Space invaders: First-time users feel like intruders in the makerspace

• Published in: Library & information science research 2023-10, Vol.45 (4), p.101264, Article 101264
• Main Authors: Melo, Marijel Maggie, Rodney, Rachel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Equity and inclusion; Everyday life information seeking; Information seeking behaviors; Makerspaces
• ISSN: 0740-8188; 1873-1848
• DOI: 10.1016/j.lisr.2023.101264

Makerspaces have proven to be mainstays within library ecosystems. However, alongside the continued popularization of library makerspaces, there remains a seemingly immovable issue endemic to these environments; makerspaces continue to attract a narrow demographic of patrons. The threshold of the makerspace serves as a critical site for inquiry, specifically, for insight around students' everyday life information seeking (ELIS) behaviors. This study responds to the research question, “Why do students from underrepresented communities turn away at the threshold of a makerspace?” The research design is methodologically informed by participatory action research (PAR) and grounded theory and uses a virtual reality (VR) makerspace to provide a consistent “threshold” experience to capture students' fleeting first impressions. The research findings offer novel insight into the information seeking behaviors of students by capturing and analyzing critical data that haven't been collected before: the real-time thoughts and feelings of students from underrepresented communities entering a makerspace for the first time. •VR and participatory action research provide insight on marginalized students' first impressions of a makerspace.•Utilizing VR as research method to design inclusive makerspaces for diverse user communities.•The spatial design of a typical makerspace communicates a sense of exclusion to first-time users.•Makerspaces: Narrow patron demographics persist despite touted inclusivity.