Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Brave New World: Redesigning Lehman College Library’S Website, Stefanie Havelka, David Stevens

Publications and Research

Since today’s students are digital natives, they naturally expect more from an academic library website. Well-designed websites, virtual games, social networking as well as search engines are an integral part of their daily digital lives. Consequently, challenges faced during redesign of a library’s website are two-fold:

• Concepts of web usability must be applied. The website needs to be well organized and present its information and content in a user-friendly manner.
• The website needs to be visually appealing since it serves both as the virtual extension of the physical library, as well as a significant outreach tool promoting the Library’s and …

"Blacks Deserve Bodies Too!" Design And Discussion About Diversity And Race In A Tween Virtual World, Y. B. Kafai, M. S. Cook, Deborah A. Fields

Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences Faculty Publications

In this paper, we investigate racial diversity in avatar design and public discussions about race within a large-scale tween virtual world called Whyville.net, with more than 1.5 million registered players of ages 8—16. One unique feature of Whyville is the player’s ability to customize their avatars with various face parts and accessories, all designed and sold by other players in Whyville. Our findings report on the racial diversity of available resources for avatar construction and online postings about the role of race in avatar design and social interactions in the community. With the growing interest in player-generated content for online …