SLA in Virtual Worlds

Find out what is going on in Second Life via Twitter

Second LIfe offers two different Twitter options.  You can keep up with the headlines from the Second Life blog on your cellphone.   You can also get alerts about the Second Life grid status.  If you don't want to add to the text load on your cellphone, you can also subscribe to the RSS feeds for these two options. 

For those times when you can not be In-World, Twitter may be the next best thing

If you do not already have a twitter account, it is easy to sign up for one.

Life Online Explores Virtual Worlds

Source--Email from Steve Cropper, Jan 23, 2009

A new internet TV program launches on February 1st that delves into how people spend their lives online. Life On Line, as the name suggests is about how people are increasingly spending more of their lifetime using the internet .

The TV show is the brain-child of Australian journalist and communications consultant Steve Cropper, who in 2008 was 'Angelico Babii', host of the LATE SHOW on Metaverse-TV (

www.metaverse-tv.com) and the creator of My-Metaverse (www.my-metaverse.com

) a social network for people involved in the new media arts on the web.

Please visit our viewers' group website at

www.life-on-line.ning.com

for details and I invite you to join and be part of this new internet TV show.

Spread the word :) Enjoy!

Visit Libraries in Virtual Worlds at:

http://network.associationofvirtualworlds.com/groups/group/show?id=2008361%3AGroup%3A43750

Classes on Second Life to be Offered in Feb-Mar 2009

The Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois, in partnership with the Illinois Alliance Library System, is pleased to offer the following non-credit continuing education courses on Second Life. These courses are open to anyone interested in learning more about virtual worlds and establishing a library, museum or educational presence in Second Life.

Second Life 101
Instructor: Puglet Dancer
Dates and times:
Fridays, February 6, 13, 20, 27 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time
Wednesdays, April 8, 15, 22, 29 from 3:00-5:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Virtual World Librarianship
Instructors: Hypatia Dejavu, Abbey Zenith, Rocky Vallejo, JJ Drinkwater
Dates and times:
Sundays, March 1, 8, 15, 22 from 3:00 - 5:00 pm SL (U.S. Pacific) time
Tuesdays, April 7, 14, 21, 28 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Working with a Class in Second Life
Instructor: Bryan Mnemonic
Dates and times:
Mondays, March 2, 9, 16, 23 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time
Wednesdays, May 6, 13, 20, 27 from 5:00-7:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time
Wednesdays, July 1, 8, 15, 22 from 10:00 am - 12:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Setting Up an Educational Presence in Second Life
Instructors: Lorelei Junot, Abbey Zenith, and Maxito Ricardo
Dates and times:
Sundays, February 1, 8, 15, 22 from 4:00-6:00 PM SL (US Pacific) time
Thursdays, April 7, 14, 21, 28 from 4:00-6:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Setting up Your Library or Museum in SL: An Applied Approach
Instructors: Daisyblue Hufferman, Krull Aeon, Sonja Morgwain
Dates and times:
Wednesdays, February 4, 11, 18, 25, March 4, 11 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm SL (U.S. Pacific) time
Wednesdays, May 6, 13, 30, 27, June 3, 10 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm SL (U.S. Pacific) time

NEW COURSES

Second Life 102
Instructor: Puglet Dancer
Dates and times:
Fridays, March 6, 13, 20, 27 from 1:00-3:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Virtual Worlds and Libraries Seminar
Instructor: Maxito Ricardo
Dates and times: March 4, 11, 18, 25 from 5:00-7:00 pm SL (US Pacific) time

Instructional Tools for Second Life
Instructor: Hypatia Dejavu
Dates and times:
Thursdays, March 5, 12, 19, 26 from 5:00 - 7:00 PM SL (US Pacific) time

For additional information and to register:
http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/VW/

Not the frontier anymore

Back in December, I blogged about Mitch Kapor's keynote in Second Life.  Interestingly, he sees virtual worlds as not being the "frontier" or "wild west" anymore.  Those early trailblazer have already gone through, surveyed the environment, sent back reports, led expeditions, taught others necessary survival skills, and setup places for later arrivals to inhabit.  For those who traverse into virtual worlds now, they are entering environments that have been tamed.  The services they need for their existence are already there.

Of course, going to any new place can feel unfamiliar at first.  Those who enter a virtual world for the first time may feel disoriented, but -- like visiting a different real world city -- they should soon find it to be like others places with familiar landmarks and road signs.  And rather than focusing on the infrastructure, they'll find themselves focusing on relationships, content, products and services.

Of course, like the early frontier, people don't follow the pioneers unless those pioneers send out news reports and letters of encouragement.  If you have ventured into a virtual world, then take time to act as an ambassador.  Let people know what you found and give them reports from the "tame west."  If you haven't ventured into a virtual world, then look around you for the pioneers and ask them to lead you into the lands they have explored.

Call for Presentation and Paper Proposals and Topics --Second Annual 'Vitual Worlds: Libraries, Education and Museums

Call for Presentation and Paper Proposals and Topics
The second annual "Virtual Worlds:  Libraries, Education, and Museums (VW LEM)" Conference will be held in Second Life on Friday and Saturday, April 24 & 25, 2009. 

Purpose of the Conference:

To provide a gathering place for librarians, information professionals, educators, museologists, and others to learn about and discuss the educational, informational, and cultural opportunities of virtual worlds.

Please note:  Although the conference will be held in the virtual world Second Life, presentation and paper proposals about LEM developments in other virtual worlds are encouraged.

