Karuna

Project Summary & Objectives

Project brief summary

The Alliance Library System (ALS) proposes to work with AIDS.gov and other health agencies in the virtual world of Second Life to create a community library/resource center for people of all ages diagnosed with AIDS, those that are HIV positive, their friends and family, caregivers and those who provide health information (such as librarians), their families, health professionals, and other librarians in Second Life.  The resource center will improve awareness of the disease and promote quality health information about all aspects of the disease. The space to provide these services in Second Life will include a community center, private spaces for smaller group meetings, an open-air auditorium for events, and an event center with technology enhanced seminar-style learning. The library/resource center will contain a wealth of materials including tutorials, news feeds, links to current awareness searches in PubMed, links to NLM resources about AIDS, AIDS.gov, and other resources. The setting will also contain a garden of experience where narratives about the AIDS/HIV experience of loss, joy, and community can be shared through art in the form of music, poetry, video, and more.

Project Objectives and Accomplishments to be Achieved:

To build an AIDS information and community center in the virtual world of Second Life.

To develop and compile quality resources in the library on AIDS/HIV.

To train AIDS/HIV patients, their families, and others on how to search for quality information on all aspects of the disease.

To collaborate with other AIDS/HIV and health information agencies to provide quality health information.

To provide informational displays on AIDS/HIV

To increase awareness of NLM resources on AIDS/HIV

Press Release

The Alliance Library System (ALS) is pleased to announce that the National Library of Medicine has awarded ALS a $60,000 contract for a project entitled “AIDS Information and Outreach in the Virtual World of Second Life.”  The project includes the creation of a new island with a community AIDS/HIV library/resource center. The resource center will provide information support and outreach to the Second Life community and beyond about AIDS/HIV and its prevention. The new island will also be home to a garden space  where narratives about the AIDS/HIV experience  can be shared through art, audio, video, poetry, essays, and more.  The project runs from October 1, 2008 – March 31, 2010.

This is the fourth contract awarded to ALS for the provision of consumer health information in Second Life, and will also fund a continuation of current efforts. The project coordinator will be Carol Perryman, known inworld as Carolina Keats.

For more information on the Alliance Library System, please see www.alliancelibrarysystem.com or contact Lori Bell at lbell927@gmail.com, or in Second Life as Lorelei Junot.

For more information about this project, please contact Carol Perryman at cp1757@gmail.com or in Second Life as Carolina Keats.

Project Team

Project Administrators

Lori Bell Project Administrator, PI
Director of Innovations at the Alliance Library System in East Peoria Illinois, Lori Bell is the driving force behind the strong multi-type library presence in Second Life, now consisting of more than 1,000 librarians. Alliance has demonstrated its commitment to supporting pioneer endeavors to support people in a virtual environment, exploring the future of the library profession by fostering a highly networked, collaborative environment. Her efforts have also attracted a large number of universities to the virtual world.

Lori has written and coordinated a number of grant projects from different sources; this is one of her main duties in her current position. Two of these projects are former Greater Midwest Region/National Library of Medicine projects including “Project Healthy” and “HealthInfo Central Illinois.” Project Healthy was the recipient of the NCLIS 2006 Health Award for Illinois.

Lori has worked in a variety of library settings including a large hospital library. She has written numerous articles on library technology, is a columnist for “Computers in Libraries,” and was named a 2004 Library Journal “Mover and Shaker.” Bell has also served as an adjunct instructor in Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois and Dominican University and she will be spending approximately ten hours per month on the project

Lori’s role in Second Life has involved creating and conducting training sessions on searching, identifying quality health information, and helping to foster a large network of health support groups as a way to extend awareness and involvement.

Carol Perryman, MSLIS, TRLN Doctoral Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Project Coordinator
I am a medical and consumer health librarian who worked in public and medical libraries for 20 years before getting my MSLIS - and now my PhD. While my current research is in evidence-based library and information practice (with a particular focus on librarian information behaviors), I have for some years retained interest in consumer health information. Prior to my involvement in Second Life, I conducted several research studies with people who are active in a web forum about smoking cessation, QuitNet.com. I have a very strong belief in what peer communities can achieve in terms of supporting health behavior change, and even in sharing a process of critical evaluation of health information - I’ve seen it happen again and again.

