DIS 250 “Techniques and Issues
in Information Access”
Winter 2008, Wednesday
afternoons
GSE&IS Bldg. 228, 1:30 PM
– 5 PM
Dr.
John V. Richardson Jr., UCLA Professor of Information Studies
“Information Seeking in Second Life™:
Using the ABC Model for Setting a 21st
Century Research Agenda”
Course Description |
Course Learning Objectives |Course
Assignments | Grading Criteria and Student Expectations
| Grading Weights
Due Dates and Penalties| Course Textbooks
| Class Schedule
Course
Description: This seminar stands at the intersection of information
seeking (IS) and Second Life (SL), using a multi-method or methodological
pluralist approach (ABC in short). By way of background, IS has a long research
history dating back to Taylor’s landmark work in the 1960s. While SL only opened to the public in 2003,
it offers a constrained, but novel, venue to study IS. Second
Life, of course, is the instantiation of Neal Stephenson’s ideas as first
articulated in his third novel, Snow Crash (Bantam Books, 1992).
Finally, the various methodological lens or
perspectives adopted in studying IS can be characterized as fitting into one of
the three categories: (1) Affective, (2) Behavioral, (3) Cognitive approaches
(see Richardson, 2002), although technically, it may be that there is fourth,
or holistic approach as well, which spans two or more of these perspectives
The
following 150 researchable questions have been identified and clustered into
topic areas by Amy VanScoy, a doctoral student in UNC’s SILS, and are further classified
by Dr. Richardson below using the ABC conceptual model. Topic areas include researching information
search behaviors in Second Life, reliving the new user experience, providing
service in SL, examining avatars, analyzing Second Life libraries, assessing
Second Life library service, and improving on Second Life as an environment for
information access. Please note that RL stands for real life, while VR means virtual
reference, and SL means Second Life™ in the questions:
At the successful completion of this course,
students will be able:
1. To create
an avatar and will have interacted with information seekers in the metaverse,
Second Life, using chat and messaging;
2. To
conceptualize information seeking along three perspectives: affective,
behavioral, and cognitive; and
3. To
think critically as well as holistically about information seeking;
4. To
reflect thoughtfully on the role of IT in information seeking; and
5.
To
make more sophisticated evaluative remarks and recommendations to library
directors and department heads about the proper role of virtual worlds/virtual
learning environments.
O.
Introduction to Course (January 9th)
A. Getting
started on the main grid of SL:
1) Download the latest version of the
client software onto your computer by going to http://secondlife.com/community/downloads.php
and clicking on the correct download for your operating system (i.e., Windows
or Mac).
2) Register for SL by going to https://secure-web15.secondlife.com/join/. Note that you will need to chose a first name
and select from a list of last names. At
some point, you will be given the option of typing in a credit card. This
option allows you to add Linden dollars to your account in-world, so you can
buy things. You might want to hold off on this step until you find it to be
useful.
3) Read the brief wiki on getting started
in SL at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Help:Getting_started_in_Second_Life
4) As you enter SL for the first time,
you are placed on Orientation Island. There are four tutorials you can go
through.
5) In addition, you might want to look
at these short videos on YouTube.com:
b)
“Ohio University Second Life
Campus”
A.
Avatar Creation (January 16th)
1. Does
the avatar look like the real person? Should they? (Cognitive)
2. Was
creating the avatar freeing or stressful? (Affective)
3. Do
most SL avatars resemble the RL person?
Why or why not? (Cognitive)
4. U se
of VR for anonymity – why is this modality useful or important? (Affective)
5. How
do librarians create intimacy while preserving anonymity? (Affective)
a. Research
Note: Analysis of examples of transcripts that show how librarians have done
this well.
b. Research
Thesis: Library anxiety is a factor in desire for anonymity.
6. How
can SL relieve library anxiety? (Affective)
7. Would
library anxiety not exist at all if all information encounters occurred in SL?
(Affective)
8. Does
SL effectively protect anonymity but re-introduce intimacy? (Affective)
9. How
does a users’ avatar affect how one is treated? (Affective)
10. What
information exists in RL that doesn’t exist in SL? (Cognitive)
11. Is
it better not to have this information? (Cognitive)
a. Research
Note: A potential tangential discussion about librarian avatars might be
interesting or in a separate session.
