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Google is often the fodder of much discussion among librarians. The vast majority of librarians I know love and use Google frequently (I use Google Reader, iGoogle, gmail, gtalk, Google maps, Google Scholar and Google Books). Librarians have often struggled to figure out the relationship they have with Google - some see great potential while others see Google as a threat. Google sought a partnership with libraries for their Google Books project and suggested they would like to continue the relationship, even starting a newsletter for librarians. As Steven Cohen and others have pointed out, they have not kept up this relationship. The Chronicle of Higher Education has since picked up this story. There is some great discussion occurring on the story, so take a look and consider what you think of the matter.
Google has also become the talk of librarians thanks to the release of Lively, Google’s virtual world. I’ve already jumped in and started looking around (I’m Darrwyn if you happen to be in Lively). At first glance, it seemed to be more like IMVU, a 3d chat room, than a virtual world. It wasn’t as intuitive as I thought it might be either. I found it a little odd that you choose your room before creating your avatar. I found it interesting that you can be in multiple rooms at once (simply tab between rooms). Rooms do show who is visiting, which will result in less empty world syndrome, a phenomenon that is commonplace in Second Life. It is also Windows only at the moment - I’m hoping this will change soon. I think there is potential though. I will be spending some time in there for the next while, learning the ropes, creating rooms and seeing how it compares with Second Life. One of the nice things is that Lively rooms can be put on a webpage - could this be a new step for virtual reference (I’ll have more on this idea later, so stay posted). We already have meebo widgets on our webpages, perhaps there will soon be a Lively room as well.
Update - It’s much easier to move around when using a mouse with my laptop. If I had started out this way, I may have felt the interface was a little more intuitive than I originally did.
I was invited to speak at York University by the Emerging Technologies group about SL and libraries (I threw in some education too). It was a great turn out - I was impressed by the interest and questions. Perhaps we’ll see them in SL sometime soon. In case you’d like to see what I talked about, you can check out my York Presentation.
I’ve got a bunch of other presentations coming up (the next one at Computers in Libraries) and a research leave. Lots of work ahead. I’ll share when they’re done.
Well, I just finished my first webinar. It was a very interesting experience. I’ve attended a number of webinars but never presented one before. I’m quite comfortable with presenting in front of a group. I like being able to read the audience and adjusting as necessary. Webinars remove this important aspect from the presenter. I talked into a phone for 45 minutes, hoping that all was technically right and that everyone could here me and the ppt was moving well. I opted to leave questions until the end which meant lines were muted while I talked. It’s very difficult to tell if you’re connecting with your audience.
The experience reinforced one of the advantages of Second Life. The webinar made it difficult to connect properly with the participants. I find I have the same problem with distance education - chatting and email are fine but very impersonal in a way. Second Life allows me to connect a person with a physical representation through their avatar. It makes a profound psychological difference for me as it creates a different connection than chat alone can not allow - I can picture someone/something when I think of the person. If Second Life was robust enough, the webinar could have been much more personal and interactive. I can only hope that Linden Labs will reach the point where webinars can be held their effectively (I know that there are some offered now, but there is room for improvement).
All in all, the webinar was interesting experience and one I hope to do again. Thanks to all who joined me today!
Well, it’s here finally! We have an island! It came a couple of days ago. I didn’t post about it because we don’t have anything there yet, in fact, we still don’t. Access is limited at the moment, until we have things up and running. I’ll send out full information (including island name) once we have it terraformed and at least 1 building there, so stay tuned!
I’ve been asked by a few people for the report I wrote up about McMaster’s SL Virtual Reference Pilot. It’s now online here. It doesn’t really delve into service models and such as it probably should. I hope to do some in-depth research on virtual reference in SL and virtual worlds in an upcoming research leave, so I’ll share when it’s done.
I’m not sure if I’ve mention this or not, but we have decided to continue our SL virtual reference pilot project into the fall. In 3 months, with 80 hours of service and without much marketing, we answered over 120 SL and real life (RL) related questions from SL residents, McMaster affiliates (alumni, incoming students and existing students) and librarians. We hope to market the service more this term, recruit more volunteers and have already increased our hours of service to 8 a week. If you have any questions about the pilot, please feel free to contact me. I’m off to the WNY/O ACRL conference tomorrow to talk about reference in a virtual world and our pilot and will try to remember to post my slide, in case you’re interested.
