Archivo mensual: septiembre 2007

The SJSU School of Library & Information Science (SLIS)Second Life Campus is featured in a QUEST story that did air on KQED 9 and KQED HD on Tuesday, September 25, 2007, at 7:30 p.m. The video of the SLIS portion of the QUEST feature story is below.
If you were asking yourself what a Library school could in Second Life, here’s a nice example. One of the teachers states that she has not been giving classes in a physical environment for over 6 years now.

Tags: secondlife, sl, sjsu, library science, video, campus, distance learning, virtual teaching, SLIS
This item is automatically generated from the DIGICMB Blog of Guus van de den Brekel (Source: DigiCMB) Sigue leyendo →

For once I was pretty well stumped for words – that’s because I was able to spend a day seeing leading innovation in education – the future really! Myself and two CEO teachers (members of our Learnscope project), Martin and Dean, travelled to Wollongong to participate in a Second Life event. Dean’s IT trainee also attended online with his own avatar.
For me, this was a first, and a day I would not have wanted to miss.
Congratulations to NSW Learnscope for the fabulous regional event Go Virtual 07- Teaching and Learning in Virtual Worlds for VET.
This was a ‘mixed world’ event – participants in the room, mixing with participants from Australia and around the world – attending the conference in a meeting space prepared specially for the event in Jokaydia. You should teleport to Jo and Sean’s meeting and conference location in Jokaydia, and check out all the fabulous presentations available.
Of course, we met and heard from the masters of the metaverse Sean FitzGerald and Jo Kay. Their Second Life in Education Wiki is a fabulous resource. What can I say – Wow!
We also had a fantastic analysis of SL work from Angela Thomas (aka Anya Ixchel in Second Life) from University of Sydney. Angela teaches English Education at the University of Sydney. Her research interests include digital cultures, new media literacies, multimodal semiotics and digital narratives. Angela has reviewed the event at Go Virtual!
 

We heard from the Learnscope e-Learning team – what an awesome job they have been doing. I certainly felt like the poor cousin from the school sector
Joining us for a panel discussion, we heard from Alan Levine (New Media Consortia). Damn it! I was so gobsmacked by this stage of the day, I didn’t even realise I was hearing from CogDog, fellow blogger, twitter and general blogosphere guru pal. We also heard from Nick Noakes, Centre for Enhanced Learning and Teaching in HongKong. … Sigue leyendo →

“Roughly, there are two kinds of people:
those who look through technology…and are stretching themselves out to touch the goal andthose who want it NOW…and go bah, without even living and breathing in virtual environments, understand and see thru.. .the little glitches.“It’s the first ones that will decide how far developments will go in virtual environments like Second Life.” (after Ramesh Ramloll aka Moriz Gupte, Play2Train)

Have a discussion about this at your campfire!
It is a challenge to make those two come closer together.
Should the library play a leading role in this development?

Well, somebody within your organisation should, and if nobody is doing it, libraries should graps this chance to jump in and play a stimulating role.

Information architecture, content management, distribution, searchability & maximum findability, that’s what we should be focussing on. If you have a state of the art information management systems, integrated, interconnected with all platforms and apps used within your organisation, why not choose to look a bit further and deliver it in multiple environments? If you have used the correct standards, this should not be too difficult.
If you don’t have these systems and this level of integration, I can imagine your efforts should focus on this as a priority.
But bluntly ignoring innovative developments like virtual environments and Web 3D is a no go for me.
Otherwise we will -in the future- be stuck again with the wrong platforms, the wrong (or no )standards & interfaces. Researchers, staff and students will choose (or create) their own (working or social )environments.

Here’s the fulltext that goes with my presentation about “Getting Your Consumer Health Information from an Avatar : Health and Medical Related Activities in a Virtual Environment”
Tags: secondlife, sl, web2. … Sigue leyendo →

The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) is pleased to announce Banned Books Week activities for librarians and the general public in virtual worlds Second Life, Teen Second Life and on social networking sites MySpace and Facebook. ALA is working with other library partners to provide an interactive experience centered on Banned Books Week, September 29-October 6, 2007, to help librarians and others to feel comfortable in social networking spaces and to reach out to new audiences. Partners include Alliance Library System, Alliance Second Life Library, TAP Information Services and the new ALA membership group Virtual Communities and Libraries.
“Since 1982, Banned Books Week has been an opportunity for Americans to learn more about how censorship still occurs, explore a wide range of ideas and authors and celebrate our freedom to read,” said OIF Director Judith Krug. “Online communities present an ideal opportunity to reach out to new audiences and expand our programming.”
“We are thrilled to work with ALA on this exciting project,” stated Kitty Pope, executive director of the Alliance Library System. “It is important to get the word out about censorship and the impact banning books has on democracy and access to information.”
Second Life/Teen Second Life:
To tie in with this year’s theme of “Aye, mateys…celebrate your freedom t’ read!,” ALA has created a “Pirate Paradise” in Second Life (SL), a 3D virtual world complete with pirate ship and a wharf with interactive displays on banned books. ALA Banned Books Week graphics will be used to create virtual posters, displays and T-shirts that can be worn by Second Life avatars. The Topeka and Shawnee County (Kan.) Public Library has loaned a virtual display on banned books they created for their National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Big Read initiative. All ALA Second Life activities will take place on ALA Arts InfoIsland. … Sigue leyendo →

