123D Printing

3D Printing: To Academic Libraries and Beyond

POSTER LINK

 “The world around us has advanced so much 
that science fiction is no more a fiction.” – S. Banerjee

            In 1986, Charles Hull patented the stereolithography apparatus (SLA) machine which earned him the title father of the 3D printer.  Now, almost 30 years later, he is the co-founder, Executive Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer of 3D Systems and has a net worth of more than $20 million (History of 3D).  For those who are not familiar with the product, 3D printing, otherwise known as additive manufacturing (AM), is the process of printing a three-dimensional object from a digital computer file.  Most 3D printers operate by printing one layer of material, usually a type of plastic, on top of the other until the virtual object is a physical object.  A digital model can be created using design software programs, scanned using a 3D printer, or downloaded from online repositories like Tinkercad or Thingiverse (Introduction, 2014). 

            The concept of 3D printing has been making its way into household conversations for several decades now.  It has even been referred to as the innovation that will change nearly everything from entrepreneurship to manufacturing.  In recent years, low-cost 3D printers have become commercially available to everyone from small business owners to the average Joe.  A small 3D printer can be purchased from vendors like Amazon and Home Depot for less than $1000 dollars.  The movement toward affordable commercial availability has opened up many opportunities for expanding research and education in libraries around the world.

            As for the future, 3D printing does not appear to be slowing down in popularity any time soon.  According to the Wohlers Report 2014, the 3D printing industry is expected to grow from $3.07 billion in revenue in 2013 to more than $21 billion by 2020.  Similarly, Siemens predicts that in the next five years 3D printing technology will become 50% cheaper and 400% faster (Columbus,2015).  At the Rapid Prototyping Lab at Ball State University, Jim Flowers and Kyle Samuels are instructing a course called Inquiries into 3D Prototyping in order to test the boundaries of 3D printing (Absolutely Fab-ulous, 2015).

  

Literature Review

Makerspaces, also known as hackerspaces or fablabs, are community environments where people can gather to create, invent, and share ideas with one another.  They generally contain open source software such as 3D printers, as well as tools and supplies for users to develop their ideas.  Many public libraries and a few academic libraries have added makerspaces to their offerings in order to encourage patrons to view the library in a new light.  The space creates an atmosphere of creativity, learning, and new opportunities (Moorefield-Lang, 2015).

The University of Nevada, Reno is the first academic library in the United States to offer 3D printing and scanning services to students and community members.  While 3D printing is not a new concept on college campuses, they are generally reserved for departmental use.  Lisa Kurt, Engineering and Emerging Technologies Librarian at the DeLaMare Library comments that offering 3D printing capabilities to students could “totally change their academic career” as well as bring together campus departments.  She explains that the library has always been supportive of books, writing, and critical thinking; of course, part of critical thinking includes using your imagination and making things (Chin, 2012).

Dalhousie University Libraries in Halifax, Canada began offering 3D printing and scanning services as part of a pilot program in January 2012.  The main goal of the project was bring the knowledge-sharing, innovation-driven ideals of hackerspaces into the academic library.  The Killiam Library is the largest and most centrally located library on campus, so naturally this is where they decided to house their hackerspace.  The library purchased a NextEngine 3D Scanner and a MakerBot Replicator to be kept at the help desk on the main floor of the library.  This location was chosen because of the availability of knowledgeable staff to maintain and monitor the service as well as the high frequency of student body traffic.  A booking system was also added to the Killiam Library website so that students could reserve the use of the 3D scanner similar to the way they reserve study rooms; however, due to the varying print times, only staff members are allowed to book the 3D printer (Groenendyk & Gallant, 2013).

3D Printing in the Library

Once a library has obtained a 3D printer, by grant or by purchase, the printing possibilities are restricted only by the imagination of the user and the limitations of the device.  The University of Nevada Library has an interesting perspective on 3D printers. They asked the question, “can you afford [to] pay $1,000 dollars for a printer if you have to buy a position to support it? Or, would you rather buy a $20,000 printer that doesn’t require the care?” (Chin, 2012).  With the availability of online repositories for storing and downloading designs, students can print models without needing the design skills that previously acted as a gatekeeper.

