SLA in Virtual Worlds

Do you know about UKLibChat? A virtual discussion chat forum.

#UKLibChat is a monthly discussion group that takes place on Twitter, usually from 6.30 to 8.30pm (UK time) on a Tuesday. It provides a way for information professionals across distances to have a constructive dialog about issues and concerns facing our profession.  Volunteers compile the answers and post the dialog later. 

The next UKLibChat will be Tuesday, January 8, 2013 from 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm GMT.  (That’s 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm Eastern Time or 10:30 am – 12:30 pm Pacific Time, etc. Or, find your time zone here.)

For more information visit their website! http://uklibchat.wordpress.com/

 

New SLA Virtual Worlds Advisory Council members, new initiatives

 

In January 2013, the SLA Board of Directors approved the new council:

• David Stern -- Chair: Term 2012-2013
• Beth Kraemer -- Term: 2012-2013
• Aileen Maren Marshall -- Term: 2011-2012
• Kevin Adams -- Term: 2013
• Sean Henry -- Term: 2013
• Suzanne Scott -- Term: 2013
• Sara Davis -- Term: 2013 -2014
• Anthony Marrocolla -- Term: 2013-2014

• Jill Hurst-Wahl -- Board Liaison
• Jeff Leach -- Staff Council Member

Friends:

• Pat Alderman (SL: Biblio Latte) -- Co-Chair: Term 2011-2012
• Christy Confetti Higgins (SL: Violet Portola) -- Co-Chair: Term 2011-2012
• Honary member: Cindy Hill (SL: Sydney Delphin) -- Chair, Term: 2009-2010 

 

Our initial efforts will be:

1. Web site page to describe the major collaboration tools
      Beth, Suzanne and Aileen are working on both a summary of the recent survey and a web site with explanations and advice about the best tools to use for particular purposes. We had an interesting virtual meeting using Google+ Hangout.

2. Bridge Conference progress (greatest hits replays from the Annual Conference for distance education)
      Our group will be one of the participants in this exploration of virtual conferences.

RMSLA Virtual Lunch, Sept 20, 2012: U.S. Private Company Research

Join RMSLA and SLA members and guests for our upcomingVirtual Lunch, “U.S. Private Company Research: Research and Analysis,”with presenter Amelia Kassel.

Date: Thursday, September 20, 2012

Time: 12:00 noon, Mountain Daylight Time

About the Program: Researching company information is vitally important toclients served by information professionals. Unlike public companies, U.S.private companies are not required to disclose financial information norare they regulated in the same way. Nevertheless, there are numerous sourcesfor piecing together information about a private company. This webinarcovers a selection of proprietary and Web-based sources and includes tipsfor digging more deeply to generate those often needed results that arecritical for competitive intelligence, market research, and due diligence.

About Amelia Kassel: Amelia Kassel is President of MarketingBase, specializingin industry, company, and competitive and market intelligence researchsince 1982. Amelia holds a Master’s Degree in Library Science (1971, UCLA)and combines expertise in Internet research and fee-based databases withknowledge of business and marketing strategies. As a recognized authorand international speaker, she conducts seminars for associations and conferences. Her successful email-based Mentor Program is tailored for independent andcorporate information professionals. Amelia has written many articlesfor Searcher and other information industry publications.

 Register! Reserve your seat by registering for the session at thislink: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/949573568

Learning 2.0 Virtual Conference

The Learning 2.0 virtual conference is just around the corner (August 20 - 24 http://www.learning20.com). We have an incredible lineup of keynote speakers and some GREAT practitioner sessions--AND there is still time for you to sign up to present (we hope you will do so)!

Learning 2.0 is a free conference and is held online, in multiple time zones, over the course of five days. It is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on rethinking teaching and learning in the age of the Internet. It is organized in conjunction with Connected Educator Month, and the conference is based on a highly inclusive model for participation and designed to encourage peer professional development--which means we want you to come and learn from each other! The conference includes an all-day virtual unconference (SocialEdCon online!) as well as a special educational start-up "pitchfire" event. Subject strands include changes in the classroom, in student learning, in teacher personal and professional growth, in schools, and in pedagogy.

