I am still no closer to knowing what platform the LCLCPL is going to use to enter the world of virtual reference service. I'm really starting to get worried, as my emails to Mary get responses like "I'll let you know" or "We're working on it." I'm going to try to go see her Monday to pin her down. I know they are really gung-ho about entering SL, but after last night's class, in which Dr. Mon so nicely explained that one beginner to SL working alone for 10 weeks was not likely to be able to create the kind of space the LCLCPL wants, I'm going to have to withdraw my offer to create the stuff on their island, if they choose to go into SL.
However, I could offer to create a project plan for them - break down what they would need to do, how to advertise in both SL and RL, how many projected man hours it would take for each step. See, Mary is rather counting on hiring me when the funds for the LCLCPL's Teen Librarian open up, and she thinks that if I can get it started now, as a school project, I will be well prepared to maintain the island once the Teen Librarian is in place. Which is why I think they wouldn't be disappointed with just a project proposal, as it would lay everything out and then the Teen Librarian, be it me or someone else, would just have to execute it.
And executing this project is the most fun to me. I want to see all my hard work go live, and see the public reaction to it. Of course, I may not get to see the public reaction even if I do get to execute the project, because it is virtual. And in Vilies' article for this week, the first characteristic she mentions of virtual libraries is that the users are usually remote. So even if I get to make a Facebook page for the LCLCPL, chances are that most people will be accessing it from their own homes, not from inside the library.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
No motion on final project
Despite sending Mary emails nearly every day, we seem to be no closer to making a decision on where the LCLCPL will enter the virtual world. Mary and Helen seem to be focused on SL right now, despite my warnings that it will be difficult and more than the library staff can manage right now. Not to mention that if they create an island in SL, any creep can come by, and if they create the island in Teen SL, college students and adults can't visit. But no final decision has been made yet.
I've been encouraging them to perhaps start with Web 2.0, like Facebook or MySpace, and see how it goes, before jumping off the deep end into SL. Not only are the Web 2.0 technologies free, I personally am more familiar with Facebook and will be able to give a better, clearer tutorial to the YA staff on how to use it than I will for SL. Also, Bell et al this week mention that "For many librarians, it is difficult to accomplish all the Library 2.0 pieces they would like to: blogs, wikis, and other social networking technologies." I know this is true of the LCLCPL - some of the staff have already expressed concern at their lack of knowledge of Facebook or MySpace, and how that lack of knowledge would lead to ineffectual use of staff time when trying to answer a reference question. If the staff is already concerned about 2.0 technologies, I can see how the frustration levels will increase a hundredfold with 3.0 technologies, in SL.
Bell's article was incredibly helpful in breaking SL down for the beginning user, and I have already sent it to Mary. If Helen is bound and determined to have a SL presence, it might be best to see if we can join something like the Information Archipelago, where people are already used to coming for help and information. Then we would only have to be concerned about spreading the word among the LCLCPL patrons, instead of both our patrons AND other interested users in SL. If we were able to join the Info Archipelago we could also help staff the reference desk, much like Ask A Librarian, to help ease the transition into SL - being responsible for only an hour or 2 a week in SL might make the difference between failure and success for the LCLCPL's venture into Second Life.
I've been encouraging them to perhaps start with Web 2.0, like Facebook or MySpace, and see how it goes, before jumping off the deep end into SL. Not only are the Web 2.0 technologies free, I personally am more familiar with Facebook and will be able to give a better, clearer tutorial to the YA staff on how to use it than I will for SL. Also, Bell et al this week mention that "For many librarians, it is difficult to accomplish all the Library 2.0 pieces they would like to: blogs, wikis, and other social networking technologies." I know this is true of the LCLCPL - some of the staff have already expressed concern at their lack of knowledge of Facebook or MySpace, and how that lack of knowledge would lead to ineffectual use of staff time when trying to answer a reference question. If the staff is already concerned about 2.0 technologies, I can see how the frustration levels will increase a hundredfold with 3.0 technologies, in SL.
