Højdepunktet for mig ved året Internet Librarian konference var helt klart præsentationen:
Learning Commons: Service as a Space
Andrea Peterson, Head of Library IT, Western Washington University Libraries
Beskrivelse:
In 2008/2009, Western Washington University Libraries created an online learning space using Drupal for students, faculty, and staff to gather, discuss ideas, and share and discuss their creative work. The result has been a unique and lively online space named Viking Village. It has been readily adopted by students, but not by faculty and staff. Peterson discusses the project, the results of a recent assessment, and the place of this space in their service offerings.
Hun skabte netværket Viking Village – http://forum.wwu.edu/. Viking Village blev skabt af biblioteket for hele universitetet.
Jeg må sige at resultatet er imponerende. Viking Village er flot og lækkert designet med alle de relevante funktionaliteter. Det er set før. Men forskellen er, at VV rent faktisk bliver brugt og er populært blandt de studerende. Brugerne er meget positive og trafikken er stigende.
Viking Village indeholder: forsiden, forum, media/tekst del, spørgehjørne, grupper, profiler og blogindlæg.
De vigtigste erfaringer var:
- Sørg for at have moderatorer på plads inden start og have en politik. VV blev overvejende styret af studerende som moderatorer.
- Få flere inddraget fra start. Hun er den eneste, der kender til alt det bagved liggende Drupal m.m. Mange flere skal inddrages.
- Tænk på markedsføring før og undervejs i processen.
Besøg Viking Village. Det er første gang på denne blog, at jeg i beskrivelsen af en service bruger ordet verdensklasse.
Beskrivelse fra hendes præsentation:
Libraries are more than organized collections of materials. We frequently promote ourselves as gathering places and community spaces that facilitate the creation of knowledge. Viking Village takes this concept online, creating a place where students, faculty, and staff can share and discuss information, ideas, events, share their creative work, and more. Viking Village receives more traffic than the Library’s website and is frequented by thousands of students, staff, and faculty who engage in dialogue about politics, share information with incoming freshman about life at Western, share their creative work, and more. Western’s budget office uses the site heavily to foster transparency and dialogue about difficult budget decisions. In addition, the site supports direct questions to the Library and other support services on campus.
Viking Village is a different approach to Social Media than creating a facebook page or distributing library news through Twitter. The content is user-generated, and while we create the space for learning, the learning frequently happens without the participation of librarians or faculty. On the other hand, unlike most of what happens on facebook or twitter, we have the opportunity to observe it happening and participate if and when it is appropriate. Like the concept of the learning commons, Viking Village is a space which facilitates and enables learning.