This experience is very much what has drawn me to become involved in Second Life. In 2006, Lori Bell wrote the contract application that funded Healthinfo Island, with the objective of exploring the provision of consumer health information services in a virtual environment. It is this basic objective that has formed the basis for the ensuing three projects, all funded by the National Library of Medicine (the first three, through the Greater Midwest Region of NN/LM, and this most recent, directly from NLM), and all administed by Lori Bell through the Alliance Library System in East Peoria, Illinois.

Tom Peters, Project evaluator

Tom Peters is the CEO of TAP Information Services (www.tapinformation.com), which provides a wide variety of services supporting libraries, library-related organizations, government agencies, technology companies, publishers, and other information-intensive organizations. Tom has worked previously at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC, the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities and the University of Chicago), Western Illinois University in Macomb, Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Minnesota State University at Mankato, and the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Tom did his undergraduate work at Grinnell College, where he majored in English and philosophy. He earned his library science degree at the University of Iowa. His second master’s degree (in English) was completed at the University of Missouri at Kansas City. His library experience includes reference service, library instruction, collection management, and administration. His current interests include library services in virtual worlds, online programming using web conferencing software, and digital audio books. Maxito Ricardo is his avatar in Second Life and Lively.

Karuna Advisory Committee

Michelle Adams-Walton, Reference Librarian, Salinas Public Library, MLS Student, San Jose State School of Library & Information Science

Jena Ball (aka Jenaia Morane) is a writer, editor, and educator with an avid interest in how virtual reality is shaping how we see and interact with one another.  The founder of The Nature of Writing (www.thenatureofwriting) - a firm specializing in helping companies get the word out about their products and services - she has penned
everything from marketing collateral and syndicated columns to features for national publications.  As an educator, she specializes in developing, producing, and teaching online classes in journalism, business communication, and nature, food, and memoir writing.

Her most recent projects include: creating customized writing courses for underachieving teens in Colorado, founding, editing, and contributing to the Transcendent Healing Collective’s blog (www.transcendenthealing.com), and blogging about the ongoing adventures of her intrepid little avatar in Days of Our Second Lives (www.daysofoursecondlives.com).

Kelly Czarnecki, Technology Education Librarian at ImaginOn in Charlotte, NC, working with Second Life Teen Grid

Ricken Flow, Chair, World AIDS Day events, AIDS/HIV Support group leader, DJ

I was diagnosed with full blown AIDS in 2000. My doctor was shocked that I was alive and did not have any serious illnesses. Even though I did not have symptoms, my stats were so bad she gave me six months to live. I have a t-cell count of one and viral load in the millions. After 3 months on meds, I was undetectable. My doctor started using me as an example on how well the meds can work. She started have me talk to patients who didn’t want to take meds, and that started my volunteer career in helping people. Karuna (the name of our new HIV/AIDS information island) means compassion and mercy, which reduces the suffering of others.

It is with the Karuna passion that I came into Second Life to see what I can do virtually to help those suffering with HIV/AIDS who otherwise would not seek support. I started a support group, the Nyumba Rafiki Community Center. I wanted to share my story of how I am still here. I owe most of it to not letting the stress of life get to me.I met Carolina Keats at the 2007 World Aids Day event where I shared my story. We become great friends and I have been a volunteer for the Health Info Island ever since.

I am honored to be this year’s Chair for the World Aids Day for Health Info. It is my goal to expand the concept of Karuna to bridge the gaps between RL and SL.

I am a student at Kaplan University online studying Communications with an emphasis on Technical Writing. I am in my third academic year and searching for a internship.