 We have an incredible set of keynote speakers for you: Julie Evans, Gina Bianchini, Heidi Hayes Jacobs, Lee Rainie, Sugata Mitra, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, Michelle Pacansky-Brock, Marc Prensky, Audrey Watters, Yong Zhao. As well, there are pre- and post-conference interviews with David Deubelbeiss, Lee Rainie, Alfie Kohn, Gary Stager, Stephen Downes, Howard Gardner, Rudy Crew, Roger Schank, Paulo Blikstein, Rob Fried, Gordon Dryden, Tony Wagner, and Michael Strong.

Monday(August 20):

• All Day: SocialEdCon (Virtual Style)

Tuesday (August 21):

• Conference Sessions

• 11am Eastern: Keynote with David Warlick

• 2pm Eastern: Keynote with Marc Prensky

•4pm Eastern: Keynote with Michelle Pacansky-Brock •

 8pm Eastern: Interview with Rob Fried on Passion in Education

Wednesday (August 22):

• Conference Sessions • 9am Eastern: Keynote with Heidi Hayes Jacobs

• 11am Eastern: Keynote with Lee Rainie • 1pm Eastern: Keynote with Esther Wojcicki

• 7pm Eastern: Virtual "EdIncubator" Pitchfire Event with Startup Weekend Edu & Khalid Smith (2 hours)

 Thursday (August 23):

• Conference Sessions • 11am Eastern: Keynote with Gina Bianchini

 • 1pm Eastern: Keynote with Yong Zhou

• 5pm Eastern: Keynote Panel on Technology and Librarians with Gwyneth Jones, David Loertscher, Michelle Luhtala, Shannon Miller, and Joyce Valenza.

• 8pm Eastern: Interview with Gordon Dryden on The New Learning Revolution

Friday (August 24):

• Conference Sesions • 11am Eastern: Keynote with Audrey Watters

• 1pm Eastern: Keynote with Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

• 4pm Eastern: Keynote with Sugata Mitra

ATTENDING: The conference is free to attend. The conference schedule and links for each virtual session will be posted at http://www.learning20.com during the week before the conference begins, with listings by time zones for anywhere in the world. The conference sessions are being held in Blackboard Collaborate (formerly Elluminate), and can be accessed live from any personal computer. (All sessions will also be recorded and posted quickly after the conference.) To check that your computer is ready to use Blackboard Collaborate, please click HERE. "Step 1" will indicate if you have a version of Java that is compatible, and then "Step 2" lets you actually go into a test session. We encourage you to do this in advance of the conference. If you have any difficulties, you can ask for help in the WeCollaborate.com user community.

PRESENTING: The Learning 2.0 Conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on rethinking teaching and learning in the age of the Internet. Subject strands include changes in the classroom (social media, 1:1 computing, "flipped classrooms," digital literacy, maker spaces, gaming, open educational resources, digital textbooks), in student learning (individualized learning, student-directed learning, "hacking" education, personal success plans, ePortfolios, and building a digital presence), in teacher personal and professional growth (lead learning, personal learning networks, peer / open / self-directed PD), in schools (virtual and online schooling, mobile learning, blended learning, MOOCs, immersive environments, learning spaces, entrepreneurship, school leadership, big data, assessment models), and in pedagogy (from teaching to learning, social learning, social / educational networking, passion-based learning, learning how to learn, brain-based learning). A full strand list is available 
HERE. The call for presentation proposals and instructions are now live and can be found 
HERE. Proposed presentations can be found HERE. Accepted presentations will be found HERE.

 VOLUNTEERING: The volunteers are the heroes of this kind of virtual, inclusive conference. They help to make sure that beginning presenters feel comfortable knowing someone is there in the virtual room to help, and they also provide encouragement to presenters and attendees. To receive more information about volunteering, please join the volunteer group HERE. Special volunteer training is provided!

