Making is one of the main ways I interact with the world and express myself, & I teach a course on making and makerspaces in information organziations.

Syllabus

The Course

This master’s degree course focuses on 3 main areas:

  • User-centered makerspace services, especially in libraries, that go BEYOND learning and skill-building to meet other user needs, such as joy, love, regeneration, play, self-expression, and community building

  • Instructional communication, including creating tutorials and assisting with peer-based and informal learning practices

  • Learning to be a maker (or continuing one’s maker journey) with many kinds of STEAM-based making, with an eye toward supporting other makers in these creative places.

Most of the projects in the course are created and taught by the students, but below are a sampling of things I teach to help them get started.

Some projects from the course.

  • Decorative pink fabric flowers with LED lights and green felt leaves

    LED flowers.

    A simple circuit to introduce people to eTextiles or “soft circuits.”

    Make It
  • Cartoon cat dressed as an astronaut floating in space, holding planets around a moon with stars in the background.

    Soldered badge.

    We start by soldering a simple badge.

    Make It
  • A knitted fabric with a gradient color pattern transitioning from green at the top, through red in the middle, to green at the bottom, with a decorative black button at the top center.

    Knitted bag.

    Needle craft is one of the most requested activities in library creative places, despite an institutional focus on digital production.

    Make It (Learn to Knit)