Rooftop of Karuna Resource Center in Second Life-HIV/AIDS Videos/Presentations Coming Soon

Rooftop of Karuna Resource Center in Second Life-HIV/AIDS Videos/Presentations Coming Soon
Spent some productive time here this morning. I'm not finished, still need to add a few more trees and comfortable seating, but I'm excited about the potential to offer short but regular video presentations and global discussions on HIV/AIDS. I love my National Library of Medicine grant funded position as Karuna Consumer Health Librarian. What an amazing learning experience. All for today, off soon to my first life job as Reference & Distance Services Librarian at George Fox University in Portland, Oregon USA If you're interested in learning more about Karuna, feel free to contact me - IM Robin Mochi in Second Life or email Robin@karunahiv.com

Graduate LIS class from University of Hawaii visiting the Karuna Resource Center in Second Life

Professor Diane Nahl (aka Adra Letov in SL) and seven of her graduate Library and Information Science (LIS) students visited the Karuna Resource Center (RC) this past week to see the types of resources and displays being featured and to speak with me about my role as the Karuna Consumer Health Librarian. We also discussed the evolving work of librarians in virtual worlds.

I welcomed the group at the front entrance and enjoyed chatting with Diane while watching her students clicking on the displays and touring the building. After exploring, the students began asking questions. I had them get comfortable on the couches and chairs and did my best to answer. They were a sharp group and it was good to see and hear from future librarians who seek to understand the changing roles of information professionals. We discussed the resources and presentations I included in the resource center and how they meet the outcomes of the National Library of Medicine grant that funds the island. We also discussed the benefits and challenges for librarians working in virtual worlds, how statistics are gathered, and  more.

After Diane and her graduate students left, I reflected on my own experience in graduate school. I attended the Graduate School of Library and Information Science (GSLIS) at the Unviersity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC GSLIS) not all that long ago, graduating in December 2003. It was a very positive experience and I am thankful to have attended an institution where I was pushed towards newer technologies. From learning basic html during my orientation to courses on web usability, online information literacy and more, I felt fortunate to be learning in a place that valued what was relevant and important for future librarians.

Professor Nahl's students, and many other GSLIS students from several universities who are offering courses in SL, are fortunate to have the opportunity to learn about librarianship in Second Life. Virtual Worlds (VW) are here to stay, and as VWs develop and more of our constituents use VWs, the information needs in these places will grow. These LIS students will be better prepared than those without this exposure. It really is an exciting time to be a librarian.


The Karuna Island in Second Life is funded via a National Library of Medicine grant to provide support and information resources for HIV/AIDS afflicted individuals, family, friends and the public. Jena Ball, (aka SL Jenaia Morane) is the Project Coordinator for Karuna and I was hired as the Consumer Health Librarian. In first life I am an academic librarian at a small private university.

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Had to see this for myself-Yes, the IRS is indeed in Second Life-huh

Had to see this for myself-Yes, the IRS is indeed in Second Life-huh
Saw a tweet from http://twitter.com/malburns and read the blog post below and had to confirm. Yep, it's true. (And btw-there is a lot of pretty nice free jewelry for the taking if you join their group.) http://www.avatarplanet.com/blog/2009/09/06/internal-revenue-service-in-secon... Really should not be surprised since there are many government agencies in Second Life and other virtual worlds but for some reason I was. I guess I just think of the IRS as being sort of ultra-conservative and well...the IRS in virtual worlds? Still seems kind of shocking to me...

H1N1 Flu and HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents-New Second Life Karuna Resource Center Display

 

H1NI Flue and HIV-Infected Adults and Adolescents-New Second Life Karuna Resource Center Display
The new CDC display in the Karuna Resource Center in Second Life. In this podcast, Dr. John Brooks, of CDC's HIV/AIDS Prevention Program, discusses CDC's Interim Guidance for HIV-infected adults and adolescents regarding the novel H1N1 flu virus: http://www2a.cdc.gov/podcasts/player.asp?f=14199

Karuna Resource Center in Second Life-Ready for tomorrow's Presentation-short video

Tomorrow evening at 8:00 SLT (PT) I'll share a short presentation in the Karuna Resource Center on The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation http://www.pedaids.org/Home.aspx

To mark the Foundation's 20th anniversary they're launching "Join the Moment" a campaign to create a generation free of HIV. I'll share what I've learned about the work being done related to this campaign.

All are welcome to attend but if you don't have a free Second Life account or can't make it in, you can watch this video and visit the website to learn more. For those who already have a free Second Life acct, here is the SLurl to the Karuna Resource Center in Second Life: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Karuna/33/50/23

There will also be a short video shown "Creating a Generation Free of HIV, by Nigel Barker" available here:

You may wonder why people would want to visit Second Life to view things that are available on the web. For one, while anyone with access to a computer can watch videos on YouTube, one generally watches those videos alone or maybe with a friend, and I suppose sometimes in a classroom with your peers. In Second Life there is a global audience. It's a wonderful way to connect with diverse groups of people, especially when the topic is one with such a strong global impact. Together we can discuss the presentation and video via chat or voice while they are taking place.