Additionally, the purchase of a 3D scanner will only increase the number of printing services available.  The Dalhousie University Libraries took this into consideration with their hackerspace.  It was part of their original plan to allow the various museums, archives, and the art gallery on campus to have access to the 3D scanner in order to digitalize various physical items from their collections (Groenendyk & Gallant, 2013).  They essentially hedged their bet that the materials would be used for one purpose or another.  It is usage ideas such as this that help bring together campus departments and form positive lasting relationships.

In order to get a better idea of what objects are being printed by academic library users, library research guides were consulted.  Kent State University Libraries offer 3D printing to their students and most of their printed files are from MakerBot or Thingiverse.  Some of their printed samples include a coral bracelet, a human hand, a squirrel, and a custom designed model of the university library (3D Printing at the SMS).  Rutgers University Libraries installed the Fordham FabLab on the ground floor of the Douglass Library.  The lab offers use of two MakerBot Replicator 2 printers as well as a MakerBot Digitalizer 3D scanner.  The work samples they provide include chain links, a bunny rabbit, a transparent giraffe, a building, and airplane models (FabLab/Makerspace).

3D Printer Challenges

There are always a few challenges that occur with any new project.  The Dalhousie University Libraries ran into problems such as determining device settings, staff training and user inexperience.  The challenge of determining device settings differs with each device and can be eliminated by purchasing a higher-end model.  In order to handle staff training, the library held a one hour demonstration session assisted by the college information technology department.  After this session librarians realized that the printing process is not difficult to learn, and anyone with a little computer experience will not have any problems learning the ropes.  As for the user inexperience issue, the library is offering classes and instruction sessions to teach tips and tricks (Groenendyk & Gallant, 2013).

Other challenges to overcome include funding and device upkeep.  While the price of printers has deceased in the last few years, an effective printer still cost over $1,000 dollars.  After the initial investment, users still have to purchase filament.  It is for this reason that continuous funding needs to be considered during the initial purchase decision.  External revenue and grants are excellent alternative funding options to be explored.  As for device maintenance, most training occurs from a trial and error effort.  There is also an online community with forums that can be consulted as well as MakerBot support.  Another popular helpful destination is YouTube which provides videos about procedural questions dealing with changing filaments or cleaning the extruders (Moorefield-Lang, 2015).

Conclusion

Even though 3D printers have become common place in public libraries and are now making their way into academia, there are still several critics of the new technology.  Joseph Sanchez, Library Director at Red Rocks Community College, is one of them.  He is concerned that affordable 3D printers are not capable of rendering objects that are large enough to fit the needs of his community.  He currently views 3D printing as an “expensive distraction” for general libraries and believes they are better suited for specialized medical or engineering libraries (Chin, 2012).  There is also the issue of when laws will catch up with the copyright legality of 3D printing.  It is concerns like these that instill a cautious mindset about the inclusion of 3D printing into any academic library.  If the forecasts are correct, the use and popularity of 3D printers will increase drastically in the next several years; however, at some point the novelty will wear off.  When that happens, the question is will libraries have convinced their users that these machines are a valuable investment?

References

3D printing at the SMS (Kent State LibGuide): http://libguides.library.kent.edu/content.php?pid=489897&sid=4095847

Absolutely Fab-ulous. (2012). Library Technology Reports, 48(3), 21-24.

Banerjee, S.  (2015).  3D Printing: Are you ready for the new decentralized industrial revolution?.  Wired.  Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/2015/02/3d-printing-decentralized-industrial-revolution/

Chin, Y. M.  (2012).  U. Nevada Library offers 3D printing across the board.  Library Journal.  Retrieved from http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/08/academic-libraries/u-nevada-library-offers-3d-printing-across-the-board/#_

Columbus, L. (2015).  2015 Roundup of 3D printing marked forecasts and estimates.  Forbes.com.  Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2015 /03/31/2015-roundup-of-3d-printing-market-forecasts-and-estimates/

FabLab/Makerspace (Rutgers University Libraries LibGuide): http://libguides.rutgers.edu/FabLab

Groenendyk, M., & Gallant, R. (2013). 3D printing and scanning at the Dalhousie University Libraries: a pilot project. Library Hi Tech, 31(1), 34-41

History of 3D Printing.  (2014).  3D Printing Industry.  Retrieved from http://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/history/

Introduction. (2014). Library Technology Reports, 50(5), 5-7.

Moorefield-Lang, H. (2015). Change in the making: Makerspaces and the ever-changing landscape of libraries. Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning, 59(3), 107-112.