Library As Place: Online

Libraries are more than organized collections of materials. We frequently promote ourselves as gathering places and community spaces that facilitate the creation of knowledge. Viking Village takes this concept online, creating a place where students, faculty, and staff can share and discuss information, ideas, books, and events, share their creative work, and more. Viking Village receives more traffic than the Library's website and is frequented by thousands of students, staff, and faculty. Western's budget office uses the site heavily to foster transparency and dialogue about difficult budget decisions. In addition, the site supports direct questions to the Library and other support services on campus. Viking Village has become the social networking space on our campus, exemplified by this statement from a banned student asking for reinstatement: “I mean, it's not impossible to live without the forums [Viking Village]. But in this technological era, no one is going to want to communicate via any other means.” In this presentation, we will explore Viking Village and its role in the library and as a significant information source. I will also share how the site was built with Drupal and discuss the management and promotion of the site. I will also share assessment data and current thoughts about the future of Viking Village. There will be plenty of time for questions as well.