Also, the materials in this presentation, along with all the materials in the Karuna Resource Center, were evaluated and chosen by an academic librarian in real life (me :) ), (Robin Mochi, Consumer Health Librarian in Second Life). I follow a set criteria and choose only those materials deemed useful and that meet the guidelines and outcomes of the National Library of Medicine grant that funds the Karuna Island for HIV/AIDS information and support in SL.

The materials shown in this short video will remain in the Karuna Resource Center for viewing 24/7. Feel free to stop by anytime that's convenient in your time zone of the world.

Questions, comments or suggestions? IM Robin Mochi inworld or email Robin Ashford at Robin@karunahiv.com or comment here.

Karuna Resource Center in Second Life

This video was a test to see if Jing (http://www.jingproject.com/) would work well enough to upload short videos of my work in the Karuna Resource Center in Second Life to YouTube.

The video was kept very short to also test the posterous autopost feature while using the posterous bookmarklet on (posterous.com), which I have set to send to twitter and flickr as well (flickr videos must be under 30 sec).

My intent is to use this tool as a means of promoting newly created displays of information resources on HIV/AIDS. (I may end up creating 60 sec. videos and bypassing flickr.)

About Karuna: The National Library of Medicine awarded Alliance Library System a grant for a project entitled "AIDS Information and Outreach in the Virtual World of Second Life." The project includes the creation of a new island, called Karuna, has a community HIV/AIDS center and a library/resource center which will provide information support and outreach to the Second Life community and beyond about HIV/AIDS and its prevention.

(In Second Life I am the Karuna Consumer Health Librarian, Robin Mochi. In first life I am an academic librarian in a small private liberal arts university.)

Photo taken from inside Second Life of Real Life #SLCC2009 being streamed into Second Life live :)

 

Photo taken from inside Second Life of Real Life #SLCC2009 being streamed into Second Life live :)
I had good intentions tonight when I headed inworld to work in the Karuna Resouce Center. After a while I decided to check twitter and well, saw a tweet about live stream of Second Life Community Conference (SLCC 2009) with live music and suddenly I'm here dancing with some very nice folks rather than working in the Karuna RC. Oh well, sometimes ya just gotta take a break and have some fun. The music is surprisingly very good, good company and fun chatting while we dance. Made a couple new "friends." LOL

Update, 8/16/09 - Just found this on Youtube (I'm the blue avi):


First and Second Life Presentation for Guangdong University of Foreign Studies Delegation

Tomorrow morning I present before a delegation of 25 administrators from The Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China. My presentation is on our experience with teaching and learning in Second Life (SL) and is being hosted by The George Fox University (GFU) School of Education.

The presentation will take place in real life and part of the session will involve a live demo/tour in Second Life. I plan to use flickr slideshows of the work we've done with graduate education students. I also plan to meet inworld (inside SL) with Scot Headley, GFU Professor of Education, with whom I've been collaborating over the last year (as reference librarian and adjunct instructor for GFU). We'll take a tour of our university skydeck, Karuna Island and Resource Center, The Monash University China Incountry program, and the 3J Chinese Language School.

 I'll also share about my new grant funded position as the Karuna Island Consumer Health Librarian. The Karuna Resource Center (RC), which I've posted about on posterous. The RC is a place where I've carefully chosen information resources that meet the outcomes of the National Library of Medicine grant that funds my work. The Karuna RC is a good example of one of the main affordances of virtual worlds (VW), which is the many informal learning opportunities.

Here is a link to a Guangdong University news article on the first visit from the GFU delegation to Guangdong University in 2007.  "On April 16, a delegation of George Fox University (GFU) of the USA led by President David Brandt paid a visit to our university for discussions on exchange and cooperation programs." Since that time there have been further exchanges with the new GFU president, Dean of the School of Education, School of Management, etc.

This is the first time GFU is hosting the delegation from Guangdong University. I'm hopeful exchange programs and the relationship between our universities will continue to develop. There is much we can learn from other cultures and I'm glad to be a part.

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Ready for my presentation in the Karuna Resource Center in Second Life tonight-What do you think?

Ok, I've loaded the slides, tested the viewer, and rearranged the furniture for the zillionth time. I think I'm ready for my first presentation as Consumer Health Librarian on Karuna Island in Second Life (SL) tonight at 6:30 p.m. SLT which is the same as PST.

This one is a PPT presentation on how to search MedlinePlus for information resources on HIV/AIDS (I would prefer to demonstrate live on the web inside Second Life but that function is not yet available in SL (I'm hopeful that's coming soon). The presentation is free (as is everything on Karuna Island) and all are welcome!

If you already have SL on your computer, this Slurl will take you straight to the Karuna Resource Center: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Karuna/33/46/23

If you've never been in SL and would like to attend, newbies are welcome too :)
Below is the link to a website where you may sign up for a free SL account and then enter SL on a very well designed, fun and useful private orientation island.
http://virtualability.org/default.aspx


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Karuna Resource Center in Second Life

Karuna Resource Center in Second Life
I Just put this sign up for tomorrow's presentation in Second Life - now I just need to finish my presentation slides and upload them to SL, insert into viewer, place the viewer and move furniture, purchase new deck furniture and place on decks, meet with Jenaia about the welcome area and I'll be finished for the day and almost ready for tomorrow's presentation. Whew! BTW - I'm posting this to twitter, posterous and flickr all from within Second Life. I think that's pretty amazing.