Piloting interactive exhibits in the academic research library

Presentation by Erin Fletcher, Meris Mandernach, Arnab Nandi, and Alex Oliszewski at the Symposium on Information and Technology in the Arts and Humanities (April 22 & 23, 2015). The Symposium was sponsored by the Special Interest Groups for the Arts and Humanities (SIG AH) and Visualization, Images, and Sound (SIG VIS) of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T). All of the Symposium recordings can be viewed at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2v-vQy9W5DePg7QSKABGmuVzCXpVkeTh Slides can be downloaded from: http://figshare.com/authors/Symposium_on_Information_and_technolology_in_the_arts_and_humanities/740215 Erin Fletcher is the Exhibits Coordinator at The Ohio State University Libraries. She entered the world of academic libraries from a background in contemporary art, curatorial practice, and museum education. Her research interests include art in public space, the overlap between art and politics, and engagement as it pertains to exhibits. At OSU she has led the development of a centralized library exhibit program. She supports curators and librarians in building audience-centric and accessible exhibits through interactivity, inclusion, and partnership. To make exhibits a viable form of outreach for distinctive collections and library services she advances programs that involve students and faculty in the exhibit making process. Most recently she was a presenter at The Engaged Librarian: Libraries Partnering with Campus and Community in October of 2014. Meris Mandernach is an Associate Professor in University Libraries and is the Head of Research Services at The Ohio State University Libraries. Her research interests relates to user access to resources and services, primarily those that arise from issues and problems that are directly observed in her daily work. She has conducted usability studies, worked with faculty to develop programmatic approaches to curriculum development, and examined access to collection and its impact on usage. Recently her presentations have focused on collaborations with faculty on interactive exhibits, developing innovative research spaces, and alternative learning experiences such as Hackathons. Arnab Nandi is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science and Engineering department at The Ohio State University. Arnab’s research is in the area of database systems, focusing on challenges in big data analytics and interactive query interfaces. The goal of his group is to allow humans to explore and interact with large and complex data. This involves solving problems that span the areas of databases, visualization, human-computer interaction, and information retrieval. Arnab is also a founder of The STEAM Factory, a collaborative interdisciplinary research and public outreach initiative, and faculty director of the Ohio State Hackathon Program. Arnab has been a recipient of the NSF CAREER award, the Google Faculty Award, the BETHA award, and a Yahoo! PhD Fellowship. Prior to Ohio State, Arnab received his PhD from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2011. Alex Oliszewski is the Assistant Professor of Media Design for Live Performance and Installation at The Ohio State University. He holds a joint appointment between the Department of Theatre and The Advanced Computing Center of Arts and Design (ACCAD.) He recently had an interview published in the October edition Live Design International (http://livedesignonline.com/). He was also a presenter on a 2013 technology panel on the topic “Transcending the Meer Projection: Devising Experiential Media Systems for Performance Authorship.” In 2014 Alex taught a series of advanced skills workshops in media design and its attendant technologies for Live Design Institute at Arizona State University, Fort Lewis College in Durango Colorado. He has done professional Design and consultancy work with Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis MN as well as Cirque Du Soleil.https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sjsuasist/1055/thumbnail.jp