CIL 2008

Must conform to:

• MP3 encoded audio
• H.264/MPEG-4 video
• 320 x 240 screen resolution

…in order to work with preferred viewers Production software:

• Adobe Captivate
• Camp Studio (free, PC) saves as AVI
• Wink (free, PC)

del.icio.us/debbie.herman/cil2008

library.ccsu.edu/wp

Amy De Groff

finetune.com

openoffice.org

ubuntu

hclibrary.org/oss2oss.php

Ching-hsien Wang

faceted metadata searching catalog using open source software

Smithsonian Institution

www.siris.si.edu

I first heard about LibX at Access 2006. They have it at the University of Waterloo, ON (my last employer). University of Windsor, ON has a version that also enables searching of ScholarsPortal, the OCUL fulltext repository.

LibX in a Nutshell (Kyrille Goldbeck)

Quick overview of LibX’s features

LibX: It’s quite amazing! Everyone should have one! Support is great! Now available for IE!

The LibX Edition Builder (Godmar Back)

http://libx.org/editionbuilder

Even better news: Now anyone can build, share, copy, modify, or distribute their edition

I’ve created a UWO version (build 1.2.3 is now live)… which is still in beta (pending more exhaustive testing). Recent fixes include autolinking ISSNs and ISBNs, linking to SFX, and handling of OPAC searches which include ampersands.

320 libraries have editions!

Rolled-out latest edition last July (2007)

Lots of commuting students

Want students to work in groups

Teaches them how to evaluate Wikipedia, discussion tab, links (references) at bottom – they must use Wikipedia… because they’re going to use it anyways. But, do they cite Wikipedia? Also teach them citation style.

Important to trick students, have them learn without realizing it

Treasure hunt in 2^nd Life — may be an effective, novel application of 2^nd Life for instruction!

Game clicp from Bully / save Algie (nerd in library) – libraries are already embedded in (some) videogames

Looks to video games for how we can better provide reference service

Why are games so engaging, and why do people play them, and how do they change people’s perceptions of the world?

Negative press for videogames (Fox News)

Giles Whittel ,“Video games: I’ll never buy one”

Mitchell and Wade, The Kids Are Alright: How the Gamer Generation is Changing the Workplace

Steven Johnson, Everything Bad Is Good For You

Who plays games? 62% males, approx 25% age 50+, avg age 33

• Gods of War, Elder Scrolls IV
• Lego Star Wars – puzzles, problem-solving skills
• Resident Evil (#?) – decision-making
• Bully – uses map
• God of War – multiple difficulties – learn while you play – 1^st 15 minutes of game teaches you 8 of 16 buttons/controls

“Good games teach you through the process”

Games:

• Encourage exploration
• Are immersive environments
• Encourage learning while doing

Library:

• We need new nomenclature, to facilitate patron exploration of library
• We need consistent interfaces – may be pipe dream because of the variety of databases (with different interfaces) to which we subscribe.

We expect our users:

• To be accustomed to exploration
• Exploration (in games), trial & error, yields feedback. In libraries it yields…?

We can assume library patrons have already ‘tried and died’

Library as immersive space, learning/information commons:

• Students move furniture around
• Café, inviting space
• Wireless, laptop checkout, not shackled to public workstations

Customizable interfaces? “Allows users to control their virtual library environment”

Practice makes perfect. Games encourage mastery, unlockable content, multiple difficulties. We can leverage this in libraries. In library instruction:

• Hands-on
• Immediate application of content
• Relevance, timeliness
• Not ‘generic’
• Experiment with various methods, subjects

WP (WordPress) polls, used at beginning of BI class – answers drive direction of class

Shows Flickr to explain tagging

Until we have smarter systems (e.g., OPAC) we need point-of-need help, like screencasts. Games do this well.

Encourages embedding chat box widgets. Email isn’t good enough – not instant help.

FAQs to encourage ‘self-help’ and exploration

Libraries don’t have time or money to build video games (in absence of grants). Is the game scalable? What are they trying to teach? Would they want to play? What would the game look like? Who would want to play a library-related video game?

2^nd Life option:

• Low initial investment
• Very few students used it or knew about it.

Librarians are good games because we like to search. We like trial and error. Used level-up analogy (i.e. once you’ve obtained a new skill level, you try more difficult tasks).

Suggested readings look good – see slides

Can make things fun by offering prizes

World of Warcraft player

Games as happiness engines

Think about these happiness determinants within the library context:

• Satisfying work
• Being good at something
• People we like
• Part of something bigger

Games = fun = happiness(?)