Thanks to fellow SL archivist Christi Janus for his kind review of our pilot on his blog!
Second Life should be approached with caution by academic institutions as there are numerous ramifications to consider. Second Life is not always a peaceful, quiet place - it is filled with sex, gambling, and griefers and depending on personalities, one may become addicted to the virtual world. We can control spaces we own in Second Life but we can not prevent students from leaving our space and entering more virtually dangerous areas. As academics, we must consider what it means to bring a student into this atmosphere. This is not the first time academia has encountered this muddy area though. The Internet’s birth is similar in a number of ways - it started out clunky and often with sex and gambling as a major portion of content. As with Second Life, the Internet can be an addictive space. We have since learned to work in this space and to use it effectively. In fact, many of us cant imagine working without it. Perhaps we will be the same with virtual worlds in the future.
The Chronicle of Higher Education recently had an article cautioning academic use of Second Life. I think that it is important to consider what it means to bring students into Second Life, what are the ethical concerns of this virtual world? That being said, I don’t think that that should scare us away from exploration. We need to caution and educate students as to what it means to be in a virtual world - what are the protocols, how can we behave in a virtual world. One of the important parts of exploration is discussion and we should have a discussion at all levels - departmental, administrative and campus wide. Consider what it means to you and your students to be in a virtual world and approach with caution.
Second Life has been the subject of praise and contempt, and rightly so. Second Life has a number of issues (ie. stability) but also offers us some interesting opportunities (ie. distance education). I have admitted that I am still in the exploration phase of Second Life after a year and that it still needs a lot of work before I’ll be completely sold on this virtual world. That being said, I also find that I have to defend my exploration of Second Life.
A recent post on the Hunger, Homelessness & Poverty blog notes that talented librarians are devoting time to a leisure world rather than doing good things in the real world. I have a couple of problems with this statement. First of all, while Second Life is certainly a leisure world, many librarians are not working on leisure activities. We are trying to supply needed resources (ie. links to library resources) that may have gone unnoticed to a new user group. The user group in Second Life may not be the user group we see in the libraries and we need to reach all patrons. Higher education has taken an active interest in Second Life and academic libraries are looking at ways to support the classes, as we would in the real world. Being in Second Life is a point of need issue. The post quotes a letter sent to the American Libraries journal. This letter assumes that Second Life consumes all free time. While some individuals become addicted to the virtual world, many of us are there for work and continue to have a life outside of the virtual world. I still have enough time to teach a distance education course and if I was really ambitious, other volunteer projects. Other librarians are not as lucky as I am and are exploring the virtual world on their own time. They recognize virtual worlds as a technology that needs to be explored and are devoted to helping the profession stay current, even on their own time. I can’t speak for their free time but most I know do not spend all of their time in the virtual world.
Second Life is not something that everyone can understand. Many of us, myself included, are still trying to understand the importance of virtual worlds. Virtual worlds however, can not be ignored. If we do not stay current and examine new technologies, we will be blindsided and be in a constant state of catch-up. Second Life is part of my job, not my sole job, and I do not feel I am doing a disservice by exploring opportunities in this virtual world. Something will replace Second Life but at least we’ll be ready for it.
I’ve been pretty quite lately as I get ready to change to a liaison model of librarianship and try to finish projects before the needed vacation.
It’s hard to believe, but today marks my 1st birthday, that is in Second Life. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been there a whole year! I feel I’ve still got so much to learn. I’m still trying to figure out the role of libraries and education in Second Life. I think there still lots of growth to happen and I’m excited that I can still be a part of it. Let’s see what happens in the next year!
While on the topic of Second Life, I thought I’d also note that today is the last day of our virtual reference pilot project there. It’s been an interesting project, successful I think and will likely continue. I’ll be preparing a report over the next week or so. I’ll be presenting on it in a couple of places, so watch out for it if you’re interested (or you can contact me if you can’t see it).
