SUCCESSFUL PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
AT ACURIL 2019 ARUBA
ACURIL EARLY PARTICIPANTS BENEFITTED FROM TWO PRE-CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS
TWO Pre-Conference Workshops were presented at ACURIL 2019 ARUBA on Sunday, 2 June, from 9:00 – 11:00 am, at the Renaissance Aruba Resort & Casino. One was led by Dr. Luisa Vigo-Cepeda (Graduate School of Information Sciences and Technologies, University of Puerto Rico), and the other one by Prof. Carmen Margarita Santos-Corrada (Conrado Asenjo Library, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus) and Miss Ayaana Alleyne-Cumberbatch (Medical Sciences Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad & Tobago).
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARY MAKERSPACES IN THE CARIBBEAN
Vigo-Cepeda introduced the workshop Creation of Caribbean Makerspaces (Onsite, Virtual and Mobile) in Libraries for the Benefit of All. Guidelines on how to develop makerspaces at the library were given. She highlighted the challenges, opportunities and benefits of including the makerspace as part of the library services to ignate enthusiasm, and build up the spirit of creativity and innovation in library users. Maker education fosters curiosity, tinkering, and iterative learning, which in turn leads to better thinking through better questioning.
Developing a makerspace at the library will lead to attract more children, young adults and adults to become individual and collaborative makers and to use the library to enrich their creative and innovative ideas. Burke (2014, p.12) attests to the fact that “Community is the defining element of the maker movement on both a local and international scale”, and as communities, makerspaces exemplify the following qualities: co-working, collaboration, teaching, learning and an open sharing of ideas.
Makerspaces were identified as one of six important developments in educational technology for K-12 education by the New Media Consortium (NMC) Horizon Report for 2015, which stated, “Makerspaces are increasingly being looked to as a method for engaging learners in creative, higher-order problem-solving through hands-on design, construction, and iteration” (p. 38). And, as such, Makerspaces can function as catalysts for change in libraries.
Three types of Makerspaces that can be developed were identified: Onsite, Virtual and Mobile. Onsite (from small to large spaces), Virtual (with a variety of online applications for learning and making), and Mobile (transforming the traditional library bus with a mixture of technological elements, platforms and applications, for activities such as Learning to Code), to travel and visit schools, parks and city places to cater to the imagination and creativity of children, young adults and adults.
An important challenge and opportunity in the introduction of makerspaces at the library is the need to sensibilize the library personnel with a different vision and attitude, to think out of the box, to reimagine and design the library environment with magic, adding the Makerspace as a catalyst of change, and to become a motivated library maker.
THE BLAB AND MOBILE MAKERSPACES
The workshop was sparkled with the presentation of the BLAB (Brenchies Lab) and the Mobile Makerspace at the Biblioteca Nacional Aruba, introduced by Aruban Mrs. Christie Mettes and Mr. Manuel Rojas, from the Dominican Republic, who are the special Dream Team of this adventure.
Christie Mettes, Co-founder of Brenchies Lab, with a Master of Science in Sustainability Studies, explained the beginnings of the initiative and identified, with specific details, the elements involved in the development of the project. The project was initiated by Metabolic Foundation and has been boosted tremendously by Ateliers ’89, the Academy of Fine Arts and Design Aruba, UNOCA, Stimuleringsfonds, Biblioteca Nacional Aruba, Futura Lab. Brenchie’s Lab continues to grow with support from the lovely people of Aruba and beyond. Its mission is to support the democratization of technology by fostering a shared space to experiment and work together towards a more inclusive and circular future of urban design.
Brenchie’s Lab envisions an evolving set of community-managed spaces where everyone is part of the open source technology community, and where spaces function as incubators for community-based innovation that can be tested, co-developed, and implemented in cities around the world.
Manuel Rojas, Specialist in the Brenchies Lab, explained the characteristics of the use of the Onsite Makerspace in which students and adults tinker, play around, make school projects using library resources and are motivated to learn and to share.
Although the National Library Aruba was and is full of activities for the young as well as for adults, still the idea of some quietness prevailed. With the addition of the Onsite Makerspace, placed in a small area, the Library is sparkling with enthusiasm and innovation because of the making environment.
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE LIBRARY BUS TO THE MOBILE MAKERSPACE
THERE WAS LIBRARY BOOKMOBILE but it was transformed into THE MOBILE MAKERSPACE of the National Library Aruba.
The Mobile Makerspace visits different schools and students are welcomed to discover technologies by themselves, guided by Christie Mettes. They are led to use the library resources to increase and enlarge their ideas with enthusiasm. It is an innovative and sustainable project built in a bus, equipped with the latest technology, among them 3D printers, computers for coding, Internet-of-Things and robotics. The intention is that the bus will visit different schools to provide additional and different activities with opportunities to experiment. In so doing, youngsters are motivated to work in the future in technical opportunities.
Important to note is the fact that the initiative of the Maker Bus was the idea of Dr. Armando Rudy Lampe, Minister of Education, Science and Sustainable Development in Aruba, a Library Lover.