Virtuality > reality; global mass exodus to virtual worlds; virtual world playmates

Connecting online world to virtual world

Watched Mary Poppins video, “A Spoonful of Sugar”

“Their task is not a grind”

‘grind’ = reference to repetitive task within MMORPGs

grind = meditative(?) — get rewards (gold, etc.)

But grind is not fun in every MMORPG (e.g., Lineage II, where illegal ‘bots’ get the rewards without putting in the effort)

Game mechanics:

1. Collecting
2. Points
3. Feedback
4. Exchanges
5. Customization

Games that blur boundaries:

• Chore Wars — MMO(?) for family where they do chores in the real world to get points online, and points are converted to prizes in the real world. Fun and competitive.
• Seriosity’s Attent — reduces number of unnecessary emails, because they spend coins (serios) for each recipient of each email they send
• Social Genius (developed by Elizabeth) (URL?) — applying casual game concepts to get people to recognize their co-workers
• PMOG — Passively Multiplayer Online Gaming — get points for surfing on websites(?)

Games as Gateway Drugs

• Guitar Hero encourages people to learn to play guitar for real(?)

Online Rebound:

• from real to virtual and back again (URL?) — real book used as token to acquire online book
• LAN Parties — people want real-world connections
• moo.com cards — we want something tangible — going virtual all the way is death
• etsy.com — online market place for hand-crafted goods — e.g., woman who sews scrabble books into clothing
• There is an emotional connection between people, things and spaces — e.g., cafe library — Make your space emotional!

Monecia Samuel: M.S.L.S., College Librarian; The College of Westchester, White Plains, New York

Staff training tips:

• Create a chat policy
• Train the library’s student employees
• Chat hours should be student friendly
• Permit people who staff the service from home to use these hours as flex time

Busiest from 3-5pm and 7-11pm. Don’t chat before, during or after lunch, or during dinner.

Alex R. Hodges, Jonathan Silberman, Patricia J. West

History (Alex): piloted IM in Spring 2006

Marketing (Jonathan): branding, ubiquitous, used ’sexy’ posters, $1500 since 2006.

The Future (Patricia): only AIM in the beginning, then MeeboMe widget, Meebo VoIP and SMS/Texting (sound quality?), push for SMS, E-Marketing, nice marketing logos!

Conclusion (Patricia): love service, lots of positive anecdotal evidence, empirical evidence, and able to achieve high impact at a low cost.

Service is busiest from 1-3(?). Evening hours providers can work from at home.

Scripting available to have MeeboMe widget disappear when librarian is offline!

MeeboMe same-day transcript retention(?)

Use AIM hack to monitor SMS through Meebo!

hodges jsilber and pjwest all at american dot edu

My co-presenter, on a very different topic

Current awareness

Promoting new library resources

RSS

Used Yahoo! Pipes to match-up multiple publisher/journal RSS feeds, i.e. 1 RSS feed for 20 journals

Used feedburner to create email option (using RSS feed, instead of RSS)

Grazr – makes RSS feed browseable page

Useful: he created library literature feed to keep track of journal articles. Links are proxied, so users from other libraries would not be able to access the fulltext from his feed.

Drawbacks: a lot of work, takes time to find feeds, colled RSS, mash them up

RefAware – not impressed to date

[tic]Tocs (Journal Tables of Contents Service) only in beta for past few weeks

Derik’s RSS is a ‘work in progress’

http://infomational.wordpress.com/

Reference & Instruction Librarian at Ohio U

Skype (including webcams) reference service pilot

“Scalable [VOIP reference service] is possible” but “Proof of concept does not equal success/viability/necessity of service”

“Informed experimentation is key: scan, develop, revise, and assess.”

Meebo extensions (quality of VOIP, video?)

TokBox (is live? Note to self: give TokBox a 2^nd look)

DimDim (for webconferencing) – has screensharing

When Skype stats were low, added a kiosk to put the service front & centre.

3^rd iteration of kiosk screen offered 4 options: floor plan, ask a question (Skype), staff directory, library hours.

Paraphrasing Jenny Levine, ‘You can’t expect 10 questions per hour. You have to have different expectations for the service, given that not every student uses Skype.’

Good for virtual reference service during renovations, when no temporary, physical reference desk has been set up: San Francisco State is doing this.

“Do not use wireless!” – causes disconnections if there are interruptions.

Identify student needs before you try to fill them: most students said they’d use a Firefox toolbar for a library search, but very few said they’d use web calling (Skype). Students hate Myspace.

Return on investment: It’s cheap to set up. Is the service serving our users? The service has utility, establishes presence

forthcoming article in Internet Reference Service Quarterly, vol. 13 (2)

char booth at gmail dot com

A long list of examples of how libraries have implemented Drupal (see Ellyssa’s slideshow)

Links to getting started tips