 

Library 2.012 Call for Advisory Board, Partners, and Sponsors!

We are pleased to announce the Library 2.012 worldwide virtual conference, October 3 - 5, 2012. This free conference is being held online, in multiple time zones, over the course of two days (three actual calendar days when including all time zones). The Library 2.012 conference is a unique chance to participate in a global conversation on the current and future state of libraries.

To be kept informed of the latest conference news and updates, please join the Library 2.0 network and conference website at http:/www.library2012.com. Conference strands include physical and virtual learning spaces, evolving professional roles in today's world, organizing and creating information, changing delivery methods, user-centered access, and mobile and geo-social information environments.

This email is a call for the international advisory board, for non-commercial partner organizations, and for sponsors! Links for responding are below.

International Advisory Board:

Anyone can apply to be a member of the international advisory board. Advisory board members are recognized on the website and are asked to:

• Promote both participation and attendance at the conference

• Help us find additional partner organizations in their region(s)

• Help support and potentially train presenters in their geographical region and local languages

 • If possible, help moderate sessions during the actual conference

As a conference that is focused on being "inclusive," our desire is to have international attendees see this as a truly world-wide and not a North-America-centric event, and to see themselves as full participants and presenters, not just the audience.

To sign up for the advisory board, please make sure you have joined the Library 2.0 online network, and then join the advisory board group specifically at http://www.library20.com/group/advisory-board-library-2-012.

Conference Partner Organizations:

Whether you are a small school library or a multi-national organization, we want to encourage you to become a conference partner. You must be non-commercial and primarily or substantively focused on libraries, librarians, librarianship, or library programs to be approved. Once approved, your organization will be listed with a link, logo, and a short description; and you will be provided with a "spotlight" speaker session in the conference.

Our goal for the conference is to have it continue to be a milestone event, bringing together organizations and individuals from all over the world. We recognize that much (if not most!) of the outreach for this conference will come from libraries, schools, or organizations who advertise the conference to their memberships, and we want to recognize and "reward" those who do this!

There are no financial obligations for being a partner organization--all we ask is that you actively promote the conference to your membership and network, and encourage participation as well as presentations and submissions.

To apply to be a conference partner organization, please make sure you have joined the Library 2.0 online network, and then join the partner group specifically at http://www.library20.com/group/conference-partners-2012.

Conference Sponsors:

There are opportunities for commercial sponsorship of Library 2.012, and both recognition and authentic appreciation for financial support will be given to those who choose to sponsor. Sponsorship levels and benefits can be discussed with Steve Hargadon directly at steve@hargadon.com or 916-283-7901.

More Information:

A call for presentations will be issued mid-May, and we will also be looking for conference volunteers closer to the conference dates. The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San José State University (http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/) is the founding conference sponsor. SLIS is the largest accredited library and information science program in the world. The nationally-ranked school offers two fully online master’s degrees, a fully online certificate program, and a doctoral program: Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS), Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA), Post-Master’s Certificate in Library and Information Science, and the San José Gateway PhD Program. Learn more at: http://slisweb.sjsu.edu.

Dr. Sandy Hirsh, the director of SLIS, is co-chair of the conference. Dr. Hirsh has been a faculty member at several academic institutions, as a librarian in academic and special libraries, and more than a decade in leadership positions with Silicon Valley's leading global companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and LinkedIn. She is a recognized advocate for library services, has an extensive record of research in the field, and has been actively involved in leadership roles with professional associations.

Steve Hargadon, the founder of Classroom 2.0 (http://www.classroom20.com) and the Global Education Conference (http://www.globaleducationconference.com), is the founding co-chair of the Library 2.012 conference. Steve hosts the popular FutureofEducation.com interview series, and has consulted on social media and education for PBS, Intel, Ning, Microsoft, KnowledgeWorks Foundation, CoSN, MERLOT, the U.S. State Department, the and the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology. We are looking forward to the second year of this this momentous event, and to your participation! 

