Comments on: Second Life is not just gambling and porn

By: How and Why to use Second Life for Education? « ScienceRoll

How and Why to use Second Life for Education? « ScienceRoll — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 14:11:12 +0000

[...] Interactivity: It’s better than a videoconference because you can use videos, presentations, images and weblinks at the same time in one place. It means you can easily create links between in-world activity and real-world information resources. [...]

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Thu, 26 Oct 2006 00:30:28 +0000

OK, I can go with that. It’s a paradigm shift for librarians. But at that point, will they be librarians or will they become full fledged educators. Interesting thought…

By: JS

JS — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 23:00:34 +0000

Open content will only mean the end of libraries if they fight it, IMO.

With more and more content being created every day (and older content getting digitized and uploaded) I see more of a need for skilled information navigation, and librarians can do that job. Google returns one million results or more for the typically 1.5 word search string — people need education and help so they can evaluate which of those links really matter, and when what they need isn’t there, how they can search more effectively on the open web or through freely available from their local public library sources to find what they need and want.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 22:32:36 +0000

Well, I guess I’m spoiled. I have a Merck Manual and a PDR, which cover more than what I need nowadays for medicine. I do see your point, but your point revolves around paid services whereas I support Open Content.

Does Open Content mean the end of Libraries, then? Or is there more to this?

By: JS

JS — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 21:48:14 +0000

Google can turn up wonders with a few keystrokes, true — but for highly specialized information (say, in medicine) it isn’t a robust enough tool, just to mention one serious limitation. Unfortunately, it is still faster and easier to use that most online library catalogs and specialty databases (that’s not a knock on Google, but on the pay for access tools). The difference between Google, Technorati, Wikipedia, Icerocket, etc is the difference between “good enough” and “exhaustively complete” and most of the time good enough is, well, good enough.

As for libraries being physical entities — they are, but librarians aren’t just gatekeepers of physical collections. Librarians are navigators of information spaces — physical and virtual. That’s why I was happy to see librarians getting involved in Second Life — it is an evolving virtual space, and librarians already know something about that.

By: Taran Rampersad

Taran Rampersad — Wed, 25 Oct 2006 08:27:41 +0000

Hmm. I was there for parts of this until I got bored and ran off. I think what was severely lacking was an idea of what library services for avatars are, especially since library services on the internet are still not as attractive as many other ways of finding information. Between Google, Wikipedia and Technorati I have the bases pretty much covered; if we’re discussing research librarian services then perhaps there is a market for people who use Google, Wikipedia and Technorati. Then again, I have my own library of books to reference which is constantly growing, so I’m a librarian in my own right.

What is a librarian anyway? I am not holding librarians in disregard; what I am trying to do is find the context of a librarian in a world where a few keystrokes dig up just about everything I need. So that was lacking for me, as a non-professional librarian.

To me, a library is a physical entity where information was housed when information was more physical in nature. It is not so anymore. So what a librarian is defined as has to change, and while it’s good that librarians are discussing it amongst themselves, I think a bit more extroversion would benefit all of the society which librarians are trying to affect.