Mar 19, 2019 Build a Library Practice

I recently had a faculty member request an AI system that would cook toast perfectly. I turned the project down, but submit pan toast as the best viable alternative.

By TJ Ferrill

Hello readers! In posts past I have written about new services, equipment, or events in the Marriott Library. Usually just stuff I’m involved in at some level. Today, I’d like to get a little more free-form and talk about blender (blender.org) wizards I have met in the past few years and the many types of projects possible thanks to open source software. Justin is able to export high-resolution topographic data in a 3D printable form – blender is the best software I have found for processing extremely high-polycount models. If you absolutely need to cut a 2GB 3D model of the Provo River into three segments, blender is your jam (and a supercomputer helps). Alan is able to build web-ready meshes for sharing next-gen holomemes with posterity. What does blender have to do with it? No idea, but he explained it to me once. I took notes and lost them … something about smooshing face vertices. Who else is using blender in our organization, I wonder? Maybe, taking a step back, it’s time to thank all of the designers, programmers, and front-line workers who have given form and function to the ideas and objectives clanking around in our collective org-brain. Your contributions are invaluable.

Whether we are scanning beetle-paths for digital audio reconstruction or capturing 3D meshes of facial expressions for semantic analysis, I try to keep my job simple: “Plug this thing in and point it at that thing.” It’s amazing how many students took the time to learn how to use a 3D scanner, digital sculpting tools, or a 3D printer to complete a project of their invention. Consider those who developed proficiency with our vinyl cutter: we bought this piece of equipment, did very little training, and just let people use it. What was the result? A bunch of vinyl stickers, a handful of course-integrated projects, and the realization that a sheet of vinyl acts a lot like a loudspeaker when the cutter is running. I beat myself up for not communicating it better, but we have come a long way in the past few years. I have a huge team to thank for the successes in 3D printing, 3D scanning, and Virtual Reality projects. But! There is an even bigger team to acknowledge when I consider who keeps the lights on, who brings academic rigor to our practice, who helps clean up the messes we make, and who keeps the wheels from falling off during nights and weekends. So thanks again to the facilities workers, to our librarians and academicians, the IT and infrastructure teams, and our beloved student workers. You enable our future.

In this post I set out to acknowledge the great work happening at the Marriott Library and give updates on some of the projects I am working on. I ended up meandering into acknowledgements for our many talented and dedicated project collaborators. What I look back on now is something different than a project breakdown or task list. It is our passion and our connectedness as much as our expertise that enable successful projects. I am curious to hear the stories others might share. Send them my way. Also, I am interested in music recommendations. What are you listening to these days?

TJ Ferrill | Assistant Head of Creative Spaces
Creativity & Innovation Services / Creative Spaces
thomas.ferrill@utah.edu