Hey all – Please ask a question and/or share your topic for the Inspiration Report here. We can discuss!
- Inspiration Report: DUE any FLUID DATE before the last day of class. 😀
Inspiration Report Topics & Questions
Written by Michael Stephens
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- Natalie Wong
- Daisy Chia
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- Natalie Wong
- Daisy Chia
13 thoughts on “Inspiration Report Topics & Questions”
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@michael I wanted to confirm that the last day of class is August 8th (not that I plan to be that late). Thanks – @natalie
Oops–I just saw that you confirmed this date on a previous post. Okay–got it! @michael
@natalie No worries!
For the Inspiration Report, I’d like to dive into global library trends and create a PowerPoint artifact to introduce these ideas to a library director. Dokk1 is a top contender but I’d like to dive into all the resources provided in the global library trends page to see all my options 🙂
@ali0 I think that’s a really good way to do the assignment. You could do an overview of all the major trends coming out of Europe and Scandinavia for example.
In a recent module, there was stuff about a virtual reality ‘immersive display wall’ and “campus-scale VR systems” at U.B.C. That caught my eye. The local community college near me has a very strong nursing program, and I got to thinking about how the campus library could use tools and spaces along these lines to partner with that focus, for example. It seems this is a tidal wave gathering, and if it’s going to land in higher ed and public spheres, libraries ought to get out in front of it and create a cultural expectation that it’s our turf, so to speak.
I admit, this is an area where I have not experienced much, so I’m just going to dive in and see what I can find about the tools as they apply to a campis library! A peer also had a great recent blog post about VR offerings available at Western Michigan University, so that only added to the intrigue.
@sjsudon this is absolutely right on target and it’s great that you have an experience much because you will be able to explore and learn about academic libraries using VR!
@michael For one of my reflection posts, I came across the FryskLab, which launched in Friesland, the Netherlands, in 2015 as Europe’s first mobile library‑FabLab. It sparked my curiosity, and since then a number of others are being used around Europe.
I retrieved these from an AI search:
1. MobiLab (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany)
Launched in 2021, MobiLab is a mobile “tiny house” laboratory designed for citizen science, science‐society dialogue, participation, and sustainability research. It travels across Germany, France, and Switzerland. In 2025 it joined the Eucor Roadshow offering interactive climate science and geotechnology programming
2. LIFE Mobile Lab (Denmark)
Supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, this 65 m² rolling laboratory (first deployed in 2021 with five units by 2023) visits Danish primary and lower-secondary schools. It offers hands-on science teaching—from microbiology and enzymes to sensor technology and cancer research experiments
3. Curiosity Cube® (Merck KGaA via MilliporeSigma, Germany and Europe-wide)
In 2022 the Curiosity Cube® made its European debut in Darmstadt, Germany. A retrofitted shipping container mobile lab touring schools and public spaces with hands-on microbiome and robotics demos—serving around 70 stops in countries including Belgium, France, Netherlands, Spain, UK, Switzerland and reaching nearly 50,000 students
There are also a variety of examples in the U.S., and I suppose my question is can I focus on it as a global trend even though it is also happening in the US (though for the sake of the assignment perhaps not in the location where the fictional library director works!)?
@brookek Absolutely. I think you can absolutely focus on this as a global trend especially with what you found from the 2010s. It probably inspired a lot of what is happening in the US. This will really fit well into your portfolio for comp oh as well as other competencies as well.
Comp O! 😀 need more ☕️
Inspiration Report Topic: Tween & Teen Filmmaking – inspired by one of the links in our modules (can’t find it now, of course). I plan to create it with my own library in mind and present it to my leadership. After looking at a suggested outline from ChatGPT, I came up with this outline:
Intro – Participatory Learning
Why Tweens & Teens
Why Filmmaking
Inspirations (similar programs from other libraries)
Equipment
Potential Partners
Challenges & Solutions
Benefits
Structure of Events
Gauging Success
Conclusion
References
I think this is a pretty good outline.
Thoughts? Is there something missing? Is there something there that shouldn’t be there? Other ideas?
@bsteenburg the topic sounds really good and I think it’s a super good fit for the inspiration report. Take a look at the example inspiration reports for similar topics and see how they align with your outline.
Also for @bsteenburg and @brookek I think it’s very cool that you used AI in the ways that you did to start thinking brainstorming and searching about the assignment.
@bsteenburg the topic sounds really good and I think it’s a super good fit for the inspiration report. Take a look at the example inspiration reports for similar topics and see how they align with your outline.
Also for @bsteenburg and @brookek I think it’s very cool that you used AI in the ways that you did to start thinking brainstorming and searching about the assignment.