IPL-SI: Group Design Project 3

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[edit] Instructions for Problem Analysis

For week three, you should analyze problems in social networking for the IPL project. Generate a list of problems that your group has discovered that are currently barriers to social networking for people participating in the IPL. Where possible, document these problems from what you know about IPL, from your experiences using the VMT environment in this course, from your Koi Resort design project, from your review of social networking literature and sites.

[edit] Comments on Group Statements

[edit] Team 1 Statement

The IPL presents a number of difficulties and barriers when it comes to supporting a global, collaborative effort. In terms of appearance, the IPL does not have the most attractive interface, but more importantly, the interface does not let the user immediately know/understand the collaborative efforts that can be done. Not to mention the fact that individual profiles cannot be created and therefore user groups with similar collaborative interests cannot meet and and interact with each other. In terms of the language barrier, we do not necessarily see this being a major issue primarily because (1) users will more than likely wish to interact with their peers (2) language settings can be applied into the IPL and/or browser. This is not to say that a language system should not be included. Also, there needs to be some kind of space or area where users could meet and post up ideas/discussions to various topics.


List of problems identified in IPl in regards to social networking:

- people may not be able to find the site

- users may not be able to find one another ... the site currently does not support individual profiles

- no modes of communication, asynchronous or synchronous

- can establish link by asking a question, but doesn't build a community

- multiple audiences are addressed with separate interfaces ... how to integrate?

- privacy could be a concern for interaction

- language barriers are not addressed, as far as I can see

- psychological barrier when it comes to learning ... have to learn new interface

- need a means to maintain discussions and not lose focus

- cultural differences may require different styles of interaction


--Baller 20:01, 31 January 2008 (EST)


[edit] Team 3 Statement

The 3 opportunities for improvement with the IPL that our group identified are as follows:

  1. The focus audience of the IPL is not concretely identified. There is currently a basic structure meant for students/teachers for information gathering, and a somewhat misplaced children's space.
  2. The site does not have a robust enough social engine. That is, a combination of collaborative tools would enhance the web 2.0 quality of the site so that users will truly experience the 2 way information passing.
  3. The site design is currently unappealing to the consumer. A more user-centered experience with a guided approach would provide a more painless learning process for a new user.

We have gone into more depth with these 3 points in the following sections.

[edit] Audience Focus? A User-Centered Experience

  • The focus of current IPL site is on information collections instead of user interaction.
  • The static content is not enough to keep users interested in the site.

Users should be able to register and to login.

Once they register, there should be varying user interfaces, separating Children's section from Student/Adult. Different options and information presented to the different user demographic. This would be not unlike an actual public library, in which reference items are separated between a children's section and an adult section.

  • Example: "German Facebook": 
   * "German Facebook" for collage students: http://www.studivz.net/
   * "German Facebook" for high school students: http://www.schuelervz.net/

Add a WikiHow (http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page) to explain frequently asked questions, provide information about citing, annotations, reference styles, etc. 

- Professors and students can add helpful information.

[edit] Collaborative Tools

This is a list of features that would enhance the collaboration between users: 

   * Individual profile.
   * Form groups with other registered users.
   * Add and save friends and resources for future use.
   * Provide individual profile+blog page for every user if wished (good marketing + user satisfaction).
   * Maybe free email addresses for registered users or “power users” (user@ipl.org)?

Provide chat rooms where groups can meet up to discuss their projects: 

   * Private chat rooms (user creates a password to protect it for group-only use).
   * Open chat rooms (can be used by everyone to ask or answer questions).
   * VMT-like chat to provide advanced functionality. However, VMT chat has to be improved:
         o Better stability.
         o Platform independent.
         o Better usability.
         o Additional functionality.

[edit] Design Overhaul

Website design is not appealing (is not what people expect/want for “Web 2.0”).

“Ask a question” is positioned and designed poorly. 

   * Should be easier to access.
   * Should be quicker to use.
   * Use of graphics to guide users without requiring them to read lots of text.
   * Professional example: http://answers.yahoo.com/
   * Show some random questions/answers to user.
   * Add rating feature.
   * Add comment feature.
   * Add feature to save a viewed answer in “personal answer box”.
   * Add feature “send to someone who know the answer”.
   * Answers of users should be rateable.

[edit] Additional sources to social networking


[edit] Team 5 Statement

The biggest obstacle for social interaction on the IPL is the fact that, with the exception of the "Ask a Question" feature, there appear to be no opportunities for social interaction on the site.

Consider some of the things that we found missing from the IPL: 

    --There is no chat software for real-time communication with collaborators
    --There is no "asynchronous" place for collaboration, like a wiki
    --There is no collaborative space to share materials (drawings, web pages) 
      as in VMT or (TCA, from the article)
    --There is no place to share bookmarks like del.icio.us

There are a number of ways to address these deficiencies. They can be addressed one at a time with software tailored to each category listed above. Alternately a suite of programs, or a feature rich stand alone program, can be considered as a solution. One such feature rich program, Rakim, allows librarians to 

    --Chat interactively with patrons
    --Share bookmarks
    --“push” a web page to a patron

The software is open source (downloadable on sourceforge.net), and so is free and flexible. However it does require some technical know-how to get up and running.

Another aspect to think about when talking about social interaction for the IPL is the fact that it is no longer only a library, but also a "virtual teaching and learning laboratory for digital reference." So we need to consider not just tools for library-patron interaction, but also tools for interaction for teachers and students. So the IPL could use, for example, something to facilitate collaboration between teachers (like the TCA software); also, software for teacher-student and student-student interaction.

Rakim is just one suggestion for improving social interaction. However, in terms of social interaction the IPL is now nearly a "blank slate.” This offers an exciting opportunity for developing social networking solutions for the IPL. However we should be careful not proceed haphazardly but rather map out the route carefully so the IPL doesn’t become cluttered with piecemeal solutions to this problem.


References

Carraway, S., & Payne, S. (May 2005). Implementing RAKIM open source chat reference software: we weren't sure whether our students would really take to virtual reference, so we found a package we could try for free. Computers in Libraries, 25, 5. p.10(5).

"Drexel University to Transform Internet Public Library Into Virtual Learning Lab." Retrieved from http://www.drexel.edu/news/headlines/drexel-university-to-transform-internet-public-library-into-virtual-learning-lab.aspx on January 29, 2008.


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