Friends of the UNCG Libraries

Corrine Luthy is an example of one of the outstanding students who are working in the University Libraries while earning their MLIS (Master of Library and Information Studies) degrees at UNCG.  A former journalist in eastern North Carolina, Corrine recently completed an independent study/practicum expanding awareness and knowledge of the use of makerspaces in libraries, such as the one in Jackson Library. A website she has designed to be part of her capstone project for the degree describes her work on Makerspaces.  For the Fall 2014 semester she worked with a three-person team at UNCG's Jackson Library - Beth Filar-Williams (distance education librarian), Brown Biggers (server administrator), and Michelle Folkman (graduate student/curriculum coordinator) - on a project funded by an LSTA grant through State Library of North Carolina. The goals of the grant were to provide makerspace training to Library & Information Studies students and collaborations with other departm...

The University Libraries have received a grant for just under $30,000 from LSTA funds administered by the State Library to expand training in the use of  Makerspaces such as the one in Jackson Library The rapid evolution of consumer-grade fabrication technology has led to substantial interest in makerspaces within the library setting, but librarians are often left to manage these resources with little support or training. As the demand for maker-related resources increases, librarians serving in both the academic and public setting will be expected to be able to manage, handle, and repair these cutting-edge resources. Librarians will also be expected to coordinate patrons’ needs with new innovative technologies, to research and present on trends in a rapidly-changing pedagogical environment, and to do so within the context of methods which depend heavily on trial and error. This grant goal is to cultivate a relationship between librarians and makerspaces.  Our grant team i...

Video games – how do they affect us and what can we learn from them?   That’s the question being explored in the newest feature in the Digital Media Commons in UNCG’s Jackson Library. Students and faculty are invited to see for themselves what the buzz is about on February 7 at 3 pm in the Digital Media Commons to explore the new Gaming Lab, which opened December 3.   While there, we invite you to see the new MakerBot printer now being installed. The Gaming Lab project was spearheaded by Associate Professor Gregory Grieve, and coordinated by Beth Filar Williams, Interim Head of the Digital Media Commons (DMC). Support from Lindsay Sabatino, Director of the Digital ACT Studio housed in the DMC along with the financial support College of Arts and Sciences, Lloyd International Honors College, Undergraduate Studies, and University Libraries made the lab possible.        With the opening of the Gaming Lab, UNCG is following scholar­ship and...