Bell's article was incredibly helpful in breaking SL down for the beginning user, and I have already sent it to Mary. If Helen is bound and determined to have a SL presence, it might be best to see if we can join something like the Information Archipelago, where people are already used to coming for help and information. Then we would only have to be concerned about spreading the word among the LCLCPL patrons, instead of both our patrons AND other interested users in SL. If we were able to join the Info Archipelago we could also help staff the reference desk, much like Ask A Librarian, to help ease the transition into SL - being responsible for only an hour or 2 a week in SL might make the difference between failure and success for the LCLCPL's venture into Second Life.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Leon County Public Library and Second Life
So this week I spent a LOT of time exploring Second Life. I had spoken to the Head of Youth Services at the LeRoy Collins Leon County Public Library, Mary Douglas, last week about implementing some new virtual reference tools at the library as my final project. I mentioned Second Life as a possible choice, and it turns out that the Head of the LCLCPL system, Helen, jumped all over it. She really wants to create a presence on Second Life, and she thought Mary and me were the people to do it. So I spent quite a few hours trying to get the basics of Second Life over the weekend, so I could be ready for when Mary called a meeting.
She emailed me to let me know that Tuesday would be a good day for the meeting, so after my shift at Goldstein I headed over to the LCLCPL, laptop in tow. I figured I would be showing her everything I knew, from creating an account to making your avatar look vaguely like you. Mary was already ahead of me - she had her account set up, her avatar exploring Help Island, so I wasted no time in joining her there. Lucky for us, a woman named Connie Powell showed up and started talking to us. She is a Harvard librarian and she spent a good 20 minutes talking to us about how to start our own Second Life Island for the LCLCPL. (Of course, Mary was on one of the library's computers and I was on my laptop, so we were sitting right next to each other in RL, and standing next to each other in SL, which was pretty funny!)
After Connie left, she sent me and Mary a link to her Harvard library page. We went to explore, and what a cool place! Someone had set up the pyramids of Giza, and you could go in and click on different tombs to play an audio file or read a lecture about it. This is the kind of interactive, dynamic environment Helen and Mary want to have for LCLCPL, so Mary was really excited to find and explore this location.
2 hours later, Mary says that she wants to set up the island for Teen Second Life. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to explain to her that TSL was a completely different thing from SL - she thought you could just set up the island in some kind of "teen zone" but that everyone from SL could visit. Mary wants the LCLCPL page to be inviting to college students, as well as teens, and when she realized that SL people can't visit TSL, she was really disappointed.
We also couldn't find the right pricing for setting up our island. There was talk of estates, and open spaces, and renting, and owning... At this point, the meeting had been going on for 3 hours and Mary and I were tired of SL. We realized that it would be too much for the LCLCPL to start an island in SL now, especially since they are short on staff. Maintaining a SL island would require a lot more manpower than the LCLCPL can spare. So Mary sent an email to Helen, explaining the situation, and reminding her that we could start smaller, like setting up a Facebook or MySpace page, and maybe work up to SL. There were just too many unknowns, and from our best guesses, it would cost the library around $3,000 for 1 year of owning an island - Facebook and MySpace are both free.
I haven't heard from Mary what Helen said to this, but it's clear that Mary (and Helen) are interested in branching out of the traditional library reference and making the LCLCPL more accessible. If Helen oks the social networking sites, I will start with a MySpace page, as I saw in last night's class that way more libraries have MySpace pages. Facebook will most likely be the page that entices the college students since more college students use Facebook more than MySpace, but since the primary audience is teens we will go to where the teens are.
She emailed me to let me know that Tuesday would be a good day for the meeting, so after my shift at Goldstein I headed over to the LCLCPL, laptop in tow. I figured I would be showing her everything I knew, from creating an account to making your avatar look vaguely like you. Mary was already ahead of me - she had her account set up, her avatar exploring Help Island, so I wasted no time in joining her there. Lucky for us, a woman named Connie Powell showed up and started talking to us. She is a Harvard librarian and she spent a good 20 minutes talking to us about how to start our own Second Life Island for the LCLCPL. (Of course, Mary was on one of the library's computers and I was on my laptop, so we were sitting right next to each other in RL, and standing next to each other in SL, which was pretty funny!)
After Connie left, she sent me and Mary a link to her Harvard library page. We went to explore, and what a cool place! Someone had set up the pyramids of Giza, and you could go in and click on different tombs to play an audio file or read a lecture about it. This is the kind of interactive, dynamic environment Helen and Mary want to have for LCLCPL, so Mary was really excited to find and explore this location.