Recently, I read the book, Mutant Message Down Under: Message From Forever by Marlo Morgan (Cliff Street Books 1998). which was the story of a woman who walked with the aboriginals in Australia and learned the wisdom of the tribes. Beatrice learns about names from her aborigninal friend. “You can be called by any name you want. Your name is how you want the world to address you. It reminds you of any specific issue you are giving attention to on this portion of your spiritual path. My name, for instance, Benalal, meaning brown duck, was chosen because I have been too serious most of my life. There must be a balance between lessons and play. I admire the duck’s ability just to float for the fun of it…”
It reminds me of when teens have avatars. Whether it’s through Habbo Hotel, Whyville, or SecondLife, rather than facing a crisis of who their ‘real’ vs. ‘not real’ self is, I think they are creating a self in their developmental stage that is about a specific issue they are giving attention to. When I read articles about teens who have avatars and that they must be identifying with something more fake then real, it makes me ask the question, what is real? who is defining what is real? Creating an avatar is a safe way to explore what issue they are giving attention to at this moment.

Posted by Kelly Czarnecki (Source: YALSA) Sigue leyendo →

Teaching in a Tea House”
Esther Grassian (UCLA) and Marsha Schnirring (Occidental College)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
2 pm – 3 pm SLT
Cybrary City
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/127/149/29/
You are probably working hard on information literacy instruction (ILI) at your institution or organization! Does your ILI build on what came before and offer additional foundation for what may come after? Are you aware of what came before and what comes after your own ILI efforts? Who is contributing to ILI, in which arenas, and how? How can we all best contribute to helping develop a populace with questioning, critical thinking, and researching knowledge and skills, clearly understood and integrated into school, work and personal/leisure activities and endeavors throughout a lifetime?
Many have made laudable efforts in developing ILI programs, and in working with K-12 and public libraries, leveraging efforts to prepare students for college and university-level work, thereby supporting lifelong learning for all. However, up to now few may have asked some key questions of libraries of all types regarding a broader, more sequential approach to lifelong information literacy.
LILi, a group of librarians from many types of California libraries (university, college, community college, school, public and special libraries), has come to together to investigate information literacy definitions, standards and instruction in California. The group has begun this investigation by developing and mounting a 30-question, to be promoted to over 13,000 California libraries of all types.
LILi participants are breaking new ground, learning each others’ vocabulary, engaging each other, and collaborating on an exciting new and risky venture, with few resources, but a grand dream–to share, learn from each other and build a broad and truly information literate populace at all levels, across California. … Sigue leyendo →

Book Talk: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini.
Friday September 14, 2007, 5pm-7pm SLT.
The Reader’s Garden. Cybrary City II (38, 244, 22).
SLURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/CybraryCityII/38/244/22/
Melissa Perreault and the Virtual Book Group will present a discussion
on A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini.
Afghan-American novelist Hosseini follows up his bestselling The Kite
Runner with another searing epic of Afghanistan in turmoil. The story
covers three decades of anti-Soviet jihad, civil war and Taliban
tyranny through the lives of two women. His tale is a powerful,
harrowing depiction of Afghanistan, but also a lyrical evocation of
the lives and enduring hopes of its resilient characters. (May)
Copyright (c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier
Inc. All rights reserved.
Contact Princess Ivory or Melissa Perreault for more information.
The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Portal has the following events during September.
* Book of the Month discussions~ Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien
Tues. 9/18 at 6:30 pm and Sat. 9/22 at 12 noon (SL time)
Info Island 1 (210–94–33) Hosted by ~ Dare2B Wise
Look for the stage and rows of seating under the Portal building.
* Art Exhibit by Nano Ashby~ inside the Portal on the upper landing
TX950 Party!
September 14th – Great Sports! – Come dressed to represent your
favorite team, dress as your favorite sports hero/heroine, or dress in
the fashion of your favorite sport. We’re still celebrating back to
school with a celebration of atheletics. You can even be a coach,
referee, or cheerleader! Contest for the best male and best female
costume. … Sigue leyendo →