I was quite excited when I heard this conference was being held at Brock and it turned out I had reason to be - it was a great conference and I’m still digesting it. One of the exciting things for me was that the conference was diverse - there were gamers, non-gamers, game designers, professors, teachers and librarians, all thinking about the same types of things in slightly different ways. The conference was a great start at collaboration from different spheres and I loved hearing from so many different points of view. As with most conferences, there were too many sessions to choose from for an one time slot. The keynote speakers (Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Chris Csikszentmihalyi, James Paul Gee, Denis Dyack) were thought provoking (I’ve left my notes at work and will post details of sessions later). As usual, conversation was great - this is where I find I often get the most from the conference. I was lucky enough to sit with Sarah Robbins (aka Intellagirl), Mark Bell, James Paul Gee and a number of other interesting, well-thought attendees for supper. Needless to say, I went to bed with lots to think about. I hope to attend this conference again.
This was my first visit to Newfoundland, a visit that was far overdue. The city itself was great. I didn’t attend much of the conference but I did present, run a couple of meetings and attend others. As you may remember from my shameless plug, I presented at CLA on Second Life. I was part of a talented panel (Donna Bourne-Tyson, Denyse Rodrigues, and Nancy Collins) and my portion was on virtual reference. I spoke on my experiences in the Info Island virtual reference project and touched lightly on our recently launched McMaster virtual reference pilot project from our building on Cybrary City. I will likely post some more complete thoughts on the project when it’s done. The session went well (kudos to all presenters) and we had a much bigger crowd than expected (always a pleasant surprise). I’m hoping our powerpoint and handout will be online soon.
Time flies when you’re having fun! It’s hard to believe that it’s the one year anniversary of InfoIsland! The amount of work that has been accomplished in this short time is amazing! We’ve already grown to well over a dozen islands, have over 500 international librarians working on a variety of projects, and an increasing number of visitors. Kudos to all involved, especially our fearless leader Lori Bell.
Here’s a list of activities in the works for our 1 year celebration that’s happening this weekend (May 18-20). Hope you can drop in sometime!
ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
5/18 Friday
5/18 FRIDAY- ALL DAY
Open House in the Reader’s Garden, Cybrary City II (28, 24, 22).
Open house in the Garden, and distribution of free books by a local SL author in ThincC Press format. Contact: Minerva Enoch
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM SL Caledon Reception on InfoIsland I- In the grassy area beside the ALS building. Contact: JJ Drinkwater
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM SL Fireworks on InfoIsland I - same location Contact: Rosmairta Kilara
7:30 PM - 8:30 PM SL Gallery Party - Library Gallery - InfoIsland. IContact Abbey Zenith
9:00 PM SL InfoIsland I Tour: Meet at Welcome Center. Contact Jon Kozhedub
5/19 Saturday
5/19 SATURDAY - ALL DAY
Open House in the Reader’s Garden, Cybrary City II (28, 24, 22).
Open house in the Garden, and distribution of free books by a local SL author in ThincC Press format. Contact: Minerva Enoch.
10:00 AM SL - ALS Program InfoIsland Open Air Auditorium. Contact Lorelei Junot
10:30 AM SL - The Future of Second Life Library Discussion - Info Island I Open Air Auditorium -lead by Fleet Goldenberg
and Maxito Ricardo - come join us and discuss the future of Second Life Library
11:00 AM - SciFi Book Discussion - SciFi Portal Contact: Hawk Lightcloud
12:00 Noon - 2:00 PM Building Classes. Contact Anjj Juran
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM Double Concert: AldoManutio Abruzzo & Jaynine Scarborough at Pantheon Theater -InfoIsland II Contact: John2 Kepler
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM Peace Park Opening - InfoIsland I Contact: Abbey Zenith
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM Machniama Class. Contact HVX Silverstar - ALA Arts InfoIsland
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Grand Opening of Bell Library on Info Island I, Music and Dancing with the Stars - Contact Abbey Zenith/Lorelei Junot
5/20 Sunday
5/20 SUNDAY - ALL DAY
Open House in the Reader’s Garden, Cybrary City II (28, 24, 22).
Open house in the Garden, and distribution of free books by a local SL author in ThincC Press format. Contact: Minerva Enoch.