12. What
avatars are librarians choosing? (Behavioral)
13. How
do these avatars reflect or not reflect stereotypes of librarians? (Cognitive)
14. Why
do librarians choose to work as librarians in SL? (Behavioral)
15. Do
librarians buy into the pop culture stereotypes of themselves? (Cognitive)
a. Note:
Include visuals – images of librarians in RL, pop culture and SL.
16. How
will one’s behavior and choices as a librarian help to reinforce this
stereotype(s)? (Behavioral)
17.
Is
it a useful stereotype or one librarians need to actively discourage? (Cognitive)
B.
Reliving the New User Experience (January 23rd)
Investigators new to SL might have the most to
contribute to this discussion. Perhaps
recognizing that there are novices and experts, and coming right out to say that
they each have different perspectives to contribute would be valuable – making
everyone feel that they will contribute in some way, although it may be in
different ways.
18. How
does one feel during the first visit to SL – especially, after one leaves
Orientation Island and are dropped into SL with little direction? (Affective)
a. Research
Note: An SL librarian commiserated that at first it is disorienting.
19. How
does this disoriented, overwhelming experience help us understand how users
feel in our libraries? (Affective)
a.
Research
Note: Keefer, Jane. “The Hungry Rats Syndrome: Library Anxiety, Information
Literacy, and the Academic Reference Process.” RQ 32 (Spring 1993):
330-339.
might be a good reading for this session.
20. How
does one overcome the feeling of disorientation (or whatever they felt)?
(Affective)
21. Are
there any strategies? (Cognitive)
22. Did
the human intermediaries make a difference?
(Cognitive)
23. Did humans
help or hinder? (Behavioral)
24. What
exactly did other people do or say to make things better, if they did make
things better? (Behavioral)
25. What
experiences in SL are deliberately designed to help acclimatize newcomers?
(Behavioral)
26. How
effective are each of these? (Behavioral)
27. Are
they immediately effective or do they have some cumulative effect that kicks in
later? (Cognitive)
28. Do librarians
do any of these things in libraries to help acclimatize users? (Behavioral)
29. What
can librarians learn from SL that librarians might apply in RL libraries to
help users? (Cognitive)
a. Note:
It will be interesting to know how active and deliberate the investigators were
in acclimatizing themselves to SL.
30. Did they actually do all the Orientation
Island tutorial exercises? (Behavioral)
31. Did
they ask questions of librarians? (Behavioral)
32. Did
they go to all the places on the Newcomers notecard? (Behavioral)
33. Did
they go to New Citizens Plaza? (Behavioral)
34. Did they take courses? (Behavioral)
35. Did
they visit the sandboxes? (Behavioral)
36. Did
they plan their SL education or did they just wander? (Behavioral)
37.
Were
their acclimatization effects similar to or different from the kinds of efforts
they make in RL? (Cognitive)
C.
Analyzing the Dozens of Libraries in SL (January 30th)
38. Why
are there so many? (Cognitive)
39. What
are the characteristics of libraries of SL?
(Cognitive)
40. Do
they serve the same purposes as libraries in SL? (Cognitive)
41. Are
their missions the same? (Cognitive)
a. Research
Note: Investigators could pair up and each group could investigate a particular
library.
42. What is this library’s purpose? (Cognitive)
43. Does
it have a page of information about its mission, its services, and its
collections like a library in RL would? (Behavioral)
44. Who
works in the library? (Behavioral)
45. Who
uses this library? (Behavioral)
46. Is
it busy? (Behavioral)
47. Is
it really functional or more ornamental?
(Cognitive)
48. Is
the library a SL extension of a RL or is it unique to SL? (Cognitive)
49. Is
it primarily service-based or collections-based? (Cognitive)
50. What
are its “collections”? (Cognitive)
51. Does
it charge for services? (Behavioral)
52. Could
it be characterized as public, academic, research, special? (Cognitive)
53. Is
it hard to find this information about the library? (Behavioral)
54. Describe
the setting of the library – which island is it on? (Behavioral)
55. Does
it serve local needs or needs of the wider SL community? (Behavioral)
a. Research
Note: Investigators could do this investigation in pairs and report back to the
larger group.
56. What
do these investigations of particular libraries tell us about libraries in SL?
(Cognitive)
57. How
are they similar and different from libraries in RL? (Cognitive)
58. How
big is the library community in SL? (Cognitive)
59. Were
the investigations in this class able to examine most or only a small portion
of the SL libraries? (Behavioral)
D.