Glimmer Gears is a visionary designer, builder, and scripter in Second Life, an d is responsible for the mountain on Karuna, with its gorgeous and inviting vistas, nooks, and crannies, as well as many other quality details throughout the build.  Not surprisingly at all, Glimmer is known for his innovative designs that blend reality with a touch of the spectacular. He is co-founder (with Jenaia Morane) of Imprint Designs, which specializes in helping companies create a dynamic presence in Second Life. He also peddles an eclectic selection of high quality merchandise under his own personal logo, Glimmer Gears Designs (GGD.) His items can found on SL Street:

http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&MerchantID=107552

Miguel Gomez, Director, AIDS.gov

Roy Jones, Library & Resource Center Manager at OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Illinois.  I have been the library manager at Saint Francis since late January.  Prior to that I was the primary reference database searcher.  We use a variety of healthcare databases, fromOvid and Ebscohost as well as PubMed.  In addition we have access to asignificant number of digital journals.  A more comprehensive look at available resources can be obtained by browsing our website: http://library.osfhealthcare.org/

My background includes work in libraries at the following organizations:  the Medical School at Johns Hopkins University, the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, the US Air Force Occupational & Environmental Health Laboratory (Brooks Air Force Base) and Wilford Hall Medical Center (Lackland Air Force Base), both in San Antonio.  In addition, I worked in the library at Methodist Medical Center in Peoria before moving to Saint Francis.  A number of these libraries no longer exist, and all have certainly changed in the past few years with the tremendous changes that have swept the field of library services.

I worked with Carol Perryman here at Saint Francis and as a result Carol asked if I would be interested in assisting with the Second Life project.

Rolig Loon, Retired, Coordinator - SLL Outreach to Higher Education

I’ve been in Second Life since March 21, 2007. I am currently manager of the Only Yesterday and Info Island International sims for the Alliance Virtual Library and a library staff volunteer for the in-world reference services. I also design clothing and operate women’s clothing stores (Sa Roligt!) at two sites in SL.

I have modest building and texturing skills and considerable experience in applying them in SL, having done extensive design and construction on both of the sims I currently manage.

I have not had a connection with health-related projects in SL prior to joining the Karuna effort.

Michelle Samplin-Salgado, MPH has over eleven years professional experience in health communications, public health, project design, and management, with a specific emphasis on emerging technologies. Ms. Samplin-Salgado has managed the design and development for both federal and partner organization’s online activities. As a consultant at John Snow, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts she currently serves as the New Media Strategist for AIDS.gov.

Guus van den Brekel (Namro Orman) is Coordinator Electronic Services of the Central Medical Library of a large academic teaching hospital in the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG). He is a Medical Information Specialist as well as IT coordinator and responsible for Library Services Development and Innovation.

Developing and delivering library services in the users workflow is his main focus. In workshops and presentations (http://www.slideshare.net/digicmb) he delivers a strong plea for a focus-shift for librarians, a focus on the environments “where the users are”, instead of expecting them to come to us. Exploration of relevant user environments, the use of new web-based technologies with Web 2.0 elements and a more structural, technical re-design of library information systems, is needed to deliver library services and resources at the place of need. In the next few years, the further development of social, educational and research networks, semantic search techniques and online personal start-page tools, will be dictating how users will look and search for information. The introduction of the Library Toolbar (http://tinyurl.com/33po8s) and his paper “Into the User Environment” (www.eahil.net/newsletter/journal_2007_vol3_n1.pdf) was well reveiced in the European Medical Librarians community and beyond. The development of -and systematically offering- of “Library widgets” to users plus a Netvibes Universe (www.netvibes.com/cmb) for educational and instructional purpose is latest project. Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs), as Second Life, are interesting because of the great implications these environments will have on education, training and social life, but also on the exchange of information. In 2006 an NLM-funded project “Providing Consumer Health Outreach and Library Programs to Virtual World Residents in Second Life” (http://tinyurl.com/3d696n) was started in which he and his organization partnered. In 2007 a new project followed with the purpose to create exhibits, programs, and awareness about accessibility and assistive technology (http://tinyurl.com/2arbma) and about virtual world accessibility in general for Second Life residents, but specifically for people with disabilities. More information about Guus can be found at his personal blog called DIGICMB , http://digicmb.blogspot.com