Interaction, Visibility and Searchability in Virtual Worlds : presentation at VWLEM Conference

Saturday March 8th was the largest virtual conference ever on Libraries, Education and Museums. Organised by Alliance Library Systems they put together an interesting programm. Here are some highlights

• OPEN KEYNOTE DISCUSSION: "Virtual Worlds: Libraries, Education, Museums, and More" Presented by Barbara Galik (Puglet Dancer in SL) and Kitty Pope (Kitty Phillip in SL) Galik and Pope, who have been active in the development of the Alliance Information Archipelago and other virtual world library projects, will discuss where we are with library service in virtual worlds and where we are going. They will discuss the the fast progress (explosion) of the project to get to the high level of collaborative development that exists today. They also will discuss what we need to do moving forward to sustain and grow library services in virtual worlds. sustain and grow

• "Persistent Worlds: Will They Ever Go Away?" Presented by Dr. Susan Hazan
  Now that Second Life has hit the front page of Newsweek it seems Neal Stephenson's vision of the Metaverse has crossed over -- from being a fringe fantasy land for pure escapists to a persistent world for play, commerce, creativity and exploration. It's time to take a close look at this synthetic world. Presented by three leading avatars directly from Second Life, this panel will showcase some of the leading cultural institutions from their 3D graphic locations, and will explore how they welcome visitors, guests and colleagues in-world.
• "Voice vs. Text Chat: Solutions for Teaching/Presenting in Two Languages Simultaneously" Presented by Chris Haskell
  As voices ring out over the virtual landscape, some oppose vocal communication for its technical imperfections, infrequent use, and VW cultural bias. Educators, presenters, and facilitators in the Metaverse need solutions to communicate in both "native" languages. This session demonstrates tools and techniques currently being employed to engage multiple learning and communication styles in this expanding virtual space.
• "Whatcha Gonna Do?: An Academic Health Sciences Library in Second Life Embraces New Roles" Presented by PF Anderson (Perplexity Peccable); Gillian Mayman (Gillian Oh); Anne Perorazio (Kaiya Qunha); and Jane Blumenthal (Wrenaissance Jewell)
  Academic health sciences libraries support the educational, research, clinical, and service missions of the universities and healthcare institutions of which they are a part. In the recent past, this has meant primarily building print and web-based collections of health and research information, and providing classes and services that facilitate the use and integration of these collections into the skillset of the local academic healthcare community. In Spring of 2007, the University of Michigan Medical School purchased an island in Second Life. In supporting the activities associated with this initiative, we have found that many of the activities and services we have traditionally offered are not immediately relevant in the new environment, are needs that are being filled by others, or are beyond the scope of what is possible with the resources currently available to us. Examples of these might include teaching how to search Medline, offering classes relating to health skill sets, building collections of health information. Similarly, many of the activities and services we have found ourselves embracing in Second Life are hard to imagine ever happening in our real life libraries. Examples of these might include building freebie collections, teaching classes on how to make clothes, setting up a Spirit Shop for the university (along with making the inventory), hosting in-world and out-world events to engage community, setting up a patient support group, as well as helping folks navigate Orientation and Help Islands. Here we present information about the similarities and differences between what we do in which environment and why we do or do not offer similar services in the other environment, as well as discuss the planning process and skill sets required. We would particularly like to focus on tools that have formed the basis of our community building efforts, which have largely depended on resources that bridge Second Life and the broader online and analog environments. So, when it comes to leading the way in a new and emerging technological environment, what are librarians going to do? Our answer: whatever needs to be done.
• "Interaction, Visibility and Searchability in Virtual Worlds: The Possibilities, Benefits and the Future" Presented by Namro Orman
  Interaction with the Web should be a major focus point for libraries in virtual worlds. Resources, news, and communication are needed, and not only with Second Life Residents. The merging with other social networks looks promising, but a lot can be improved/gained inside Second Life as well to make library services and resouces more visible, and findable, also on the Web. This goals of this session are to improve awareness of current possibilities, to show developments, and to offer a sketch of the future
• please check the complete schedule as there is more great stuff out there

The transcript of my session can be seen/read at a wonderful Chatlog service from www.sleeds.org/chatlog . It is a partially cleaned chat transcript. If anyone listed in that chatlog does not agrees to be included this way, please send me an comment. My Slides will follow too asap. Have a look at this growing set of Flickr pictures Tag: VWLEM, and see me in a suit. Never happend in real life before! I will keep you posted on new info on more transcripts, pictures and videos.