3D technology in libraries: Applications for teaching and research

As emerging technologies appear on the horizon of education every day, they are changing the world of teaching and research continuously with their adoption and integration into libraries, classrooms and research labs. Most of us are familiar with the libraries inside a lab, but hosting a lab inside a library holds tremendous potential for research and instruction. In this paper, we will feature a successful effort of integrating 3D technology and a visualization wall in the Marston Science Library at the University of Florida. We will describe how 3D printing was achieved and will highlight the benefit of the technologies related to the data visualization wall as well as recent 3D models made at the library used for research and teaching. The paper will also describe the lessons learned such as the challenges of maintaining these technologies staffing, maintenance, and environmental health and safety requirements.