Second Life for Engagement, Outreach, and Building Interdisciplinary Communities of Learning

Slide 1: Second Life for Engagement, Outreach, and Building Interdisciplinary Communities of Learning Patricia F. Anderson1, Emerging Technologies Librarian, <pfa@umich.edu>; Sharon Grayden, Instructional Learning Senior, Dental Informatics; Marc R. Stephens, Multimedia Services, Medical School Administration; Gillian Mayman1, Informatics Librarian; Anne Perorazio1, Infopoint; Mark P. MacEachern1, Liaison Librarian; Jane Blumenthal1, Director 1 Health Sciences Libraries, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Slide 2: Background: What is Second Life?  Buzzwords  Virtual World  MUVE (Multi-User Virtual Environment)  NOTE: Not a game, although may include game activities  Major relevant activities  Education (“killer app”)  Social networks --> support groups  Professional meetings, presentations, seminar series, discussion groups, etcetera

Slide 3: Background: Why librarians in Second Life?  Jason Griffey (via Twitter): “It’s not the tool, it’s the training. Re. SL. We need to get used to that sort of interaction, because it’s coming.”

Slide 4: Background: Why are we in Second Life?  Vision  Ted Hanss, UM Medical School  Jane Blumenthal, UM Health Sciences Libraries  Timeline  March 2007 - purchase  Spring & Summer - planning  August 2007 - building  September 2007 - Wolverine Island opens to select group of faculty and students

Slide 5: Phase One: Engagement  Context: Wolverine Island “a gleam in the eye”  Library develops team with Second Life (SL) responsibilities  1. Build SL skills  2. Discover relevant SL locations & resources  Libraries  Health & healthcare  Science  Education  3. Make connections in SL with possible mentors/partners  4. Facilitate discovery and connection for our faculty and University community.

Slide 6: SL: Libraries

Slide 7: SL: Health & healthcare

Slide 8: SL: Science

Slide 9: Phase Two: Outreach  Context: Wolverine Island in active development, portions open to restricted group, not open to campus community  Library team members collaborate with health science schools  To promote Second Life opportunities  To inform interested faculty about SL  To disseminate Second Life skill base  To develop a campus cohort with skills & interest  Initial outreach and collaboration focused on Medical School and School of Dentistry

Slide 10: Phase Two: Presentations  What’s a Nice Library Like Yours Doing in a Place like This?: http://www.slides hare.net/umhealt hscienceslibraries /whats-a-nice- library-20070731

Slide 11: Phase Two: Podcasts  Why Work & Teach With Second Life: http://www.slides hare.net/umhealt hscienceslibraries/ why-work-teach- with-second-life

Slide 12: Phase Two: Orientations  Getting Started in Second Life: http://www.slides hare.net/umhealt hscienceslibraries /getting-started- in-second-life

Slide 13: Phase Two: Really the Real World  Face-to-face  Consultations  Private  On-demand  In offices  In Second Life  Classes  Single sessions for faculty & staff  Student cohort class taught as four session elective in Medical School

Slide 14: Phase Two: Video / Machinima  Science Learning Opportunities in Second Life: http://www.y outube.com/ watch?v=Efs SGBraUhc

Slide 15: Phase Three: Interdisciplinary Learning Communities  Context: Wolverine Island open to campus community, alumni, and invited guests  Wolverine Island highly secured, so access must be requested even for authorized visitors  Focus on community building & engagement  Phase Two activities continue  Phase Three activities add to activity mix.

Slide 16: Phase 3: Dec 07 - Open  Wolverine Island open for community events

Slide 17: Phase Three: Dec 07 - Brownbags Begin  Every Friday at noon local time, 9am SLT

Slide 18: Phase Three: Events - Speakers  JJ Drinkwater - SL Community Building  Joop Zuhal - SL Teaching, Pros & Cons  Jenny Levine @ ALA  Caia Alter - Pharmacy Research Labs

Slide 19: Phase Three: Events - Tours  Dante Project  InfoIsland International  Nursing Education Simulator (NESIM)  Play2Train

Slide 20: Phase Three: Classes & Professional Presentations  Basic Clothing Design Class: http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries/basic-clothing- design-in-second-life  Enriching Scholarship 2008  S’Lang Health event: http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries/sl-healthy-slang  Virtual Worlds, Libraries, Education, Museums: http://www.slideshare.net/umhealthscienceslibraries/whatcha-gonna-do-an-academic-health- sciences-library-in-second-life-embraces-new-roles-298438/

Slide 21: Phase Three: Opening the Library  Ground Level: Freebies, Food Court  Main Level: Service Desk, Guides, Casual Seating, Fireplace, Games  Mezzanine: Exhibits  Top Level:Small Group Study Space with Public Slide Viewers / Social Space, Dance Floor

Slide 22: Phase Three: Outworld  Community building with other social technology & media tools  Flickr  Blogs  Wiki  Google Calendar

Slide 23: Assessment: Metrics  Dec 07 - Apr 08  18 events  >190 participants  Largest group = ~20  Smallest group = 7  Usual group = ~11  Usual group is mostly regulars - repeat visits

Slide 24: Campus Communities in Collaboration  Health programs  Medical School (SL/RL)  School of Dentistry (SL/RL)  Kinesiology (SL/RL)  Public Health (SL/RL)  Pharmacy School (SL/RL)  School of Nursing (RL)  Non-health programs  Computer Sciences  Dearborn Campus  Distance Learning  Literature, Sciences & Arts (Foreign Languages, Writing)  Libraries  School of Information  Unspecified

Slide 25: Real Life Patrons (est.)

Slide 26: Second Life Patrons (est.)

Slide 27: Assessment: Survey  Sent through all channels for event announcements  Email group  Second Life groups  Blog & wiki  Reminders  27 responses  Survey composition: 48% faculty / librarian; 41% staff; 11% alumni  78% attended SL events; 22% had not  Results interesting, but not reliable

Slide 28: Survey - Communication  Best communication methods  #1 - Email group (does not include alumni)  #2 - Word of mouth  #3-4 - Second Life groups  #5 - Blog

Slide 29: Survey - Popular Events  #1 - Discussion (Second Life research methods & issues)  #1 - ALA’s Jenny Levine on Gaming in Libraries  #2 - Tour (Genome)  #2 - Tour (JS Vavoom, Nursing ACLS)  #3 - Joop Zuhal (Pros/Cons SL Teaching)  #3 - Tour (InfoIsland)  #3 - Tour (Play2Train)  Note: All events were listed as favorites by some; average score was 6, with range from 3 to 10

Slide 30: Survey - Suggestions  Orientation / rank beginner classes  Schedule more help for newbies in real world venues  Use SL to deliver more RL content  Resource sharing - what have you learned, how did you learn it  More focus on research & funding options  More focus on health care consumer communities  More hands-on activities (scripting / building)  Collaborate with Alumni Association  Organize a campus wide day-long conference about SL  Use SL to build more patient communities in support of clinical care

Slide 31: Concerns  “Presentations are good, just don’t often hit the sweet spot of my particular interests”  “I usually miss these. How are they announced?”  “This forum is not of interest to me or my primary clientele”  “I wish I could participate, but I just do not like Second Life at all”  “I’d love to participate, but can’t at the current time”

Slide 32: Kudos  “I look forward to attending every week.”  “This is an amazing group and effort!”  “Many thanks for organizing the SLUM events. I find all the topics quite interesting”  “An incredible job”  “A big THANK YOU for … time and effort”