I (finally) submitted my proposal for my 580 Research project a couple of weeks ago. Part of the most daunting bit of my study towards the Masters of Library and Information Studies programme at Victoria University, my project is titled “Virtual World Libraries: Challenges and Strategies”. In brief, the research explores three questions:

1. What challenges faced by traditional online library services/interfaces are able to be overcome by Virtual World Library environments?
2. What new challenges (or old ones) face the development of Libraries in Virtual Worlds?
3. How might these challenges be overcome? Can the design strategies used in Massively Multiplayer Online Games be a useful guide?

When talking about “Virtual World Libraries”, I am referring to initiatives such as the Info Island Libraries now being run in Second Life, spearheaded by the Alliance Library System. I’m planning that my research will involve interviews with a few the users of these libraries, to learn about their experiences of the online library environment. Here’s an excerpt

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For the next two trimesters (from February through till November) I’ll be working on a research project as part of my Masters in Library and Information Studies.

The INFO580 project is a compulsory part of our LIM training. It’s an opportunity for students to explore a topic of interest to us that relates to library and information management, and to apply the theories and principles we’ve learned over our past year or so of study in a research setting.

I submitted the Topic Approval Form for my project last Sunday, outlining my proposed topic of research:

[My] project seeks to develop a framework for the ways in which game design and e-learning theories might inform the future design and development of library interfaces within virtual world environments by considering an example of an emerging online library, the Second Life Library, and the experiences of users and virtual librarians using the service.

I’m hoping to produce something really worthwhile with this project, something that can be of use to those working to build virtual world libraries in the future. My next task is to produce a full formal proposal for my topic (due May 7th) - a clearer, longer version of my original TAF. I imagine that my supervisor, Brenda Chawner, and I will be working out the exact details of the project over the next week or so, and then my days will be filled with the likes of annotated bibliographies, tightly worded topic statements, clearly defined objectives, and human ethics proposals! (more…)