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM SL Machinima class. Contact HVX Silverstar - ALA Arts Infoisland
12:00 PM- 1:00 PM Renaissance Music Concert - Renaissance Island Marketplace - Contact Thom Dowd
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM SL New Librarian Orientation InfoIsland Open Air Auditorium Contact Abbey Zenith
5:00 PM - 6:00 PM SL 5-6 PM SL, Sunday May 20 Pain in the Brain! How to cope with teens in the library - HealthInfo Island - Contact Cerulean Vesperia
An interesting post over on InfoCult on the emptiness of Second Life. If you’ve been in the virtual world, you’ve likely experienced it. Over 25000 people online and no one is in any of the places you visit. This is one of the issues I think libraries need to consider when they create a space in SL. Yes, it’s great to create a space and explore the potential of the world, however, just having a space is not enough. We must try to bring people (not just one) to the space. It is important to continue to have events in your building, whether they are put on by the library or whether the space is used by another group (ie. community meetings). The SL library needs to become a branch in which events are held and people can come to meet others, much like a real library. It’s not necessarily an easy task but in order to get the most out of SL I feel it is one we need to pursue.
I spent my recent research leave concentrating on some Second Life projects I have on the go. With only a couple of weeks before one of them is due, I thought I would put out a shameless plug. I will presenting at the CLA conference in St. John’s this year. I am part of a panel session entitled “Second Life: Virtual Reference & IL Librarians with Wings” and I will be sharing my virtual reference experiences in the virtual world. So, if you’re planning on going to CLA, please say hello.
Also, as AGIIG convenor, we will be having our annual meeting at CLA, so check out the AGIIG blog for more details.
Kathryn Greenhill posted a great piece on why libraries should consider exploring Second Life. She’s certainly done a great job at highlighting the advantages to librarians for being in Second Life. It got me thinking about what the advantages for our patrons might be. This is a preliminary list that I hope to continue working on.
1. Leave the traditional behind. The great strength of Second Life is that the library doesn’t have to be traditional. We don’t need walls. We can offer information in a new and exciting way that may be more appealing to our patrons.
2. Visual. Many of our patrons, particularly the Net Gen, prefer to have information provided in a visual manner. Second Life provides an amazing way to present information visually and in 3D.
3. Point of need. Yes, it’s true that many of our patrons are not in Second Life yet, but they could be here soon or somewhere similar. By at least offering information or services here, we can reach them when they need it.
4. Reach new user groups. Some users may feel uncomfortable coming to a library, due to pschological or mental issues, physical disabilities, or a strange dislike of the library. By offering a presence in a virtual world where there are fewer stigmas (you don’t need that wheel chair, you can avoid crowds), we can meet their needs.
5. Interactive. Second Life is a social virtual world. We can create interactive exhibits which will be of interest to our new patrons. We can also be more interactive with our patrons. It may be my experience, but people who I’ve helped have often asked me more questions in Second Life, possibly on account of the anonymity it provides (will see if this continues when we get voice in world). They are also likely to friend you. A new level of relationship may occur between patron and librarian. You may feel more connected.
This was announced a little while ago but I’ve only decided to blog about it now. I know there has been a lot of interest in this topic. We’ve hired our Immersive Learning Librarian, who will be looking into virtual worlds, gaming, and other immersive environments. Congrats to Shawn McCann! I hope to be working with him on our Second Life presence and I’m sure he’ll have some great ideas to help our presence grow there.
Congrats to the other librarians we have also recently hired:
- Communications, Marketing and Outreach Librarian - Catherine Baird
- Digital Strategies Librarian - Nicholas Ruest
- Digital Technologies Development Librarian - John Fink
Starting tomorrow, we will be offering virtual reference service in our space on Cybrary City! Thanks to the 5 volunteers who have agreed to help me out! This is a pilot to see if such a service is necessary and how it might be staffed. We are just starting the summer term here, so we will be running the pilot for the extent of the term. Feel free to stop by and ask a question! For more info, check out our post in the Daily News.
The Alliance Library System and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign are offering a 6 week course on Virtual World Librarianship. Sign up here.
This comes from Intellagirl’s blog. It seems that a great new learning space, Angle Learning Isle, is available for everyone to try in Second Life (I can’t wait to check this out). This space has a sandbox area, educator’s tool gallery, and classrooms on demand - sounds perfect for those who want to try things out before committing whole heartedly - among other things.
And congrats to Intellagirl on her new job!
Ok, I’m not hiding something but it feels like I might have been hiding. It’s been a while, but I have been very busy. Not a lot to share today. I’m gearing up to do a virtual reference pilot in Second Life. It should be interesting. As much potential as there may be in SL, until our students our there, we are only helping the SL community (which isn’t a bad thing, but if you’re under staffed, one needs to consider priorities). I recently gave a lecture on learning (my first time guest lecturing - lots of fun) to a first year multimedia class, some of the students seemed interested. It would be interesting to know if any come visit our space on account of that class.
