Kristi Wyatt
Emerging Technologies Librarian
University of Oklahoma
Zenobie S. Garrett
CLIR Postdoc in 3D and VR Software Curation
University of Oklahoma
Academic libraries are evolving into places not just where knowledge is retrieved, but where it is also actively created in an interdisciplinary atmosphere. At the University of Oklahoma, the emerging technologies team has worked closely with researchers in a variety of departments to implement 3D scanning in both research and teaching environments. These departments include Anthropology, Geology, Architecture, English, and Fine Arts as well as the History of Science Collections and, most recently, the Law School. Projects have ranged from reconstruction of a crime scene in virtual reality to scanning of artifacts prior to destructive analysis. These projects have allowed us to build a comprehensive in-house workflow from 3D scanning up through model integration into course websites and virtual environments. The success of these projects and the increasing demand for 3D scanning across multiple university departments has led us to develop 3D scanning as a service within the Bizzell Memorial Library. The program is unique in that it goes beyond the library’s traditional role of providing support, and instead includes the library as an active partner in research production. Our goal is to provide researchers within the university greater access to methods and equipment while easing the demands of new technologies. At the same time, the library can play a centralizing role in the documentation of this emerging technology, and, as such, provides the best chance for developing comprehensive, cross-disciplinary, collection, metadata, and storage standards. This presentation will look at our efforts so far in providing an outline of the program, an overview of the tools and documentation needed to implement such a program, and the administrative hurdles and challenges of resource allocation (i.e. staff time, equipment) such a service requires.
