that had the following formula to measure and compare the engagement scores of Facebook posts: (likes + sharesX2 + commentsX4)/number of fans

Measure: Average social-interesting-ness score from Word Tool

  • Baseline (2014/15): (Average of pre-July test runs?)
  • Target (2015/16): 10
  • P&Bline: One mainstream media story about the impact of Auckland Libraries’ makerspaces

3. Filling-in-form-ability:

  • This measures the rigour behind the thinking and the quality of the business model
  • Based on V1.04 of the Social Lean Canvas, adapted from The Lean Canvas, which in turn is adapted from The Business Model Canvas

Measure: Percentage of Social Lean Canvas that can be filled

  • Baseline (2014/15): 18% (I think)
  • Target (2015/16): 100%
  • P&Bline: Using the Social Lean Canvas to create and communicate a replicable library makerspace model

4. What-would-Andre-say:

  • This measures the social and environmental impacts of the makerspace, in story-telling terms
  • Inspired by an outreach event from Birkenhead Library, where we met 8 year old children who were almost illiterate

Measure: Number of projects or workshopped activities that are demonstrably linked to making a positive social/ecological impact

  • Baseline (2014/15): 0
  • Target (2015/16): 6
  • P&Bline: One communication from a person who believes that the makerspace has demonstrably helped them escape a vulnerable situation

Posted in

Measuring Makerspaces

By baruk on October 1, 2014

UPDATED to Version 2: http://feddabonn.com/2015/03/measuring-makerspaces-v2/

In the spirit of makerspacery at Auckland Libraries, we have developed four measures for the evaluation of makerspaces. These measure the resilience of the makerspace idea, the engagement levels of the idea, and the potential for growth. Each measure has three metrics. The first is a bottom line (minimum requirement), the second a top line (aspirational goal), and the third is called a Pinky and the Brain line. This is named after the cartoon mice, whose initial interaction in every episode is:

Pinky: So Brain, what are we going to do tonight?
Brain: What we do every night, Pinky. We’re going to try to take over the world!

While the top line is aspirational, it is achievable. The P&B line is a plan to ‘take over the world’, and a reminder of the transformative potential of these ideas.

The principles behind these measures and metrics come from the development approach in Te Kauroa- Future Directions:

• Customers at the centre, to involve customers in shaping services
• Experiment, innovate, and learn to take a more agile development approach
• Collaborating and partnering for success to strengthen our impact and visibility in the community
• Working smarter to foster continuous business improvement
• Empowering our people to focus on outcomes and accountability

The measures are:

1. Grow-like-weed-itude:
• This measures the resilience and sustainability of the idea from a staff and library system perspective
• Based on the historical experience of guerrilla warfare, that suggests there is very little hope of destroying a revolutionary movement after it has the support of 15 to 25 per cent of the population (Griffith, 1961)
• Bottomline: 13 libraries in the Auckland system with permanent makerspaces or semi-permanent maker activities
  Topline: Annual subscriptions to maker events grow by 25%
  P&Bline: Help set up makerspaces in 16 public library systems (of 66) in Aotearoa New Zealand

2. Social-interesting-ness:
• This measures the ability of makerspace ideas and activities to engage the community’s imagination
• Based on a tweet (Bečela, 2014) that had the following formula to measure and compare the engagement scores of Facebook posts:
likes + shares (X2) + comments (X4)
number of fans

Also modifiable to events:
in-house events + outreach events (X2) + partnered events (X4)
total recorded events at Auckland Libraries
• Bottomline: Average combined channel monthly score of 1+ (current average is .50)
  Topline: One mainstream media story about the impact of Auckland Libraries’ makerspaces
  P&Bline: Work with local iwi to develop/find measures that are meaningful for tangata whenua

3. Filling-in-form-ability:
• This measures the rigour behind the thinking and the quality of the business model
• Based on V1.04 of the Social Lean Canvas, adapted from The Lean Canvas, which in turn is adapted from The Business Model Canvas
• Bottomline: Ability to adequately fill in all information required by the Social Lean Canvas
Topline: Creation of a multi-layered model for library makerspace creation, taking into account various levels of investment/partnership possibilities
P&Bline: Raising $160,000 for the creation of library makerspaces across Aotearoa New Zealand