2 hours later, Mary says that she wants to set up the island for Teen Second Life. I spent the next 45 minutes trying to explain to her that TSL was a completely different thing from SL - she thought you could just set up the island in some kind of "teen zone" but that everyone from SL could visit. Mary wants the LCLCPL page to be inviting to college students, as well as teens, and when she realized that SL people can't visit TSL, she was really disappointed.
We also couldn't find the right pricing for setting up our island. There was talk of estates, and open spaces, and renting, and owning... At this point, the meeting had been going on for 3 hours and Mary and I were tired of SL. We realized that it would be too much for the LCLCPL to start an island in SL now, especially since they are short on staff. Maintaining a SL island would require a lot more manpower than the LCLCPL can spare. So Mary sent an email to Helen, explaining the situation, and reminding her that we could start smaller, like setting up a Facebook or MySpace page, and maybe work up to SL. There were just too many unknowns, and from our best guesses, it would cost the library around $3,000 for 1 year of owning an island - Facebook and MySpace are both free.
I haven't heard from Mary what Helen said to this, but it's clear that Mary (and Helen) are interested in branching out of the traditional library reference and making the LCLCPL more accessible. If Helen oks the social networking sites, I will start with a MySpace page, as I saw in last night's class that way more libraries have MySpace pages. Facebook will most likely be the page that entices the college students since more college students use Facebook more than MySpace, but since the primary audience is teens we will go to where the teens are.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Articles
When reading the article from this week and last week, I came across two very interesting things:
1. The IPL has a Ready Reference section
2. The IPL has a Reading Room
When working with the IPL before, I only thought it was a question/answer service. I think this was because I was working with the IPL from the answer side, so this was the side I saw most often. The Ready Reference section will come in very handy when I find a job - I can't tell how many times someone asks me a question I can't answer, and I turn immediately to Google to find the best source to answer their question. Next time I can simply turn to the IPL Ready Reference section to give better service with a greater variety of sources.
The Reading Room was rather strange to me at first, as I was expecting something more along the lines of NetLibrary, where you "check out" a book and have a set time to read it. It was nice that the titles are just there to be read - there is no need to sign in to read them, or sign in to check them out. The magazines and newspapers were a surprise to me at first, but once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. So many newspapers and magazines are online as well as in print, usually with the online content enhancing the print side, so linking to those sites almost make it a reference point - Anyone who wants to know the latest Entertainment information can simply go to the Magazines and click on the Entertainment heading to choose from a large variety of sources.
In fact, the most interesting thing I learned today came through the IPL: "Josh Hartnett was just busted for getting it on in a library" (Cosmopolitian.com). By going to the Magazine section in the IPL's Reading Room, under the Fashion heading, I clicked on the Cosmo link and it was right there on the first page. (I don't think Hartnett's actions will ever be an appropriate use of the library!) :)
1. The IPL has a Ready Reference section
2. The IPL has a Reading Room
When working with the IPL before, I only thought it was a question/answer service. I think this was because I was working with the IPL from the answer side, so this was the side I saw most often. The Ready Reference section will come in very handy when I find a job - I can't tell how many times someone asks me a question I can't answer, and I turn immediately to Google to find the best source to answer their question. Next time I can simply turn to the IPL Ready Reference section to give better service with a greater variety of sources.
The Reading Room was rather strange to me at first, as I was expecting something more along the lines of NetLibrary, where you "check out" a book and have a set time to read it. It was nice that the titles are just there to be read - there is no need to sign in to read them, or sign in to check them out. The magazines and newspapers were a surprise to me at first, but once I thought about it, it made perfect sense. So many newspapers and magazines are online as well as in print, usually with the online content enhancing the print side, so linking to those sites almost make it a reference point - Anyone who wants to know the latest Entertainment information can simply go to the Magazines and click on the Entertainment heading to choose from a large variety of sources.
In fact, the most interesting thing I learned today came through the IPL: "Josh Hartnett was just busted for getting it on in a library" (Cosmopolitian.com). By going to the Magazine section in the IPL's Reading Room, under the Fashion heading, I clicked on the Cosmo link and it was right there on the first page. (I don't think Hartnett's actions will ever be an appropriate use of the library!) :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