Have you checked out Scribd? It looks interesting. All the web 2.0 social software for your documents. I’m not sure I want people tagging and commenting on my work just yet. I’ve been using Google Docs for collaboration recently and I think I’ll stick with that for now.
And in case you haven’t heard already, the title of this post is courtesy of Stephen Colbert.
Jim Milles has set up a ning group for Second Life Librarians. Check it out and join!
I must admit I like the idea of being able to set up thematic social networks. I’m also part of the library 2.0 ning group, which you should check out if you haven’t yet. It’s grown like wild fire!
Well, it’s been a while since my last post. I’ve been busy with company and projects keep popping up. I hope to report more on the projects a little later.
I had a neat experience in Second Life the other day. I was attending a real world contest that was being simultaneously broadcast in SL. Unfortunately, I had to leave it for a moment but when I returned, I discovered that while the conference was proceeding, a second discussion on open access had arisen among those present (including some who were both at the rl conference and the sl environment). Active learning and discussion were taking place in sl rather than the conference! It was a really neat experience and highlighted some interesting potential for sl. Whether everyone could handle the two discussions at the same time is an entirely different question.
Well, I am behind in my learning 2.0 activities and hope to catch up over the weekend, so I may have more to share on that front later.
Here’s the new SLURL for the McMaster Library building on Cybrary City in Second Life! Feel free to check it out. Please let me know if there are any problems with the SLURL.
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/31/186/42/
Yes, I’ve said it before and I’ve said it again, Second Life is the beginning. But the beginning of what? A new 3D social network? A new 3D internet? A new virtual world? A new way of teaching, learning, or collaborating? The beginning of web 3.0? All of these? Well, there have been some interesting posts on Web3D and why they think it’s the next step. Check out Vicki Davis’ post on Cool Cat Teacher (scroll down to the entry The Frontier of Education: Web3D) and a response at Sean’s Emerging… Definitely food for thought.
I think the important point is that our students are comfortable in this type of environment and that 3D environments will help allow students to collaborate, explore and learn in ways that are more appropriate to them.
Just a heads up - the Mac building in Second Life is on the move. In a move that reflects my own moving habits, we’ve just moved down the street. I’ll have the new SLURL posted as soon as the building is back on the ground (it’s hovering in the air right now). Sorry for any inconvience.
I’ve often mentioned that Second Life will not necessarily be the end all and be all of virtual worlds, that something will likely replace it. What this next step will be, I’m not exactly sure. Second Life certainly has some problems to overcome at this point. The exciting thing about being part of Second Life at this point is that we can help shape what will happen next, whether it’s Second Life 2.0 or something else entirely. Check out this blog post from Infocult which surmises what the next step might be.
Well, here it is, the link to the presentation I gave a little while back on Learning and Second Life and Social Networks. It’s the slides and handouts so far, with video and podcast coming, if I recall correctly. Enjoy!
Yes, I have survived 3 straight days of statistics! I think I deserve a badge of honour. The Winter Institute on Statistical Literacy for Librarians was actually quite good. The small size allowed for lots of conversation and connections. As I’ve often said, the informal discussion is often some of the most enlightening parts of any conference. I like to find out what others are up to and how they’re approaching similar problems. As it turns out, I knew more than I thought about statistics. Sometimes you just need to be reassured that you are indeed on the right track.
Now it’s time to start my first 2 week research leave. I’m quite excited about the chance to concentrate on research again - it’s been a while. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this leave will be devoted to some work on Second Life. I’ll let you know if anything comes out of it!
We are in week two of our Learning 2.0 and participants are being introduced to and creating their own blogs. People are really quite excited by this program and it will be interesting to read their blogs.
On another note, I’m frantically trying to put the final touches on a presentation I’m giving tomorrow - Learning in a New World: Social Networks and Second Life (I’ll link to the slides once they’re up). The presentation is for the McMaster Learning Commons Partners’ Learning on Learning Forum. It’s been interesting research and I’m hoping all goes well. Then, in an attempt to pretend to be a jet-setter, almost as soon as I’m done the presentation, I jump on a plane and head out to Edmonton for the Winter Institute on Statistical Literacy. More on that when I return!
