When Off-campus Means Virtual Campus: the Academic Library in Second Life
Lynette RalphBeth Stahr
Southeastern Louisiana UniversityOff-Campus Library Services Conference ~ April 28, 2010
Second Life
Susan Acampora’s Libraries and Second Life presentation
Susan Acampora’s presentation on YouTube
YouTube Search: gallateasu
Background of Sims Library in RL
Southeastern Louisiana University~ 15,000 students53 baccalaureate, 19
graduate, and 1 doctoral program
3 branch campuses
BOR Regents IslandsStarted with a grant to examine the value of 3-D web platforms such as Second Life to higher education in Louisiana. Project participants included:
University of New Orleans Southeastern Louisiana UniversityTulane UniversitySouthern University of New OrleansDelgado Community CollegeUniversity of Louisiana at MonroeLoyola University (New Orleans)Louisiana Regents
Bird’s Eye View of BOR Islands and Property in SL
Southeastern’s SL CampusSix Buildings:
Welcome CenterStudent Life CenterArt CenterCollege of Nursing & Health SciencesClassroom 2 –English DepartmentCenter for Faculty Excellence/Library
Sims Library Design in SL
• Goal – Make inviting • Developed with assistance from visual arts • Input from Emerging Technology Committee• Other librarians participated• Support from Library Administration
Advisory Committee Meeting in World
Official Ribbon Cutting CeremonySeptember 26, 2008
Grand Opening of the Library
Ribbon Cutting and Walking Tour
Staffing the Library• 10 out of 18 librarians
have avatars
• Special occasions only– Grand Opening
Ceremony– Health Information Fair– National Library Week– Bibliographic Instruction
by request
Library Instruction in SL
• Health Fair for Nursing students• Webcasts for English students• BIs for doctoral students• BIs for Educational Technology students
SL Viewer 2.0 Enhancements for Instruction
Librarianship in SL
Beth Tungsten and Rolig Loon (Reference Librarian) at Community Virtual Library (Info Island)
SL Library Communities
Ning: Second Life LibrariansBlogs: Community Virtual Library
Virtual Presence Blog (ALA)Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries (Lori Bell & Rhonda Trueman)
Facebook Groups: Second Life for EducatorsSecond Life Groups: Librarians of Second Life
Mighty Lynagh Attending a Conference in World
• Free• In SL• Multi-lingual
http://www.vwbpe.org/
Issues, Challenges & Concerns in SL
• Hardware• Learning Curve• Development• The unexpected– Disappearing clothes– Appearance Changes– Inability to speak
Where are my clothes ???
One shoe ???
The Future
Possibilities for higher ed
• SLOODLE
• Open Cobalt
• Open Simulator (Open Sim)– Education Grid (iED)– Immersive Education Initiative