By Greg Hatch

Summer 2018 marks the third anniversary of the Creativity & Innovation Services (CrIS) department. We initiated and partnered on many fascinating and impactful projects in the past year. These are just a few:

• Justin Sorensen demonstrated the power of GIS to library patrons with 17 mapping projects and corresponding blog posts. Check out his latest Map of the Week, then browse the fascinating archive.
• Justin teamed up with TJ Ferrill to develop a process for creating and printing 3D models of the Earth’s surface.

• For the second year, TJ, Erika Church, and Tony Sams worked alongside Special Collections and Office of Engagement colleagues to engage middle and high school-aged youth from the Ute Tribe in a series of storytelling workshops, which culminated in some amazing, student-created videos, audio stories, and ‘zines.

• Tony and Greg Hatch partnered with Marriott Library’s Mac Group, Knowledge Commons, Graphic Design, and Marketing & PR staff to launch the One Button Studio – an automated, self-scheduled video production studio – in Fall 2017.

• TJ and his part-time staff in Creative Spaces extended the reach of our Virtual Reality (VR) systems by moving them into the Knowledge Commons computing spaces and even made them available for check out!
• Robert Nelson worked with staff at University of Utah Press, Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and Continuing Education & Community Engagement to create informational and promotional podcasts.

• Luke Leither and Greg celebrated the opening of Katherine’s Courtyard – the culmination of 5 years of ideation, design, and construction meetings with Ian, Alberta, Jesse, Catherine, Rick, Derrick, and many more Library, campus, and community partners than there’s room here to mention!

Summer 2018 also marks the beginning of new ventures and possibilities for Creativity & Innovation Services:

• The Digital Matters Lab now has a director and several employees. We’ll be working with them to support and collaborate on digital scholarship projects.
• Machine learning tools, a podcast studio, training in visual communication, motion-capture equipment, risograph printing, an immersive VR classroom, and Lego-based ideation are all in development. Stay tuned to learn more!
• In the meantime, check out these short videos in the Creativity & Innovation Services channel of the U’s MediaSpace, which will introduce you to who we are and just a bit more about what we do.

Here’s to another exciting year of Creativity & Innovation!

Greg Hatch | Head, Creativity & Innovation Services
greg.hatch@utah.edu