4. What-would-Andre-say:
• This measures the social and environmental impacts of the makerspace, in story-telling terms
• Based on an outreach event from Birkenhead Library, where we met 8 year old children who were almost illiterate
• Bottomline: One anecdote or conversation that demonstrates how the makerspace has helped the most vulnerable in our society
  Topline: One project or workshopped activity that is demonstrably linked to making a positive ecological/environmental impact
  P&Bline: One communication from a person who believes that the makerspace has demonstrably helped them escape a vulnerable situation

All feedback welcome!

 

Posted in | Tagged , ,

for noonan

By baruk on May 31, 2014

of course my life
is a poem,
he said,

spoken word,
set to heavy metal riffs
and a nyabinghi rhythm.

full of thunder
and bullshit
and long sunsets by the sea.

and, like the best poems,
a sharp, sudden ending.

Posted in

making makerspaces: pathfinder

By baruk on May 4, 2014

From an assignment to create a pathfinder at information school.

—

Pathfinder location: https://makerspacesnz.blogspot.com

Makerspaces (literally spaces to make in) are a reworking of ancient ideas on creativity and utility, applied to contemporary technology. ‘Making’ in this context is best understood as the antithesis of ‘consuming’ (TEDx Talks, 2013).

Libraries have arguably always been makerspaces of sorts, giving people access to ideas and technology such as written language (Gnanadesikan, 2009), books, and of late, computers and WiFi. There is an increased interest in digitally creative makerspaces in libraries, and this pathfinder looks to provide a way to access information on creating such makerspaces in Aotearoa New Zealand.

The concept of the Tohunga is central to this pathfinder. Tohunga were ‘experts’ in their field, and also visionaries that guided their people to knowledge (Keane, 2013). The lack of texts or books on makerspaces is in stark contrast to plentiful and diverse maker activity. Using a Tohunga approach emphasises a connection from the pre-literate past to the post-literate future (Sauerberg & Pettitt, 2013), promotes an understanding of information as being experiential in nature, and encourages conversation and collaboration as a relevant route to knowledge.

Web based blogging software was used to create this pathfinder to make it practically useful, and accessible to search engines. Using blog software also enables the blog to automatically collect feeds from other blogs and social media. This helps keep the site functional and relevant, even without regular updates from the site administrator. An additional feature is the ability to subscribe to the updates on the blog, making information accessible without regular visits.

 

References

Gnanadesikan, A. E. (2009). The First IT Revolution. In The Writing Revolution: Cuneiform to the Internet (pp. 1–12). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Keane, B. (2013). Story: Traditional Māori religion – ngā karakia a te Māori Page 2 – Tohunga. Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved May 4, 2014, from http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/traditional-maori-religion-nga-karakia-a-te-maori/page-2

Sauerberg, L. O., & Pettitt, T. (2013). The future is medieval. Retrieved from http://www.cjr.org/the_audit/the_future_is_medieval.php?page=all

TEDx Talks. (2013). We Need to Teach Our Kids to be Makers: Marita Cheng at TEDxSydney. Sydney, Australia. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqaLWOnRozA

 

 

Posted in | Tagged , , ,

making makerspaces: a 3rd space, a 3rd place?

By baruk on November 14, 2013

Poster for the Makesplosion! event at Auckland Central City Library

In any casual reading of Third Place/Third Space theories, it is quickly obvious that libraries (particularly the ones I have known in Auckland) play such a role in our communities. This was brought home quite strongly to me in the run up to the starting of the proof-of-concept makerspace at Auckland Central City Library. Could our makerspace be a third space in a third space?

With initial inputs from @pikiora, @lupohobbes, @barbarag19 and @hamishl were tasked with making this space happen. @greengecko29 and I joined later. The early part of the discussion was broad…what did it MEAN for a library to have a makerspace? What did MAKERSPACE even mean? This quickly led us into discussions with businesses in the space, as well as with Tangleball, Auckland’s collective makerspace.

