Microsoft Word - September_ITAL_Colegrove_for_proofing.docx Editorial Board Thoughts: Rise of the Innovation Commons Tod Colegrove   INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY  AND  LIBRARIES  |  SEPTEMBER  2015             2   That  the  practice  of  libraries  and  librarianship  is  changing  is  an  understatement.  Throughout   their  history,  libraries  have  adapted  and  evolved  to  better  meet  the  needs  of  the  communities   served.  From  content  collected  and/or  archived,  to  facilities  and  services  provided,  a   constant  throughout  has  been  the  adoption,  incorporation,  and  eventual  transition  away   from  technologies  along  the  way:  clay  tablets  and  papyrus  scrolls  giving  way  to  the  codex;  the   printing  press  and  eventual  mass  production  and  collection  of  books  yielding  to  Information   Communication  Technology  such  as  computer  workstations  and  the  Internet.  Indeed,  the   rapid  and  widespread  adoption  of  the  Internet  has  enabled  entire  topologies  of  information   to  change  –  morphing  from  ponderous  print  tomes  into  digital  databases,  effectively  escaping   the  walls  of  libraries  and  archives  altogether.1   In  reflection  of  end-­‐users’  growing  preference  for  easily  accessible  digital  materials,  libraries   have  responded  with  the  creation  of  new  spaces  and  services.  Repositioning  physical,  digital,   human,  and  social  resources  to  better  meet  the  needs  of  the  communities  supported,  the   information  commons2  that  is  the  library  begins  to  acquire  a  more  technological  edge.  The   concept  of  a  library  service  or  area  referred  to  specifically  as  an  information  commons  can  be   traced  to  as  early  as  1992  with  the  opening  of  the  Information  Arcade  at  the  University  of   Iowa  –  specifically  designed  to  provide  end-­‐users  technology  tools,  with  a  stated  mission  “to   facilitate  the  integration  of  new  technology  into  teaching,  learning,  and  research,  by   promoting  the  discovery  of  new  ways  to  access,  gather,  organize,  analyze,  manage,  create,   record,  and  transmit  information.”3   First  mentioned  in  the  literature  in  1994,  discussion  of  the  idea  itself  waited  another  five   years,  with  Donald  Beagle  writing  about  the  theoretical  underpinnings  of  “the  new  service   delivery  model”  in  1999.  Defined  as  “a  cluster  of  network  access  points  and  associated  IT   tools  situated  in  the  context  of  physical,  digital,  human,  and  social  resources  organized  in   support  of  learning.”  A  flurry  of  articles  followed,  with  the  idea  seeming  to  have  caught  the   collective  imagination  of  libraries  generally  by  2004.  Information  commons  as  named  spaces   within  libraries  made  “…  sudden,  dramatic,  and  widespread  appearance  in  academic  and   research  libraries  across  the  country  and  around  the  world.”4  Scott  Bennett  went  further,  in   2008  asking  flatly:  “who  would  today  build  or  renovate  an  academic  library  without   including  an  information  commons?”5   This  proliferation  and  transition  has  not  been  limited  to  academic  libraries;  for  decades,   libraries  of  all  type,  shape,  and  size,  have  been  similarly  provisioning  resources  and     Patrick  “Tod”  Colegrove  (pcolegrove@unr.edu),  a  member  of  the  ITAL  Editorial  Board,  is   Head  of  the  DeLaMare  Science  &  Engineering  Library  at  the  University  of  Nevada,  Reno,  NV.       EDITORIAL  BOARD  THOUGHTS:  RISE  OF  THE  INNOVATION  COMMONS  |  COLEGROVE     doi:  10.6017/ital.v34i3.8919     3   technology  in  the  context  of  end-­‐user  access  and  learning.  By  2006,  a  new  variation  of  the   information  commons  had  entered  the  vernacular:  the  learning  commons.  Defined  by  Beagle   as  the  result  of  information  commons  resources  “organized  in  collaboration  with  learning   initiatives  sponsored  by  other  academic  units,  or  aligned  with  learning  outcomes  defined   through  a  cooperative  process.”6  A  subset  of  the  broader  concept,  when  the  library   collaborates  with  stakeholders  external  to  the  library  to  collaboratively  achieve  academic   learning  outcomes,  it  becomes  operationally  a  learning  commons.  