I've been recently reading about the Second Life online community and the library that has opened within this virtual world. It's fascinating, a little scary, and at times I wonder if it's gone too far. But then, we do strive to reach our users in new and unique ways, so why not try try to reach users by building a library inside a virtual community? Be where your users are (and many of our university students are in strange places like SL as well as the ubiquitous Facebook and MySpace).
OPAL is offering a session next week on the Second Life Library:
Wednesday, May 31, 2006 beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 2:00 Central, 1:00 Mountain, noon Pacific and Second Life Time, and 7:00 p.m. GMT:
Alliance Second Life Library 2.0: An Introduction
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, also known as avatars. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by nearly 200,000 people from around the globe. There are shopping malls, events, homes, lands of different types, and best of all, participants can contribute content, buildings, and other digital creations. The Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 recently opened to provide library services to the residents of Second Life. Speakers will include Greg Schwartz, Tom Peters, Lori Bell, Kelly Czarnecki, Jami Lynn Schwarzwalder, and other librarians involved in the project. NOTE: This introduction will be held entirely in the OPAL online meeting room. You need not be in the Second Life online environment to fully experience this online event.
Sponsor: Alliance Library System
Location: OPAL Auditorium
That Second Life library is great! I think it is going to strengthen real libraries in the real world. I saw something like this in Egypt, when I worked there in the 90s. A lady who had worked in high school libraries in the US before moving with her husband to Cairo started a very small library in a corner of one room in the expat church. It grew. May did it grow! But as it developed and more and more books were donated and purchased by the expat community, this librarian set up LIBRARY SYSTEMS. So when she left, some 10 years later, she had people (black Sudanese refugees and white expats) who knew the rudiments of a library. As a result of that little library refugee and expat communities in Cairo grew in appreciation for libraries and for books. There was a mushrooming effect. I am sure the same will happen in Second Life. Oh, I should add, that the team of part-time librarians got training. Both when they started working with the lady who set up everything, and along the way. Team building programs probably ought to be a part of every library service -- both in this Life and the Second one!
Posted by: lenmcgrane | Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 19:07