I attended an open house put on by Stanford University Virtual Archives, Second Life location. Upon arrival, one sees the campus, surrounded by palm trees. I used my mini map to find where people were gathered, walked over to the archives section, and found a helpful series of panels explaining how to use the virtual collections. The first one gives general information about the archives.
The next one tells the user specifically how to access a collection.
The archival boxes are displayed on tables.
Clicking on a box not only opens it, but also displays
a photo of the real box's contents. A nice touch.
Clicking again causes photos of the documents to appear above the boxes.
One can then zoom in on the images.
Clicking on a document gives the option of going to Stanford's website for additional information. Clicking on the blue box would have opened the website in the browser of my choice.
Another panel provides a list of collections available.
And another gives the user a landmark which one can use to return to the same spot. The option of joining Stanford's Library Group is also available. Groups generally keep members informed about changes, new services, and events.
Have a question? Leave it on the bulletin board. This feature could use a little more explanation on how to use it. It did not appear to be working when I was there.
A visitor list maker keeps statistics on the number of visitors.
Giving away freebies is part of the culture of Second Life. Here, one can get a free souvenir t-shirt:
And even a snack after a long day of virtual research.
Looking at a collection at Stanford Virtual Archives gives one the experience of being there. Some might prefer to have a list of links on a webpage, but others will appreciate the visual organization available here. It's easy to get a sense of how much material is available, which would be helpful in deciding if one needs to see it in real life. In Second Life, one could also arrange to meet one's co-authors, who live across the country or on a different continent, here. They could then look at a document together and use voice or text chat to discuss it. One could even discover someone else doing research on the same topic. Classmates doing an assignment could see each other and ask each other questions. This site could also be used in a classroom to show students how to do research in a university. And finally, it's simply more fun than just looking at a website. Here's a SLURL if you want to check it out for yourself:
