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The purposes of this paper are to study how entry-level 3D printers are currently being used in several shared machine shops (FabLabs, hackerspaces, etc.) and to examine the ambivalent emancipation often offered by 3D printing, when users prefer the fascinated passivity of replicating rather than the action of repairing. Based on a field study and on a large online survey, this paper offers to examine different practices with entry-level 3D printers, observed in several shared machine shops (FabLabs, hackerspaces, etc.). The recent evolution of additive manufacturing and the shift from high-end additive technologies to consumer’s entry-level 3D printing is taken as an entry point. Indeed, digital fabrication has recently received extensive media coverage and the maker movement has become a trendy subject for numerous influential publications. In the makerspaces that were taken for this field survey, 3D printers were very often used for demonstration, provoking fascination and encouraging a passive attitude.

As part of the work for a PhD research on personal digital fabrication as practiced in FabLabs, hackerspaces and makerspaces, since 2012, a large-scale field survey at the heart of these workshops was carried out. Particular attention has been paid to the relationships established between the inhabitants of these places and their machines, observing the logic of developing projects and the reactions or techniques used to counter unforeseen obstacles – that shall be demonstrated to be an essential occurrence for these moments of production. From Paris to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Lyngen (Norway), San Francisco, New York, Boston, Tokyo, Kamakura (Japan) to Dakar, a means of observing at the heart of more than 30 makerspaces (FabLabs, hackerspaces) has been created, with the aim of looking beyond the speeches relayed by the media and to constitute an observatory of these places. The field observations are confirmed by a quantitative study, based on a survey submitted online to 170 users, coming from 30 different makerspaces in more than ten countries in the world and reached through social networks or mailing lists. This survey offers a rigorous insight on the uses of 3D printing and leads to the consideration of the types of attention applied to 3D printing and the part played by the “default” or “trivial” productions used for their demonstrations or performances.

Based on both the observations and the quantitative survey, it can be discussed how the question of so-called “user-friendliness” is challenged by practices of repairing, fixing and adjusting, more than that of replicating. Indeed, it is claimed that this offers a possible meaning for 3D printing practices. In the description and analysis of the behaviours with 3D printers, this leads to privilege the idea of “disengaging” and the notion of “acting” rather than simply passively using.

3D printing is just one of the many options in the wide range available for personal digital fabrication. As a part of the same arsenal as laser cutters or numerical milling machines, 3D printing shares with these machines the possibility of creating objects from designs or models produced by a computer. These machines execute the instructions of operators whose practices – or behaviours – have yet to be qualified. These emerging technical situations pose a series of questions: who are those who use these 3D printers? What are they printing? What are the techniques, the gestures or the rituals imposed or offered by these machines?

Theories of platform strategy and adoption have been largely derived from studies of their application in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. These platforms vary in openness, with the model of open source software providing the best-known exemplar for open platforms.

This exploratory field study examines the degree to which nine attributes of ICT platforms are applicable to open platforms in biotechnology. Using a combination of interview and secondary data, it identifies three patterns of such biotechnology platforms – IP commons, hackerspaces, and crowdsourced patient registries – and the degree to which these nine attributes apply. It shows the impact of ICT platforms and open source software on open source approaches to biotechnology, and how the latter are affected by the technical, legal, and institutional differences between information technology and biotechnology.

Instead of open source software platforms organized around modular interfaces, complements, ecosystems, and two-sided markets, this study instead suggests a model of open source knowledge platforms which benefits from economies of scale but not indirect network effects. From this, it discusses the generalizability of the ICT-derived models of open source platforms and offers suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to describe how 3D printing and scanning technology was implemented by the Dalhousie University Libraries in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Insights will be outlined about the benefits of these technologies in terms of data visualization and archival practices, as well as the potential user base for library‐centered 3D printing and scanning services.

This paper describes why the Dalhousie University Libraries purchased a 3D printer and scanner, the challenges of maintaining these technologies and instructing students in their use, and how Dalhousie faculty members and students have made use of these technologies for their own research purposes.

3D printing and scanning technologies can be of use to a much wider range of Faculties than have traditionally had access to them. The unique role libraries have on university campuses allows them to function as universal access points for these technologies. By offering 3D scanning technology, they can also use this technology internally for archival purposes.

While much has been written on 3D printing and scanning technology, very little has been written about how these technologies could relate to academic libraries. This paper sets the groundwork for further exploration into how 3D technologies can improve and expand library services.