McMaster has been the talk of the town for a while - mostly because we have a new, exciting, innovative University Librarian, Jeff Trzeciak. We have lots of cool new positions (including a gaming librarian) and we’re doing lots of new things. He’s been very supportive of my exploration in Second Life. It seems we got some media attention for what we’ve been doing too! They even managed to take a picture of the McMaster Library space in Second Life while I was there (I had no idea they were taking a picture or that they were associated with the paper)! All in all - pretty cool.
Well, I’ve been quite neglegant so far this year in posting here. The first week back was relatively quiet but that is quickly being shattered. I’ve been getting ready for round two of the distance course I’m teaching, library instruction requests are coming in quickly, and changes in the library keep everyone hopping.
I’ve also been spending more time in Second Life lately - which means you get to hear more about it. We’ve had our first InfoCan group (remember, if you’re a Canadian info woker in SL, this is a group for you!), and despite the small attendance numbers, I think we’re one our way. I’ll be preparing for a few presentations in the next while on Second Life, which I’ll post more about once they’re done. I’ve done a little work on my avatar too - I recently got some new skin (which sounds very odd if you’re not involved in Second Life)- one normal and one a little more gothy. So, here’s one version of the brand new me:
I know some people have been having difficulty finding my storefront on Cybrary City, so I have created a slurl to help you find the building. Hope to run into you sometime!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/40/242/24/
Update:
Here’s a pic to help identify us too. 
Are you a Canadian info worker in sl (librairan, archivist, museologist, etc)? If so, do we have the group for you! Please think of joining the InfoCan group in SL. We’re hoping that Canadian info workers will come together in this group to discuss SL in a Canadian context, come up with ideas, exhibits, and discussions that affect us.
Group name: InfoCan
Group charter: Canadian librarians, archivists, museologists, and
other information folk who work (and play 
in SL, and promote
Canadian information and culture in SL and RL .
The group is co-owned by Dinnie Devonshire, and me, Danu Dahlstrom. Questions? Feel free to contact me!
I’m quite excited. I have been given a store front for my library in Second Life on the Cybrary City section (kindly donated to us to use for experimentation by Talis) on InfoIsland. This will allow me to experiment with how we might be able to offer library services in a virtual world and set up things like virtual office hours. I have a lot to learn, as presently there is nothing in my store front. Looks like there are lots of Second Life building classes in my future! Feel free to check out the new space on Cybrary City!
We just had a great talk by Alane Wilson of OCLC here at work, looking at a myriad of things, including the OCLC Environmental Scan, trends and branding. One of the questions after her talk was in regards to social networks and friends. This also relates to the point she made that people inherently ask friends for information first. In order to become a place which people more frequently use for their information needs, we need to be considered friends and to accomplish this we must be in their social networks (ie. Facebook, MySpace, etc). This also raised questions about what a “friend” is becoming in the social web, with the answer being that there are varying degrees of “friends”. Further to this was the fact that many are now finding and creating friends rather than simply finding existing friends in these realms.
This got me thinking about how friends are made in the virtual world of Second Life, which probably isn’t too far off from social networks. In Second Life, I befriend a number of people, particularly librarians involved in the project and I do this mainly so I can find someone to help me out in SL and who I may be able to approach to bounce ideas off of; since we are both librarians in a virtual world, we likely have similar outlooks. I also befriend newbies and others I have longer conversations with and I do this so that they may have someone to approach again if they have any information needs. My list of friends continue to grow, but in actuality, I don’t know any of these individuals. Little personal information is shared yet friendship is extended. They are simply a name on a list that I may never actually speak to or encounter again.
Libraries may find their Facebook and MySpace pages in the same place, on numerous lists but never contacted. What will be difficult to do is to stay on the evergrowing list of friends or contacts and not be forgotten or overlooked. Yes, it is important to be in the spaces that our existing and future patrons will be and I fully support libraries reaching out to user groups. What we need to do is figure out how to make ourselves important and useful in these spaces and not just a name on a list that is never thought of again. Do I have an answer for this? Not yet…..