Researching Information Seeking in SL (February 6th)
60. How
do librarians research ISB in RL? (Behavioral)
61. Which
of these methods are applicable to SL? (Cognitive)
62. Are
some actually facilitated by SL? (eg., transcripts of conversations,
non-obtrusive observation)
63. Should
librarians have to get IRB approval to research ISB in SL?
a. Note:
The first author went to a meeting where a researcher had a grant to study
student learning and joked about not having to get IRB approval. This situation would be an interesting
discussion of ethics.
64. What
aspects of ISB in SL could librarians study? (Behavioral)
65. What
information needs do librarians see in SL? (Behavioral)
66. Are
any “Imposed Queries” like librarians get in RL or are all information needs
motivated by the user? (Behavioral)
67. Do users
seem motivated? (Affective)
68. More
patient or less so than in RL? (Affective)
69. How
do users satisfy their needs? – ask librarians, use notecards, use SL knowledge
base? (Behavioral)
a. Research
Note: Each investigator could plan and execute a research project on SL
information seeking. An individual
project would allow them to follow their own interests.
b. Research
Note: They could also each interview a SL librarian about the information
seeking they have observed.
70. What
research is being conducted already about SL ISB? (Behavioral)
71. What
research is being conducted about other aspects of the SL experience?
(Affective or Cognitive)
72.
Who
is doing this work? (Behavioral)
E.
RL Information Access versus SL Information Access (February 13th)
73. What
are differences or similarities between RL in-person information interactions
and SL information interactions? (Cognitive)
74. What
are similarities and differences between RL VR and SL? (Cognitive)
75. Do
librarians do reference interviews in SL?
(Behavioral)
76. How
often do they do them in RL? (Cognitive)
a. Research
Note: It was difficult to find a complete reference interview in the VR
transcripts for the Green Awards?
77. Is there
a difference between a RL VR transcript and an SL transcript? (Cognitive)
78. If one can’t tell the difference in the
transcripts, then was there a difference in the actual interaction? (Cognitive)
79. Does
this fact say something about the effectiveness of the transcript as an
artifact of the reference encounter? (Cognitive)
80. What
do librarians say about the differences between providing RL and SL reference? (Behavioral)
81. Why
do they do both? (Behavioral)
a. Note:
Throughout, the authors have taken a reference-centric view of information
access in our thinking.
82. What
are other elements of information access that librarians work on in RL?
(Behavioral)
83. The library’s
web pages? (Behavioral)
84. The
arrangement of the reference collection?
(Behavioral)
85. The
signage? (Behavioral)
86. What
other deliberate efforts do libraries make to facilitate information access? (Behavioral)
87. Are these same efforts made in SL? (Behavioral)
88. What
good ideas exist in SL that librarians could apply to RL? (Behavioral)
F.
The SL Service Provider Experience (February 20th)
It would be interesting for the students to provide
some information services in SL. By the
end of the semester, they might be comfortable enough to volunteer at a
library.
89. What
was it like to provide information services in SL? (Affective)
90. How
was it similar or different from providing these services in RL? (Affective or
Cognitive)
91. What
elements of the basic information access course prepares one for providing
service in SL? (Behavioral)
92. Was
it harder or easier? (Cognitive)
93. More
fun or more stressful than providing these services in RL? (Affective)
94. What
do librarians say about providing information services in SL? (Cognitive)
95. How
do they describe these experiences in their blogs? (Cognitive)
96. What
training or skills are necessary for librarians to provide information services
SL? (Behavioral)
97. How
is the training needed in SL similar or different from training and skills
necessary in RL? In VR? (Behavioral)
98. Did
the library provide training? (Behavioral)
99. Were
there notecards? (Behavioral)
100.
Was one required to shadow? (Behavioral)
101.
Were there requirements to be fulfilled? (Behavioral)
102.
Who was in charge of training? (Behavioral)
103.
How would you recommend that others prepare for
providing information services in SL? (Cognitive)
104.
What recommendations would you make to those who
trained you? (ABC)
105.
What is your opinion of the volunteer corps of
librarians in SL? (Cognitive)
106.
Does this model work? (Behavioral)
107.
Is there any quality control? (Cognitive)
108.
Did anyone ask you what qualifications you had before
allowing you to provide this service? (Behavioral)
109.