One  can  easily  conceive  of   the  learning  commons  more  broadly  by  considering  learning  outcomes  desirable  within  the   context  of  particular  library  types:  school  libraries  with  offerings  and  programs  in  alignment   with  broader  K-­‐12  curricula;  public  libraries  in  support  of  lifelong  learning  and  participatory   citizenship;  special  libraries  in  alignment  with  other  niche-­‐specific  learning  outcomes.   Note  that  not  all  information  commons  are  learning  commons.  As  defined,  the  learning   commons  depends  on  the  actions  and  involvement  of  other  units  that  establish  the  mission,   and  associated  learning  goals,  of  the  institution.  Others  must  join  with  the  library’s  effort  in   order  to  create  and  nourish  such  spaces  in  a  way  that  is  deeply  responsive  to  the  aspirations   of  the  institution:  “the  fundamental  difference  between  the  information  and  the  learning   commons  is  that  the  former  supports  the  institutional  mission  while  the  latter  enacts  it.”   (Bennett  2008,  emphasis  added)  At  a  time  when  libraries  are  undergoing  such  rapid  and   significant  transformation,  it’s  hard  to  dismiss  such  collaborative  effort  as  merely  trendy  –   such  spaces,  and  the  library  by  extension,  become  of  even  more  fundamental  relevance  to  the   broader  organization.   In  short,  resources  are  provisioned  in  the  information  commons  so  that  learning  can  happen;   collaborative  effort  with  stakeholders  beyond  the  library,  but  within  the  organization,   ensures  that  learning  does  happen.   Drawing  a  parallel,  what  if  the  library  were  to  go  beyond  simply  repositioning  resources  in   support  of  learning  –  indeed,  beyond  working  with  other  units  of  the  organization  to   collaboratively  align  and  provision  resources  in  support  of  achieving  organizational  learning   outcomes?  To  go  beyond  strategic  alignment  with  the  aspirations  of  the  institution,  involving   stakeholders  from  beyond  the  immediate  organization  in  the  creation  and  support  of  such   spaces?  Provisioning  library  spaces  and  services  that  are  deeply  responsive  to  the   aspirations  of  the  greater  community?  Arguably  this  is  where  the  relatively  recent   introduction  of  makerspaces  into  the  library  fits  in.  The  annual  environmental  scan   performed  by  the  New  Media  Consortium  (NMC)  has  for  a  number  of  years  identified   makerspaces  to  be  on  its  short-­‐term  adoption  horizon  –  the  2015  Library  Edition  goes   further,  identifying  a  core  value:     the  introduction  of  makerspaces  in  the  academic  library  is  inspiring  a  mode  of  learning  that   has  immediate  applications  in  the  real  world.  Aspiring  inventors  and  entrepreneurs  are     INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY  AND  LIBRARIES  |  SEPTEMBER  2015         4   taking  advantage  of  these  spaces  to  access  tools  that  help  them  make  their  dreams  into   concrete  products  that  have  marketable  value.7     Aspects  of  the  information  commons  are  present  in  library  makerspace  –  not  only  in  the   access  to  traditional  library  resources,  but  also  in  the  shift  toward  providing  support  of  21st-­‐ century  literacies  in  the  creation,  design,  and  engineering  of  output.  With  the  acquisition  and   use  of  these  literacies  in  collaboration  with  and  in  support  of  the  goals  of  the  greater   institution,  it  is  also  a  learning  commons;  for  example,  in  the  case  of  a  school  or  public  library   where  makerspace  activities  and  engagement  collaboratively  meet  and  support  learning   outcomes  including  increased  engagement  with  Science,  Technology,  Engineering,  the  Arts,   and  Math  (STEAM)  disciplines.  Consider  the  further  example  of  university  students   leveraging  makerspace  technology  as  part  of  STE(A)M  outreach  efforts  to  local  middle   schools  in  the  hope  of  kindling  interest,  or  partnering  with  the  local  Discovery  Museum  in  the   production  of  a  mini  maker-­‐faire  to  carry  that  interest  forward.  Alternatively,  a  team  of   students  conceiving,  then  prototyping  and  patenting  a  new  technology  with  the  active  and   direct  support  of  the  library  commons,  going  on  to  eventually  launch  as  a  business.  