THE BIGBLUEBUTTON PLATFORM FOR VIRTUAL MAKERSPACES: CONFERENCES, WEBINARS AND OTHER ONLINE ACTIVITIES
As a final token, Gretchen Carraquillo-Ramos, member of the ACURILEAN Technology Team presented the BigBlueButton https://bigbluebutton.org/, the open source platform that ACURIL will use for its virtual activities and that can be used by anyone interested in using to develop and support a virtual makerspace.
References cited:
Burke, J. J. (2014). Makerspaces: a practical guide for librarians (Vol. 8). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Johnson, L., Adams Becker, S., Estrada, V., and Freeman, A. (2015). NMC Horizon Report: 2015 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://cdn.nmc.org/media/2015-nmc-horizon-report-k12-EN.pdf
A FOLLOW-UP WORKSHOP ON THE HOUR OF CODE
A follow-up to the Makerspace Pre-conference workshop was the Hour of Code workshop, presented by Dr. Peter Scholing, of the Biblioteca Nacional Aruba, and members of the Aruban Education and Tech Partners, on Wednesday, June 5, from 3:00 to 4:00 pm., at the Main Hall Convention Center. The Hour of Code is an activity that can be presented at the Onsite or Virtual Makerspaces.
40 Caribbean librarians and information professionals actively took part in this hand-on workshop, and were awarded a Certificate of Completion afterwards. A "How to organize an Hour of Code in your library" toolkit will be sent out to all who were registered.
The Powerpoint is available online at
THE NEW CATALOGING PLATFORM FOR VIRTUAL HEALTH LIBRARIES
In 2018, as a result of Resolution 3 presented and approved at the ACURIL General Assembly, The Association established a Virtual Health Libraries Content Area Group as a Community of Practice within the organization.
The creation and implementation of the Virtual Health Library (VHL) is the strategy that BIREME has adopted for the promotion of technical cooperation in information toward and among the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean.
As approved, Prof. Carmen Santos-Corrada (Conrado Asenjo Library, University of Puerto Rico, Medical Sciences Campus) serves as Chair of the Content Area Group (Community of Practice), and Miss Ayaana Alleyne-Cumberbatch (Medical Sciences Library, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus), participates as Co-chair.
The Content Area Group was created to develop a Community of Practice of the Virtual Health Libraries (VHL) in the Caribbean region. It pursues to share experiences and best practices, to find ways to contribute with collaborative work, to build robust VHL activities and a repository within the region.
For ACURIL 2019 the Group prepared a Pre-Conference workshop entitled New Cataloguing Data Entry Competencies for VHL in the Caribbean. Considering the importance of BIREME’s Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI) for the effectiveness of its technical cooperation on information access, Mrs. Marcia Barretto, ITI BIREME Coordinator, participated as presenter through a videoconference. that was made available to both participants onsite and for a virtual audience.
NEW ELEMENTS INTRODUCED FOR BEST PRACTICES
For ACURIL 2019 the Group coordinated a Pre-Conference workshop entitled New Cataloguing Data Entry Competencies for VHL in the Caribbean. Considering the importance of BIREME’s Information Technology Infrastructure (ITI) for the effectiveness of its technical cooperation on information access, Mrs. Marcia Barretto, ITI BIREME Coordinator, participated as presenter through a videoconference. that was made available to both participants onsite and for a virtual audience.
Participants were sensitized about the new data entry interface available from BIREME to normalize and facilitate the data entry for the Virtual Health Library database.
At the end of the workshop, participants were given an opportunity to exchange ideas with the facilitator, in a question and an answer session, based on the presentation.
At the end of the workshop, participants were given an opportunity to exchange ideas with the facilitator, in a question and an answer session, based on the presentation.
ACURIL and expressed the need to invite other VHL partners, with the inclusion of a more comprehensive representation of libraries of the four language areas (English, Spanish, French and Dutch) to be part of the group to learn and share ways to continue with the development of this regional initiative.
THE VHL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE IN THE CARIBBEAN WILL CONTINUE...
The workshop was well received by all. Participants showed interest to reach out to their local Virtual Health Library’s representatives to deepen their knowledge about the new interface and develop their skills set to support the development and growth of the Virtual Health Libraries database.
Participants welcomed the development of the Community of Practice within ACURIL and expressed the need to invite other VHL partners, with the inclusion of a more comprehensive representation of libraries of the four language areas (English, Spanish, French and Dutch) in the region to be part of the group to learn and share ways to continue with the development of this regional initiative.
BECOME AN ACURILEAN AND BE PART OF THE HISTORY : CONNECT, COMMUNICATE AND CONTRIBUTE
ASSOCIATION OF CARIBBEAN UNIVERSITY, RESEARCH AND INSTITUTIONAL LIBRARIES
Email: executivesecretariat@acuril.org
Website: https://acuril.org
Location: San Juan, Puerto Rico
Phone: (787)612-9343
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cibernotasacurilcybernotes