I’ve had my first second life meets real life encounter. I must admit, it was kind of exciting and creepy when we discovered we worked in the same city and occasionally with the same institutions. I’ve heard far too many creepy encounters of virtual life meeting real life. My encounter was a good one though. He’s got some good contacts and is moving well on promoting the use of Second Life. His enthusiasm for the project is admirable. There’s some good potential for collaboration between the two of us and he got me thinking more about how I can implement and promote Second Life at my institution.
Feel free to join us for the Second Life Library Grand Opening! I’ll be there greeting, hope to see you there too!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Gonzo Mandelbrot, gonzoman@videotron.ca
Lorelei Junot, lbell927@gmail.com
DATE: October 4, 2006
Alliance Library System and Second Life Library/Info Island Pleased to
Announce Official Opening
The Alliance Library System and the Second Life Library/Info Island
collaborative group of librarians are pleased to announce the grand
opening and a host of activities planned for Second Life residents
scheduled October 12-14, 2007. All events will be held in Second Life
and are free to residents.
“We have been working on this project with partners from around the
world for six months,” stated Kitty Pope, Executive Director of the
Alliance Library System. “We are grateful to all the librarians and
others who have put in huge amounts of time to make this happen and we
are pleased with the reception the library has received in Second
Life.”
Gonzo Mandelbrot, Coordinator of Grand Opening Activities said, “We
have a variety of activities, events and tours that people can pick
and choose from or they may attend everything. The goal is to
highlight all the different aspects of the library and Info Island and
all that is available there.”
A detailed schedule of events is provided below. If attendees have
questions about specific locations, come to Info Island. We will have
tour guides there who can show people to the event location.
Thursday, October 12 – Virtual Worlds and Education: The Cutting Edge
– 4 pm sl – 6 pm sl – Speakers: Pathfinder Linden, Kitty Paul, Puglet
Dancer, Professor Boliveau, Lorelei Junot and Maxito Ricardo – Puglet
Dancer and Kitty Paul will cut the ribbon to begin grand opening
ceremonies at Info Island open air auditorium (Info Island 143, 82,
34)
Friday, October 13 - Virtual Worlds and Alternate Realities – Where
Do Libraries Fit In? – 7:30 a.m. sl – 1:30 pm. sl – A variety of
wonderful speakers with keynote by Pathfinder Linden - Info Island
open air auditorium(Info Island 143, 82, 34)
Friday, October 13 – 5:00-6:00 p.m. sl – Scary Movies at Second Life
Pantheon Picture House (Info Island II, 98,71,24)
6:00-8:00 p.m. sl – Costume Ball at Info Island Mystery Manor – prizes
for best costumes! (Info Island, 214, 163,33)
Saturday October 14 – 8:00 a.m. sl – Opening of Caledon Branch – 19th
century library (Caledon Tamrannoch (211,31,22)
9:30 a.m. sl – Grand Opening of Second Life Library Medical Library –
special events (Info Island 165, 204, 33) – Bioterrorism demonstration
Speakers: Moriz Gupta and Sojourner Truth
12:00 p.m. sl – Second Ribbon Cutting and special speaker – Info
island Open Air Auditorium (Info Island 143, 82, 34) – Katt Kongo,
editor, Metaverse Messenger
3:00 p.m. sl – Talis SciFi & Fantasy Portal Opening – special events
(Info Island 29, 62, 33)
5:00 – 8:00 p.m. sl – TX950 Beach party and celebration – dancing
refreshments, fun (Info Island 85, 33, 23)
Throughout the day – Tours, scavenger hunts, information kiosks – come
and have fun!
For further information, please contact Gonzo Mandelbrot or Lorelei Junot.
I’ve added a new page on the Second Life Library on Information Island, in Second Life of course. Check out the links and feel free to get involved in the project!
At least, that’s what it feels like when I start to try to walk or sit in Second Life. My adventures in this virtual world continue. I finally left the island to see what else the world has to offer. I’ve been nervous to leave the comfort of an area I understand.
I’ve signed up to provide some virtual reference on the island. The meetings before the service starts (Sept. 6) have been very interesting. A whole new host of issues to consider in a virtual world, along with the standards (ie. privacy, service standards, etc). I’m not sure I’m sold on the idea that a library has to have a place in a world like this. However, this will likely change, for the good or bad, as I continue to read up on gaming and education and become more proficient in Second Life.
Although it seems to be taking up a lot of my time (so much to learn!), I will continue to write about other issues.
