Monday, September 5, 2016

2016 EDU: PEOPLE: A community as a library resource? The secret source of the web

A community as a library resource?  
The secret source of the web
With abundant information available on the web, what can a library offer?  Selection, authority, access and knowledgeable communities.  This article describes the uses of knowledgeable communities. 

Library resources in the old century

In the olden days when you wanted to know something you went to the library and looked in the encyclopedia.  Or maybe you searched the card catalog, found some references, and read them in the stacks.  
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The books were the main resource the library had.  Especially collections of information such as encyclopedias, journals, and handbooks.  Those books had lots of information, but it just sat there and you had to find it.  Sure, you could ask the library staff.  They could indeed tell you how to find books.  And they might know a little about the subject you were researching.  But you couldn't expect them to know a lot about every subject people might research.  They would tell you to go to the local university and find the professor of that subject to talk to someone who had spent a lot of time keeping up with that subject.  
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  • (More after the break)
  • Where is Arcadia?
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Metaverse events, current and upcoming

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Library resources in the new century   

We seldom need libraries to provide collections of information any more.  Those are more readily available on the web.  And the web versions are more easily searched than books.  But you still might want to talk to someone who has spent a lot of time keeping up with that subject.  You can ask Google a question, but you get too much information and you don't know what is authoritative.  You can still find that professor in the local university, but the web has a better resource.

The secret source of the web

Now that professor at the local university is probably a member of several internet communities.  And there are other professors in the same communities.  All these are local if you understand the new meaning of local in the age of the internet.  It doesn't mean "within about an hour's drive."  Not any more.  It means "right there on my desktop computer, sitting on my desk, accessible in a minute or so."  So, while I used to have to make an appointment or find out when to call that local professor, I have immediate access to that web-based community
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Immediate access does not mean that I can immediately find someone to talk to.  It means that I can immediately go to that community and ask for help on my topic.  If this is a Google+ community and I set notifications on, I will get an email whenever someone posts in that community.   If this is a large community with knowledgeable people, I will probably get a well-informed answer by the next day.  
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This is not like the olden days, when I would have had a pleasant chat with that local professor.  Pleasant chat that took half a day, figuring in the drive time.   If I have framed a sensible description of what I want I will probably get a short answer and a list of links on the web.  A list that comes with selection and authority.  

G+ communities where I could find information (examples)

Communities and virtual worlds

Where can I find libraries that offer communities as resources?


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News and Notes

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    The Hypergrid WIP Show

    The Hypergrid WIP is a one hour "show & tell" of works in progress or recently completed. All builders from beginner to pro are invited.  Presentations are in voice and text.  For text presentations, best bring the text in a notecard and paste it into chat.  Voice presentations may be captured in video.  Stills and videos from the show may appear in this blog and elsewhere.

    Next WIP show 

    • Next WIP show: Sun. Sept 11, Noon SLT 
    • Narasnook  location (second Sunday of the month)
    • Pandora allows presenters to run high threat OSSL functions.
    • world.narasnook.com:8900
    • Put the line above in your World Map next to Find.  Click Find. TP
    • At Narasnook, use World Map to search for Pandora
    • Narasnook  location (second Sunday of the month)
    • Pandora allows presenters to run high threat OSSL functions.
    • world.narasnook.com:8900
    • Put the line above in your World Map next to Find.  Click Find. TP
    • At Narasnook, use World Map to search for Pandora
    • Cookie II location (fourth Sunday of the month)
    • HG address below: paste into the World Map next to Find. Click Find, TP
    • grid.kitely.com:8002:Cookie II 
    • in Kitely: paste into Nav (top) bar of Firestorm, Enter.
    • hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Cookie II/68/369/22

      Previous Articles from the WIP show 

      HG links-- depending on your interests 

      Radio in the virtual world

      Metaverse beginner help

      Schools in virtual worlds

      • I publish 5 or 6 days a week, skipping 1 or 2 days in midweek
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      • For more on topics like this, follow Selby Evans in Google+ 
      • What do we do in Virtual Worlds? 
      • Google search this blog: Search bar, upper left--or:
      • Put site:virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com at the end of the search terms 
      • Annotated screen shots made with Jing
      • All original content on this blog is Creative Commons License, attribution only. 
      • Second Life, Linden, SLurl, and SL are trademarks of Linden Research Inc. 
      • This blog is not affiliated with Second Life or anything else. 
      • Ads are from Google.



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