In recent years there has been a lot of interest in makerspaces, a term associated with libraries more than other departments in universities and organisations globally. Researchers in the library and information science domain, however, believe that people are not yet aware of the wider relevance of makerspace concept and its utility. This is largely because there is no single accepted definition for the term. In this article, we examine the disparate definitions provided by the research community and explore their relevance to academics in the Indian context.
So, what exactly is a makerspace? A makerspace is a physical space that can be utilised by individuals to “create, experiment, and learn.” In the context of an engineering school, a student may be interested in building a unique component for her project and may want to conceptualise it using a 3D design software and build…