[Web4lib] Does your university support an online community / forum?

[Andrea Peterson]

A few years ago, I started an experimental project that we pitched as an Online Learning Commons.  It was geared toward pulling together support services, building community online, and increasing online communication on our campus.  It's been embraced by our students and we see significant increases in participation every year.  It is VERY open, however, and in addition to the awesome community building, student mentoring and support, there is some content which makes a lot of people uncomfortable as well. This year, with massive budget cuts, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep it going, and I'm looking for other universities that might be doing something similar.  I can't really find them, but I am guessing that they may exist, but may not be accessible to the outside world.  

If your university supports something like this, I'd really appreciate hearing about it and would also appreciate contact information for the person or people who manage it. 

I'd also value any feedback from this community about a library managing an online community -- is this an appropriate venture for a library?  I argue that there is great potential in utilizing a student-centered space such as this as a training ground for civil discourse, that it is a collaborative environment where faculty can engage with students in intellectual inquiry, where faculty, staff and students can contribute on an equal footing to the mission of the University, and where we can develop a sense of place and community online, in an era when our busy world doesn't allow the same level of active engagement on campus that was possible for previous generations.  And given that our library mission statement is "Western Libraries Connects:  people to people, people to place, people to learning," it seems a good fit!  Your thoughts would be appreciated!

http://vikingvillage.wwu.edu

Andy Peterson, Head of Library IT, Western Washington University