Is there a value to having RL librarians provide SL
information services? (Cognitive)
110.
Could SL be a means for generating interest in the
profession among people who are not librarians in RL? (Cognitive)
111.
Should SL librarians charge Linden dollars for
their services? (Behavioral)
112.
Why or why not?
(Cognitive)
113.
How would it change things if SL users were
required to pay? (Cognitive)
G.
Measuring Effectiveness (February 27th)
Research Note: RL libraries are required to submit
statistics or reports to boards or accreditation bodies or parent
organizations.
114.
Are there any such requirements for SL libraries?
(Behavioral)
115.
How can SL libraries and librarians measure their
effectiveness? (Behavioral)
116.
Is there value in this approach? (Cognitive)
117.
What statistics are easily available to SL libraries?
(Behavioral)
118.
In terms of “traffic” which libraries are most
successful? (Behavioral)
119.
How can the libraries get this “traffic” statistic?
a. Research
Note: it’s kept somehow because it shows up on the “Most Popular Places” list.
120.
How could a library increase its traffic? (Behavioral)
121.
Does outreach or PR or location influence traffic
in SL? (Cognitive)
122.
Do SL libraries measure check outs? (Behavioral)
123.
Is there such a thing? (Behavioral)
124.
Do they keep statistics on hits to their
collections? (Behavioral)
125.
Do SL libraries care about quality of their
services? (Affective)
126.
Do they monitor transcripts of librarian/user
interactions? (Behavioral)
127.
How do they collect feedback from users and
librarians? (Behavioral)
128.
How responsive are they to feedback? (Behavioral)
129.
Are they pressured to respond to feedback in order
to remain popular or relevant like RL libraries are? (Affective)
130.
Or is there freedom to simply be the library that
librarians want?
131.
Do librarians provide group instruction? (Behavioral)
132.
If so, do they assess it? (Behavioral)
133.
Are there surveys or other methods to evaluate
student learning? (Behavioral)
134.
If librarians don’t do this measurement, do the
other educators in SL do this evaluation?
(Behavioral)
a. Note:
There are lots of classes and learning institutions in SL
135.
How do they measure student learning? (Behavioral)
136.
Is their official accreditation or ranking of libraries
in SL? (Behavioral)
137.
If not, should there be? (Cognitive)
138.
What is the value or the problems with ranking?
(Cognitive)
H.
Improving on the SL Experience (March 5th)
In RL, librarians need to be constantly thinking
outside the box, anticipating future needs and trying to be creative about how
to meet them.
139.
How could librarians apply what we’ve learned about
ISB in SL to information access in RL? (Cognitive)
140.
Does it help us think outside the box by putting us
in a completely different environment? (Cognitive)
141.
What are some aspects of RL information access that
you thought were essential or were superfluous, that now seem less important or
more important? (Cognitive)
142.
What unnecessary elements of RL information
services have librarians brought to SL? (Cognitive)
143.
Or have they only brought the essential things?
(Cognitive)
144.
How would you change SL to make it more conducive
to information seeking and discovery? (Behavioral)
145.
Better graphics?
(Behavioral)
146.
Voice? (Behavioral)
147.
Other means of exchanging information? (Cognitive)
148.
Are there innovative technologies out there that
could be incorporated into SL information services and/or into RL information
services? (Cognitive)
I.
Reflection
on the Overall SL Information Access Experience (March 12th)
Note: A good final project might be a reflection
paper on the experience for the semester.
To sum up the course, students may want to reflect
on:
149.
What have they learned about ISB and information
access issues after spending a semester in SL? (Cognitive)
150.
Is SL a good way to study ISB or is SL ISB unique
to this environment? (Cognitive)
151.
How has their perspective on providing information
services changed? (Cognitive)
152.
What have they learned about themselves?
(Cognitive)
153.
About users?
(Cognitive)
154.
About their fellow librarians? (Cognitive)
155.
About libraries? (Cognitive)
156.
That they would not have learned without this
experience? (Cognitive)
- Presentation of Research Papers (March 12th)
Relevant
Literature for Reading (see Recommended Textbook below)
1. http://www.simteach.com/wiki/index.php?title=Second_Life_Education_Wiki
2.
“The Current State of Research on Reference Transactions,” In Advances
in Librarianship, vol. 26, pages 175-230, edited by Frederick C.
Lynden. New York: Academic Press, 2002
discusses the research literature in terms of the ABC.