To  the   extent  the  library  can  springboard  off  the  combination  of  makerspace  with  information  or   learning  commons  to  engage  stakeholders  from  beyond  the  institution,  it  can  go  beyond  –   becoming  something  broader,  and  potentially  transformative;  even  as  it  enables  progress   toward  collaboratively  achieving  community  goals,  outcomes,  and  aspirations.   The  hallmark  of  community  engagement  with  such  library  facilities  is  a  spontaneous   innovation  that  seems  to  flow  naturally.  Library?  Information  or  learning  commons?   Arguably  such  spaces  are  more  accurately  named  innovation  commons.   Beyond  solidifying  the  library’s  place  as  a  hub  of  access,  creation,  and  engagement  across   disciplinary  and  organizational  boundaries,  the  direct  support  of  innovation  –  the  process  of   going  from  idea  to  an  actual  good  or  service  with  a  real  perceived  value    –  is  in  potential   alignment  with  the  aspirations  of  the  broader  community.  In  collaboration  with  stakeholders   from  across  the  community,  from  economic  development  and  government  representatives  to   businesses  and  private  individuals,  broader  outcomes  and  aspirations  of  the  greater   community  can  be  identified  and  supported.    Nevertheless,  simply  adding  makerspace   technology  to  an  information  or  learning  commons  does  not  automatically  create  an   innovation  commons.  It  is  in  the  broader  conversation,  along  with  the  catalyzation,   identification  of  and  support  for  the  greater  aspirations  of  the  community,  that  the  commons   begins  to  assume  its  proper  role  in  the  greater  ecosystem.  Leveraging  the  deliberate   application  of  information,  with  imagination,  and  initiative,  enabling  end-­‐users  to  go  from   idea  all  the  way  to  useful  product  or  service  is  something  that  community  stakeholders  see  as   a  tangible  value.           EDITORIAL  BOARD  THOUGHTS:  RISE  OF  THE  INNOVATION  COMMONS  |  COLEGROVE     doi:  10.6017/ital.v34i3.8919     5   The  library  as  innovation  commons  becomes  a  natural  partner  in  the  local  innovation   ecosystem,  working  collaboratively  to  achieve  community  aspirations  and  economic  impact.   Traditional  business  and  industry  reference  support  ramps  up  to  another  level,  providing   active  and  participatory  support  of  coworking,  startup  companies,  and  Etsypreneur8  alike  –   patent  searches  taking  on  an  entirely  new  light  in  support  of  innovators  using  makerspace   resources  to  rapidly  prototype  inventions.  Actualized,  the  library  joins  forces  in  a  deeper  way   with  the  community  in  the  creation  of  new  technologies,  jobs,  and  services,  taking  an  ever   more  active  role  in  building  the  futures  of  the  community  and  its  members.   REFERENCES                                                                                                                               1.    Morgan  Currie,  “What  We  Call  the  Information  Commons,”  institute  of  network  cultures   blog,  July  8,  2010,  http://networkcultures.org/blog/2010/07/08/what-­‐we-­‐call-­‐the-­‐ information-­‐commons/   2.    The  word  commons  reflects  the  shared  nature  of  a  resource  held  in  common,  such  as   grazing  lands.   3.    Robert  A.  Seal,  “Issue  Overview,”  Journal  of  Library  Administration,  50  (2010),  1-­‐6.   http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01930820903422248   4.    Charles  Forrest  &  Martin  Halbert,  A  field  guide  to  the  Information  Commons.  Lanham,  MD:   Scarecrow,  2009.   5.    Scott  Bennett,  “The  Information  or  the  Learning  Commons:  Which  Will  We  Have?,”  The   Journal  of  Academic  Librarianship,  34,  no.  3  (2008),  183-­‐185.   6.    Donald  Robert,  Donald  Russel  Bailey,  &  Barbara  Tierney,  The  Information  Commons   Handbook,  xviii.  New  York:  Neal  Schuman,  2006.   7.    Larry  Johnson,  Samantha  Adams  Becker,  Victoria  Estrada,  and  Alex  Freeman,  NMC  Horizon   Report:    2015  Library  Edition,  36.  Austin,  TX:  The  New  Media  Consortium,  2015.   8.    The  combination  of  Etsy,  a  peer-­‐to-­‐peer  e-­‐commerce  website  that  focuses  on  selling   handmade,  vintage,  or  unique  items,  and  entrepreneurship.  The  word  “Etsypreneur”   refers  to  someone  who  is  in  the  “Etsy  business”  –  namely,  selling  such  items  via  the   website.  http://etsypreneur.com/the-­‐hidden-­‐danger-­‐of-­‐the-­‐internet-­‐opportunity/