Taken from Sl Events Site:
Next Wednesday, 12 September 2007, at 12:00 noon SLT/PDT (= 08:00 PM UK Time), Beacon Becloud, will be delivering a live seminar at the University of Plymouth Sexual Health SIM about their new ‘Broken Wing, Learning to Fly’ project in Second Life.
The project provides in-world services for all RL victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence, with two certified counsellors, support groups, and even free in-world housing for those victims (at the Narnia SIM). The project is unique of its kind in SL, as the previous SL project/display entitled ‘Silent Witness’ and targeting victims of domestic violence is no longer active – http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=8641115756819649936
Landmarks:
University of Plymouth Sexual Health SIM
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Education%20UK/33/63/22
Broken Wing – Narnia
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Narnia/160/220/23Tags: secondlife, sexual health
This item is automatically generated from the DIGICMB Blog of Guus van de den Brekel (Source: DigiCMB) Sigue leyendo →

Einer meiner Lieblingsmomente in der International Summer School “Digital Libraries à la Carte” im niederländischen Tilburg hatte mit den großen bibliothekarischen Fragen nichts zu tun: Beim abendlichen Bier in der Bar wurde der US-amerikanische Referent Eric Lease Morgan von einer Sammlung europäischer KollegInnen in die Geheimnisse des Grand Prix eingeführt. Das gemeinsame Absingen von Eurovisions-Knallern wie “Ein bisschen Frieden” und “Waterloo” hätte anderntags auch gut in den Podcast-Workshop von David Free gepasst – der aber auch ohne solche Showeinlagen heiter genug war, ebenso die darauffolgenden Veranstaltung zu Bibliotheksdiensten in sozialen Netzwerken. Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe, Leiterin der Undergraduate Library in Urbana-Champaign, hat sich und ihrem Team das Experimentieren mit 2.0-Diensten auf die Fahnen geschrieben. Bei ihr wird getwittert, gebloggt und genetworkt – zum Beispiel mit eigenen MySpace- und Facebook-Seiten. Das Experimentieren ist erwünscht, Scheitern erlaubt (das Blog wird zugunsten von Twitter eingestellt), und alle Aktivitäten werden getragen von der Ãœberzeugung, dass die Gewandtheit im Umgang mit diesen und künftigen Kommunikationsformen eine Schlüsselkompetenz für BibliothekarInnen ist.
Einen dritten Workshop gab es zum Thema Open Source-Software und XML. Mit Eric Lease Morgan (u.a. Gründer der empfehlenswerten Mailingliste NGC4Lib) haben wir innerhalb weniger Stunden einen OPAC auf Basis von Suchmaschinentechnologie entwickelt, kompetent über MARC seufzen gelernt und erste Schritte in Richtung Mash-Up getätigt. Das Handout von Eric lässt sich mit ein bisschen Hilfe der EDV-Abteilung als Tutorial für Katalog 2.0-Anfänger verwenden. … Sigue leyendo →

September Book of the Month at the Caledon Library
Book Discussion: The Red Badge of Courage, by Stephen Crane
Mon, September 17, 6 – 7pm
Whitehorn Library, Caledon VictoriaCity
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20VictoriaCity/52/203/38
Turning Weyland, Caledon Librarian and curator of the current exhibit on the Battle of Fredericksburg, will lead a discussion of Stephen Crane’s novel of the Civil War, The Red Badge of Courage. This novel was revolutionary in its day for its unsparing portrayal of war from the perspective of an enlisted man, and for its vivid, impressionistic language.
“Written in a post-photographic age, Red Badge discards contemporaneous conventions of battlefield prose for a discontinuous succession of “flashing images” that yield “photographic revelations.” Crane limits the novel’s point of view and fragments its narrative in order to focus the impact of each of his “battle pictures” and make us see the truth of his descriptions. … although much of [contemporary] General McClurg’s commentary about Red Badge’s lack of patriotism, for example, is overheated and irrelevant, he was not entirely wrong to suggest that Crane’s novel raised potentially disquieting questions about the state of turn-of-the-century American society.” (http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/CRANE/reviews/section1.html )
Copies of the work may be had at the library, and it is to be found on-line at http://xroads.virginia.edu/~hyper/CRANE/badge.html
Caledon Library Sponsors a Story-telling Session at the Falling Anvil Pub,
Tales of Harvest Time
September 11th, 2008, 6pm SLT
Falling Anvil Public House
Caledon Tamrannoch
http://slurl. … Sigue leyendo →