It became apparent that there were differing energies here. On the business/social enterprise end of the spectrum, these spaces are idea+relationship generators, with the ultimate goal of financial and social good. On the anarchic end, these are places to explore ideas+making, with a deliberately non-commercial focus and a radically collective decision-making model.

What I found hardest about making this makerspace? Keeping these two (relevant) directions at bay. Commonalities first…Auckland Libraries’ purpose includes connecting people to information and ideas. This is practised (though differently) on both ends of the makerspace spectrum. As a public library, however, Auckland Libraries will not erect barriers to open access, however financially appealing it may seem. As part of a bureaucracy with responsibilities to local government systems, Auckland Libraries cannot have a free-for-all approach to decision making, however culturally appealing that may seem.

In the end, we took what we hope is the best fit of these approaches, and are working on a model that
a) provides a free access space and some basic(ish) tech as a starting point for people to think about and think through and
b) develop mechanisms to build a community around this space (users, partner orgs/peeps, staff) that will decide where it goes

Unsurprisingly, we pissed off some people. The ones that did stay were those involved in education and experimentation themselves, and were as excited as we were about our directions*.

But back to the third space/third place theme. Wikipedia (that font of knowledge and wisdom) credits Bhaba with giving two definitions of the Third Space:

1. “that space where oppressed and oppressor are both able to come together, free (maybe only momentarily) of oppression itself”: The capitalist-anarchist tension is one that has been widely popularised in recent times. Our space is neither, and is open to both ends of the spectrum, and everything in between. This does not mean a limp neutrality, but a deliberate exploration of all ideas. Will we allow people to use our equipment for commercial designs? How do we regulate fair and free use? Do we expect the space to sustain itself? We don’t know…these are decisions the whole community will need to take together, a community made up of users, partners and staff…coming together, free of oppression itself.

2. “that space where the oppressed plot their liberation: the whispering corners of the tavern or the bazaar”: While some people clearly use the library system for entertainment (reading/av media/computers), some use it for study (languages/study spaces/assignments). But what of using a library to create? With a vast distribution network and backbone already in place, could libraries explore ways to break the monopolistic business systems that limit creativity and creation? Channelling definition 1…could businesses participate in those explorations? Could this be a meeting place for those dissatisfied with the system (users, partners, staff) to find new ways of thinking and doing, to plot their liberation?

Libraries seem full of debates, these days. Books vs eBooks. Books vs Computers. Customers vs Patrons. Bigger vs Smaller, More vs Fewer. There are many arguments, online and off. Maybe makerspaces can be the third space, where conversation is the main activity, where the mood is playful…a home away from home. Maybe we’ll make something together.

And maybe this makerspace…will make some more makerspaces.

—

*shout out to Danny/Vivenda, Rohan/App la Carte, Pritika Lal, Mindkits, DiamondAge, The Mindlab, Media Design School, Vex Robotics and Free Range Robotics

 

Posted in | Tagged ,

making makerspaces: libraries vs. 3D printers

By baruk on October 31, 2013

Honestly, I didn’t really know (or care) about 3D printers, till I got drafted into the team that is setting up the Makerspace at Auckland Central City Library. For the last three months though, I’ve been watching, reading and thinking. Then today Matt Finch wrote this:

Because I love Matt’s work…I respond.

My 3D printer worry is simply this: libraries are spending a lot of time talking about this one gadget, which I don’t see communities crying out for. I don’t see it in schools, or on the high street. I don’t see businesses trying to get the general public to pay to use a 3D printer.

Maybe I live a sheltered life? The only time I ever saw one outside of a tech event was at the studio of a stop motion animator who used it to build his miniature props.

Are we really going to wait till bloody large corporations have captured the market before we bother to get involved? It happened with computing, so most libraries (and most of the world) run Microsoft systems, while the hipsters run Apple. For once, we have a situation where the ‘set it free’ tech has come BEFORE the put-it-in-a-box companies have had a chance to tie this down to copyright and patents and trademarks. I have no doubt that will come…but I have already chosen my side.

3D printing is a way of seeing. It is not governed by mass production restrictions, not corralled by restrictive IP. It allows to you to *make what you can imagine or design, without having to own a factory to do it. It sets us free!