Possible Topics for Presentations, Papers, and Participatory Events:

·    Virtual world events and exhibits as the drivers of attendance and engagement
·    Immersive learning environments
·    Reference service possibilities and practicalities in virtual worlds
·    Corporate and special librarianship in virtual worlds
·    Educational tools and resources
·    Enterprise uses of virtual worlds
·    Tours of LEM locations in Second Life
·    Gaming and virtual worlds
·    VW LEM opportunities for children, tweens, and teens
·    Dreams and visions for LEM activities in virtual worlds
·    Assessing LEM initiatives in virtual worlds
·    Sustainability issues and opportunities for LEM activities in virtual worlds
·    Other topics pertinent to the broad topic of LEM activities in virtual worlds are welcome!  Send us your innovative proposals!  If you have a topic you really would like to see addressed at this conference but don't know of a speaker who can address the topic, please send us the topic and we'll try to find a speaker. 

Proposal Guidelines and Deadlines:

·    Each session will be 45 minutes long.
·    All sessions will begin on the hour.
·    All proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. SLT on Saturday, February 28, 2009.
·    Please send proposals to Tom Peters ([email protected]) with "VW LEM proposal" in the subject line.
·    For presentations, please send a paragraph about your proposed presentation, the intended audience, and any pertinent URLs or SLURLs.
·    For papers, please send an abstract of your paper.
·    Notification of acceptance will be sent by Friday, March, 2009.
·    Proposals from students and general citizens are welcome.  You do not need to be a member of the LEM professions to present at this conference.

Conference Schedule (tentative):

·    Friday, April 24, 2009, from noon to 4:00 p.m. Second Life Time (U.S. Pacific Time):
o    noon to 12:45 p.m.:      Keynote Panel (no conflict)
o    1:00 to 1:45 p.m.:      First group of sessions
o    2:00 to 2:45 p.m.:      Second group of sessions
o    3:00 to 3:45 p.m.:      Third group of sessions
o    4:00 to 4:45 p.m.:      Social event

·    Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 8:00 a.m. to noon Second Life Time (U.S. Pacific Time):

o    8:00 to 8:45 a.m.:      Keynote Panel (no conflict)
o    9:00 to 9:45 a.m.:      First group of sessions
o    10:00 to 10:45 a.m.:    Second group of sessions
o    11:00 to 11:45 a.m.:   Third group of sessions

·    Note:  Pre- and Post-Conference conversations, announcements, and documents will be available in the "Virtual Words:  Libraries, Education and Museums" group in Facebook.

Conference Sponsors:

·    Alliance Library System (http://www.alliancelibrarysystem.com/)
·    Talking Communities (http://www.learningtimes.net)
·    TAP Information Services (http://www.tapinformation.com)

Conference Organizers:

·    Lori Bell (Lorelei Junot in Second Life) from the Alliance Library System:  [email protected]
·    John Walber (Wilbur Wood in Second Life) from Talking Communities:  [email protected]
·    Hope Kandel (Rye Checchinato in Second Life) from Talking Communities:  [email protected]
·    Tom Peters (Maxito Ricardo in Second Life) from TAP Information Services:  [email protected]

YouTube Video on Why Government Needs to Take Advantage of Social Media

An interesting look (from a government person) on why the government should take advantage of social media.

"I thought you all might enjoy the following real life government in second life (group) video made by Hackshaven Harford (SL name) of NOAA describing why government (specifically NOAA) needs to take advantage of social media in order to better serve its constituents. The video uses his SL avatar to narrate."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj5G4XsCT34

Virtual Ability Island--A different type of SL introduction

Previously called the Heron Sancutary after the last name of the three founding avatars, Virtual Ability Island was established in January 2008.  You can read more about the fascinating history of Virtual Abiliity Island on its website  http://virtualability.org

Virtual Ability SLURL is  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Virtual%20Ability/69/175/23

From its mission statement

Virtual Ability, Inc.'s vision is to be the leading provider of services for and information about the disabled in electronic virtual worlds.

Virtual Ability, Inc.'s mission is to enable people with a wide range of disabilities to enter into electronic virtual worlds, and provide them with a supporting environment once there.

Because of its mission, Virtual Ability Island offers a more holistic approach to SL orientation.   Gentle Huron and HVX Silverstar (RL-Bernadette Daly Swanson, University of California Davis) created a 3 part High Definition Machinima to showcase that orientation. All the videos are available o You Tube

From Bernadette's email, dated January 4,  2009

Note the latest Flash plugin is required on browsers in order to access the HD versions and high quality versions of videos on YouTube.  If not, the links for watching in HD or for high quality (at lower right of the YouTube viewer) do not show up. 

Virtual Ability Orientation ONE in Second Life® - part 1 of 3 (HD 720p)
(arrow keys for navigation, camera controls activities with built-in assessment, mac specialist for assistive technologies, mouselook and how to exit, pose balls and picnic
thieves, learning more about the inspiration behind the Virtual Ability Inc./Alliance Library System life-changing Second Life project - Gentle Heron talks about her interview with Voice of America, and we dance out with dance animation,
lime jelly and the music of Jarrod Pedone ASCAP, "Countercall" )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAjG4Tv6LvU&fmt=22

Virtual Ability: Orientation TWO in Second Life®: part 2 of 3 (HD 720p)
(learning to fly in the butterfly aviary, zooming in with your camera controls to get an even better look, flight rewards in Second Life, introducing communication features, talking monkey bot -- ask him a question, "What is your disability?"  "Doesn't everyone have a disability!"
IM window, buying and getting things in your inventory.. then wearing it -- great example of built-in assessment, and the teleport maps created by Krull Aeon.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntRpndqwO6E&fmt=22

Virtual Ability Orientation THREE in Second Life®: Part 3 of 3 (HD 720p)
(covering inventory search, finding and wearing t-shits, how not to wear a box! and cleaning up after yourself.... teleporting and climbing trees!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFE5G8gP5_g&fmt=22