The 2012 Social Learning Summit is coming up fast, and we have some important and fun information for you.

The 2012 Social Learning Summit is a one-day virtual conference being held as a partnership of Classroom 2.0 and the Discovery Educator Network, on Saturday, April 21st, 2012, from 9:00am - 3:00pm US Eastern Time. The conference theme is the use of social media and Web 2.0 in teaching and learning. This is a free event, with a focus on inclusion and participation.

 All sessions will be publicly available to attend through the online Blackboard Collaborate platform, and every session will be recorded and made available immediately following the conference. More information is available at http://www.sociallearningsummit.com. The accepted sessions can be seen here: http://www.classroom20.com/forum/categories/2012-social-learning-summit-accepted/listForCategory. The actual hour-by-hour conference schedule, as well as instructions for participating, will be posted on the Summit website on April 13th.

In the meantime, we are looking for volunteer moderators to help session presenters who may be using Blackboard Collaborate for the first time! If you are Collaborate-comfortable (or think you could become so quickly!), we would ask that you also sign up to be a volunteer moderator. This is a terrific community event, and a nervous presenter will greatly appreciate your help! Volunteers should 1) use volunteer sign-up page is at http://www.classroom20.com/page/summittraining to select specific times to volunteer, 2) join the volunteer group at http://www.classroom20.com/group/volunteer-group-2012-social-learning-summit to receive special volunteer notices, and 3) look at the training page and training session calendar at http://www.classroom20.com/page/summittraining. Please encourage any colleagues to help out as well. :) Thank you so much!

Finally, please promote the Summit far and wide! The main URL for the conference is http://www.sociallearningsummit.com, the Twitter hashtag is #sociallearningsummit, and a page with logos and artwork is at http://www.classroom20.com/page/2012-social-learning-summit-artwork.

SLA Rocky Mountain Chapter, Virtual Lunch, "Delivering Business Research & Intelligence Virtually"

RMSLA’s next Virtual Lunch is on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at noon, Mountain time. Angela Kangiser will share her insights on “Delivering Business Research & Intelligence Visually.”

Information professionals working in all types of industries are continually looking to add value to the research deliverables they provide to their clientele. One key way to add value is to synthesize and display research results visually. Displaying research results visually helps clarify complex data, which facilitates good decision-making.

Attend this RMSLA Virtual Lunch event to understand:<

- Why it is important to incorporate visuals into our research deliverables today,

 - What kinds of information and intelligence can be displayed visually, and

 - How to integrate new technologies for a more visually-appealing report.

About Angela Kangiser Angela Kangiser is Director of Business Development and Research at Access/Information, a firm that has delivered key information for decision-making to attorneys and business executives for over 30 years. Prior to joining Access/Information, Angela was president of Online Business Research. Angela is a recognized information industry leader and speaks on business and competitive intelligence research. She also writes for industry publications, including the articles, “What ‘Value-Added Deliverables’ Means Today,” (ONLINE Magazine, January/February 2011) and “Delivering Competitive Intelligence Visually,” (Competitive Intelligence Magazine, September/October 2003).

Register now to reserve your seat at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/960239905

This program is free to all SLA members. Non-members are welcome to attend for a $10 registration fee. Please allow 48 hours for our volunteers to confirm your registration and payment.

The PayPal link will be available shortly at http://rockymountain.sla.org/chapter-events/april-19-virtual-lunch-delivering-results-visually/ (or short form, http://bit.ly/KangiserVisualRMSLA)

System Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server Macintosh®-based attendees Required: Mac OS® X 10.5 or newer

Renfest 2012: A Cross Disciplinary Virtual World Conference 30-31 March

The South Central Regional Library Council is hosting a dual platformed conference:  Martin Learning Center, SCRLC, Ithaca and Rennaisance island in Second Life.  Registration is free but limited to the first 50 people. Called Renfest, the conference focuses on librarianship and the Renaissance.  It offers an immersive experience on a variety of topids ranging from librarianship during the Renaissance to jousting, music, and educaiton.