Schools are very quickly catching up to this. Vik Olliver of DiamondAge and Tim Carr of MindKits report constantly being behind demand. Catalyst Computers have been setting them up in Christchurch schools. Last week AUT had a printer break, and Danny Dillen of Vivenda has been working 18 hour days to keep up. The visionary Mindlab have been running sessions…for a cost. Are we saying new game changing tech should be available only to those who can afford it? That was the story with writing, till Gutenberg set it free. And that is how libraries were formed.

As for businesses, show me the business trying to get the general public to storytime…yet libraries run it as a matter of course?

I see so much desperate need for basic support and resources in libraries. I’d rather have library organisations focus on that then endless raving about the 3D printer.

When I come across branches which have only a couple of staff, whose shifts may only overlap for an hour a day, struggling to deliver rhyme time, or story time, or other basic outreach programming, I can’t help but feel that 3D printers in themselves are not a priority.

I’m going to quote @hamishl on this one: “His basic premise of juxtaposing understaffed libraries with 3d printers doesn’t really make sense, because it’s a capex opex thing and for the cost of our 3d printer you could keep a library assistant employed for what, a couple of weeks?”. A 3D printer costs NZ$1500. PLA costs NZ$30 for 100 metres. As Hamish says…how many staff were you planning on employing with that? How many books can you buy?

Sure 3D printers are not for all libraries. Neither are zombies or Nerf gun battles. Should it therefore be for no libraries at all?

I like to focus on human interaction,learning through play, and cheaply reproducible activites -using cardboard wherever possible!

For once, we have tech that focuses on people and ideas, rather than on consuming. For once, learning though hacking it is what the *good* guys do, insane drawings/designs are cheaply reproducible. No, 3D printers aren’t cardboard. So what? There is no honour in refusing to use tech that is easily and cheaply available.

When we started talking about a makerspace at Auckland Libraries, we very quickly veered away from Apple computers to Ubuntu Linux boxes. Off the council networks, with free/libre/open source software installed and a 3D printer attached, the emphasis is on making ideas available to people…as well as skills and software.

“Am I missing the point?”

Yes. Really. Thinking of 3D printers just as ‘tech’ is like thinking of a wheel as ‘a round thing’.

Posted in | Tagged , , | 2 Responses

twitter>stalking>comics

By baruk on August 11, 2013

One of the stranger things I have done recently (other than speaking at a Rotary Club breakfast!) was offering to stalk someone online for two weeks and give them 5 comic book recommendations at the end of it. Only on Twitter, eh?

So here is what I recommended, based on what seems to be a love of drama and storytelling. I also thought I saw a lean towards strong female characters, and the bold bollywood style and art. I am hoping I’ll get a response from her reading of these, and maybe refine the recommendations.

I enjoyed this assignment very much, both for the need to think through my increasingly obsessive comic book reading, and for the social media inspired situation that one would almost never find oneself in elsewhere…getting permission to stalk someone.

I see this as an application of what Hamish Lindop refers to as the ‘buying presents’ approach to finding library services for our communities. And Matt (of Finch fame), has also spoken of a fascinating personalised book recommendation service (bibliotherapy) offered by Alain de Botton’s School of Life. Maybe this could be a Secret Santa gift library customers could use and enjoy!

This game I like. Anyone else want to play?

Posted in | Tagged , , , , | 2 Responses

I. Will not. Floss.

By baruk on July 6, 2013

I.
Will not.
Floss.

I
Will not
Stick bits of plastic in my mouth
to rip between the edges of my teeth
and shred my sensitive-ish gums
to validate your bloody marketing
and wholesale purchase of dentist gowns.

I
Will not
Shame the memory of my head-hunting ancestors
who grew bitter herbs in the wild-wild hills
to boil them with fermented lard
and came from a cave and left across a lake
and have kept me here to pretend
at being them.

I.
Will not.
Floss.

And when these teeth rot and die
and these powerful gums are a distant memory
I will get dentures.
For she loves me without my floss,
and swears she will love me
without my teeth.

 

Posted in | Tagged , , | 7 Responses

Next »

Switch to our mobile site