Welcome UF Libraries!
March 11, 2008
The purpose of this blog is to find out what the libraries think of our involvement in a UF Virtual World Environment (VWE).
I am on a university-wide committee, the VWE Working Group, which is charged with exploring the development of a VWE at UF. However, before we develop a working infrastructure, we want to know what you think! What are your thoughts, concerns, and apprehensions about our involvement in virtual worlds? What place do you think we have in this world? How can virtual worlds enhance our role in the university? How might they inhibit our role?
The VWE Working Group meets at the end of each month (next meeting 4/16), so, please, post your thoughts/comments/useful links here so that committee will know your opinion 
Thanks!
Laura
Entry Filed under: VWE Working Group. Tags: UF, VWE.
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1.
Bill Covey | March 11, 2008 at 5:40 pm
This question is pretty open-ended. VW/VE is just a tool. As a broad-based research university, UF should be exploring this along with all of the other mainstream branches of computer-mediated human interaction. There are all kinds of potential applications for UF (virtual campus tour; virtual office hours; virtual instruction; virtual study carrel; virtual videoconferencing; virtual world interface for the disabled; etc.), but we should be involved in the development of the tool even if we never deem it to be directly applicable here. It is an expanding part of the world beyond the campus, and we need to be able to train students in its care and management. There is no downside inherent in exploring VE/VW that does not exist in any expenditure of resources for the research and teaching environment.
2.
Dan Reboussin | March 11, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I can see the value of some aspects of “virtual worlds” but not others. I was intrigued by the Second Life capacity for online presentations, which seemed to work fairly well (for an apparently very young and quirky technology). But I didn’t see any real demand for library or academic services there.
Those participants who weren’t researchers or simply exploring to see why their institutions should be there seemed mostly to be using it for chat (or virtual dating, sex, etc.), making a fast buck on “skins” and fashions, advertising real world businesses and the like.
We all have real demands on our time, with some lower priority activities dropping off the back of the stove (behind the back burner, as it were). Until this format or setting develops quite a bit further I don’t think we’re missing much (or being missed) if we just stay out of it for now. We do offer any number of very convenient ways to request assistance already, so I don’t see how this particular venue is any quicker or friendlier than any number of more established technologies (desk, office visit, phone, e-mail, web, chat).
Keep your ear to the ground for a time when one or another does take off, I guess.
3.
Angela | March 11, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Mostly I look at the VWE as a branding opportunity. Having a presence gives our institution another face to anyone world-wide looking for us.
Now whether we offer actual real services in these environments, or “staff” them on a regular basis…well I’m just not sure about that. I’d have to really see what kind of traffic we were getting in an environment like that.
I can see us pointing the way from these VWEs to our website or to our Ask A Librarian service though. That seems like the best way to go initially.
I do think that as an institution UF and the libraries should either be represented either in an official way or not at all. We shouldn’t have just anyone putting our name/brand out there.
4.
Anonymous | March 12, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I think a virtual presence is not one l warranted but expected, however there are a lot of unanswered legal questions in the virtual arena and so I think caution is in order.
5.
Suzanne Brown | March 13, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Laura,
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on UF and its part in the Virtual World. My top concern: I wonder about equal access by our UF community to the Virtual World , in particular our students. In considering new computer equipment myself (laptop), it’s going to take $$$$ to have the access and graphics capability to really be a player in the virtual world, at least that is my perception before I actually go to the marketplace. Maybe it won’t be as pricey as I think. But I know I’ve got to have the the power and memory and the software!! I feel strongly, though, that the library has to figure out how to keep up with the technology, the virtual presence and the expectations of our students in a tight budget cycle as our Dean described yesterday, meet the expectations, even exceeding the expectations of our students. With smart, articulate librarians like yourself on a university-wide committee, we CAN do it!! We have to prioritize, prioritize, prioritize. We have to be a player in the Virtual World and be smart about it, and be sure we cover the access issues especially because we are a public not a private university.
Thanks again for the opportunity to contribute to the conversation.
6.
LeiLani | April 2, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I see some real potential for tools like Second Life to become a part of our reference services; however, I think we need to proceed carefully in these times of limited resources. Like Suzanne said, it’s all about priorities. We need to make sure staff and faculty are engaged in activities that bring the most bang for the buck. That said, in some academic settings, major libraries are considering closing their reference desk and moving to the referral model along with their electronic services. If this is the way we eventually move (due to reduced numbers of people at the desk and the inefficiency of having staff standing there waiting for a customer), then I see a possible role for truly “virtual” reference that goes beyond the chat model. It’s kind of exciting to think about that. Reference librarians might even be able to work from home and still feel personally connected to the patron. Interesting possibilities worth considering. We can’t know how it will go over until we try it so I think we have to be willing to allow staff some experimentation time.
This blog is a great forum for discussions of this nature. Thanks, Laura, for encouraging us to think about issues beyond our everyday work!
7.
Richard Saltzburg | December 19, 2008 at 4:03 pm
Virtual worlds such as SL face the same issues that any other product does, namely usability. Some questions users might have in Second Life are:
1. Where am I
2. I don’t know what I’m looking for-how to find it
3. How do I get around
4. What’s important here
5. What’s available here
6. What’s happening there
7. How do I contact a human
8. What’s their address