From the webpage, "In this two-day virtual conference, participants will explore the use of virtual worlds in librarianship, education, and music. Learn why librarians, including the American Library Association (though no longer maintaining a sim in Second Life), continue to maintain a presence there. Explore best practices in 3-D learning and multimedia teaching. Watch a student performance at the Globe Theatre; experience an early music concert from Fribourg, Switzerland while immersed in Tudor, Britain. The program includes a tour of selected exhibitions and projects that students, librarians, educators, and aficionados have been created.

You may participate two ways: Join us in Ithaca to watch the proceedings on SCRLC’s wide screen; or, jump into the virtual world using your own avatar (i.e., online representation) or one that SCRLC has created for you. In either case, experienced mentors will provide assistance. As with first-time (or not first time!) GoToWebinar users, we will work with you prior to the program to ensure that your software is connecting properly and that you have a good experience."

Conference is 12-4:30 on Friday, March 30 and 12-5:30 on Saturday, March 31.

 

 

SLA Rio Grande Chapter Virtual Lunch-"Visualizaiton of Data Analysis"

Registration is now open for the Rio Grande Chapter's March 28th Virtual Lunch from 12-1 pm (webinar defaults to EST and a 15 minute early window has been applied). Margie Hlava will speak about the Visualization of Data Analysis: A New Way to Look at Content. See program details and Margie's bio at http://riogrande.sla.org

Register Now to reserve your seat at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/554550696. After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. This program is FREE to all SLA members (RGC Chapter members and others). Non-members are welcome to attend for a $10 registration fee, payable via a Paypal link on the RGC webpage: http://riogrande.sla.org

Hope to "see" you there! 

Second Life Call for poster sessions: Third Annual VCARA Conference

Exploring and Developing Career Opportunities in the Digital Age April 26, 2012 – from 5:30 to 8 p.m. SLT (pacific)

Schedule of Activities: ·

 
1. Keynote (5;30-6:30)
2. Poster Presentations (6:30 to 7:30 p.m.) 
3. On your own (7:30 to 8 p.m.)

The Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration (VCARA) of San Jose State University is sponsoring our third annual conference "Exploring and Developing Career Opportunities in the Digital Age," in our virtual meeting and learning spaces in Second Life. The conference seeks to promote networking opportunities among students, professionals, and educators; the theme this year is focused on developing skills and seeking opportunities related to the rapidly growing volume of digital records and media information professionals are encountering.

Students and faculty:

o This is an excellent opportunity to present and discuss your research. Both completed research and research in progress will be considered. ·

Students and alumni:

o Students and alumni are highly encouraged to submit work related to their current or past courses—this is a great opportunity to share what you have learned!

o Students are encouraged to propose presentations reflecting on their experiences gained in the workplace or through an internship that relate to working with digital media or in virtual environments.

 Prospective employers:

o Presentations by prospective employers who are interested in reaching out to SLIS students. Prepare a presentation introducing your company and explaining your hiring process, what you’re looking for in a new employee, employment opportunities, internship opportunities, and any other career-related information you’d like to share. The submission must consist of an emailed letter stating your name(s), institutional affiliation(s), and contact information. Include a title, brief abstract of your work, and any other details that may be relevant. We will provide instruction and support for presenting in the virtual environment. Most presenters use Microsoft Power Point slides and create a podcast, and we can assist in the process of uploading any materials you submit into Second Life.

The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2012. Please send submissions to: Dr. Patricia Franks Associate Professor and MARA Program Coordinator School of Library and Information Science San Jose State University E-mail: patricia.franks@sjsu.edu

or Amy Herring Graduate Assistant for VCARA E-Mail: aherring05@hotmail.com --

 Lori Bell Lecturer School of Library and Information Science San Jose State University (309)338-5115 lbell927@gmail.com lbell927@yahoo.com --