3.
For a more detailed analysis of
three authors who use the respective ABC approaches, see Liza Wardell’s
"The Affective, Behavioral, and Cognitive Aspects (ABC) of Information
Research: An Analysis of Three Scholars [David Ellis, Tom Wilson, and Carol
Kuhlthau]," MLIS Thesis, 2002.
- The research articles
below are classic representatives of the three approaches mentioned above:
- Affective Citations
1. Delaney, Jack.
"Interviewing." Wilson Library Bulletin 29 (December 1954):
317-318.
2. Maxfield, David K.
"Counselor-Librarianship; A New Departure." Occasional Papers, No.
38 (March 1954): entire issue.
3. Penland, Patrick R. Interpersonal
Communication: Counseling, Guidance, and Retrieval for Media, Library, and
Information Specialists. New York: Dekker, 1974.
4. Applegate, Rachel. "Models
of User Satisfaction: Understanding False Positives." RQ 32 (Summer
1993): 525-539.
- Behavioral
Citations
1. ALA’s RUSA “Behavioral
Guidelines for Performance of Reference and Information Service Providers,”
1996.
- Cognitive
Citations
1. Breed, Paul F. "An
Analysis of Reference Procedures in a Large University Library." Ph.D.
diss., University of Chicago, 1955.
2. Kuhlthau, Carol C. Seeking
Meaning: A Process Approach to Library and Information Services. Norwood,
NJ: Ablex, 1993
3. White, Marilyn D. "The
Reference Encounter Model." Drexel Library Quarterly 19 (Spring
1983): 38-55.
4. Richardson, John. Knowledge Based Systems for General
Reference: Applications, Problems, and Progress. San Diego: Academic Press,
1995.
Course
Assignments
1.
Attend
each class session and participate thoughtfully and reflectively.
2.
Lead
a group discussion on one of the clusters (see sections A-I) and work collaboratively,
if the course is fully enrolled (i.e., you will be assigned to work as a small
group).
3.
Write
a term-paper on some aspect of information seeking in Second Life which would
be publishable in RUSQ, RSR or the Reference Librarian.
Grading Criteria and Student Expectations
Although this class is a seminar and student centered, class contributions (other than when leading a session) are not formally graded; however, in borderline cases, I will consider these in determining the final grade. As you know, the final grade is subjective--merely the opinion of the instructor. As for late papers: all papers and presentations are due on due date. Unexcused late papers will be substantially penalized—half letter grade per session. For all papers, my evaluation will include: 1) content foremost; 2) appearance (e.g., conformance to a particular journal's house style); 3) bibliographic style (remember to use a reference journal's house style such as RSR, IRSQ, the Reference Librarian, or RUSQ); 4) clarity of presentation; and 5) avoidance of the ten common errors . All papers are subject to a half-letter grade reduction for not heeding the above ten points. No extra credit is given. Incompletes are not awarded in this class; plan accordingly. Suspected research misconduct (including fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism--such as click, drag, copy, and paste without adequate attribution) will result in a grade of DR and be reported to the UCLA Dean of Students; be sure to submit your first paper to TurnItIn.com, if you have any doubts about plagiarism, before handing it in to me. No extra credit is given. Grades are reported to the Registrar via My.UCLA.edu , so check it upon receiving a graded paper. Letter grades are assigned where a B (3.0) is good; a B+ (3.3), very good; an A- (3.7), excellent; an A (4.0) is superior; and an A+ is extraordinary. If you are a graduate student taking this class as S/U, then S = B (3.0) or higher
"Readings," so labeled above, are required; "additional
readings" are optional. Backup your work regularly. During class,
cell phones should be off or on vibrate. You may drop the class up until the last class, according to the
UCLA Registrar.
Attendance
(10%); Session leadership (40%); and Written term paper (50%).
Due
Dates and Penalties
Course
Textbook [Additional Reading]
Neal Stephenson's "Snow Crash," a 1992
science fiction novel, published by Bantam Books, about living on the
MetaVerse, or Internet.
Acknowledgements: Special thanks to Amy VanScoy, doctoral
student at UNC’s SILS, for the 150+ research questions; to Dave Harmeyer,
Director of Research and Development, University Libraries
at Azusa Pacific University for the tips on getting
started in Second Life; and, to RP..
Created: 27 April 2007; Revised: 6 March 2008