VSim

This paper describes the annotation system developed for VSim, an NEH-funded run-time software prototype for interacting with three-dimensional computer models in both formal and informal educational settings. Specifically divorced from the model creation process, the VSim annotation system provides users -- be they content creators, project collaborators, peer reviewers, independent scholars, editors, in-service educators, or students -- the ability to embed spatially aware commentary, information, paradata, and paratext within a 3D environment. In de-coupling the modeling and annotation processes, VSim facilitates the general distribution and secondary use of academically generated 3D content by providing opportunities for scholarship within virtual environments without requiring proficiency with the specialized software packages used to build the computer models themselves.