What are you doing in SL?

[Jim Milles]

So I'm curious: what is everyone doing in Second Life? Are you there by yourself or as part of a library team from your place of work? Are you volunteering in Cybrary City? Are you connecting with real-life patrons? Or are you just there because it's fun?

I'll start off: I've always been interested in call kinds of social media, from back in the days when we used to call it computer-mediated communication. I'm not currently involved in any of the Second Life Library projects; I'm not sure that info-seekers are going to go to an SL library to find what they're looking for. I usually hang out in SL with my Law Librarians in Second Life group activated; it's like wearing a name tag that says "I'm a librarian: ask me how!" And once in a while people have questions I can help with. I'm also a podcaster, and I've been invited to participate in various activities (such as planning Earth Day events in SL) as both a librarian and a podcaster.

What about you?

[Bill Drew]

I tired it for a few hours one very slow day here at Morrisville. I simply do not have the time to be on every new thing that comes along. I wish I could. SUNY FACT has purchased an entire island for SUNY use. I may see what happens there.

[Rosemary Arneson]

I opened a "branch" of my university's library in SL last fall. It's located in Cybrary
City I, between Canada and Australia. I use that space to tell people about my
university, and have links to most of the academic libraries in Alabama there. I'm
using the second floor of the building as a display space. Currently, there's
a display about the Quilts of Gee's Bend, but I'll be replacing that soon with
a display using images from Alabama Mosaic, a state-wide digitization project.

I've been working with some other SL librarians to build a collection of resources
for SL newcomers. The collection is currently housed in the Main Library on
InfoIsland I, near the welcome center.

It seems to me that we (the librarians in SL) have confined ourselves by trying
to replicate traditional libraries and library resources in SL, and I'm trying to find
ways to break out of those confines. The people I run into in SL have information
needs, usually about some aspect of Second Life. I'm interested in exploring how
we librarians can use our professional expertise to meet those needs in new
and interesting ways.

And I like that my SL avatar can change clothes several times a day without having
to worry about doing laundry.

[Lisa Coleman]

Rosemary, I haven't seen these resources yet. I've been looking for help on creating objects. Is there anything available in this resource set on that topic? Thanks!

[onitzuka]

I haven't used SL, yet, but I would like to.

I am joining because I do find MMO-worlds interesting. :)

[Connie Crosby]

I originally went on to SL to figure out what it is and how it works (that's how I got into blogging a few years back). My personal feeling is that it is too much work for the average person to get into it. It is, however, a "hot" medium in the McLuhan sense in that the more one spends time on it and engages with it, the more likely one is to actually use it. I have kept at it and slowly learned more, and found it to be increasingly fun.

I originally visited InfoIsland several months ago, but mostly found librarians talking amongst themselves, and not really mindful of the non librarians (clients?). I found that kind of off-putting. But then, I put that down to everyone just figuring out what they are doing.

Since then I've engaged in a few activities that were more fun: attending a lecture, joining an organized tour group (non-librarian) intended to learn more about second life; hung out with Jim and met a few people that way.

I agree with Rosemary that there has to be a way of using this medium that is specific to SL, not just a replication of what we have in RL.

[Kathryn Greenhill]

I'm co-ordinating the Australian Libraries Building on Cybrary City. My university library has just bought a plot of land on Cybrary City 2.

[Denyse Rodrigues]

For the Winter 07 semester I was assisting with a course that was partially held in Second Life. It was certainly my main reason for logging in - both to set up/prepare for the class, as well as class time. Now that the course is coming to an end, my library wants to have some sort of space in SL so I'll be volunteering with the Alliance Library to keep up my SL skills. I completely agree with Rosemary and Connie about integrating librarians/libraries with SL in a way that feels more organic.

[Krista Godfrey]

It seems my story is a snowball story - it just sort of happened and got bigger. I originally came to SL in order to see what all the fuss was on the blogosphere. In order to get a better sense of things, I decided to volunteer for the virtual reference pilot, to see if library services were indeed something that could and should be offered. That in turn lead to acquiring a building for my university library, in which I am still researching and experimenting to see what role libraries should have in SL and virtual worlds in general.

I must admit though, one of the reasons I have stayed so long is the chance to network and meet librarians from across the globe. I've met some great people and seen some great ideas in SL. It's been a truly interesting experience.

I think Rosemary is right though - we seem to be replicating traditional libraries in SL and I think SL offers us a great place to explore ideas outside the box. We should also be thinking of SL needs, but also new ways of doing tradtional libraries. I'm not sure what that is yet, but I'd love to hear your ideas!

[Connie Crosby]

Why don't we start up a separate topic to explore how we are going to use SL for library services? I'll do that now.

[Debbie]

This is a great question, and I'm interested in reading the other replies when I get a chance. I haven't been in SL very long, so I am just feeling my way around right now. I also don't have a lot of time to devote in-world, as I work full-time at a public library (no SL capabilities or interest at my job right now). In addition, my husband uses SL for his part-time business at night which leaves me using it mostly on weekends or an off-day from work unless we eventually get a second Internet connection.

So far, I have attended a few of the SL library gatherings and have tried to keep up with the google group postings which I've found very helpful. I've also accepted a staff writer position on the M2 in the hopes of learning more about other areas of SL. I wrote for my college newspaper and also published a library school newsletter in library school, so I figured it might be interesting to transfer these skills to a virtual newspaper. I would also like to have a reference shift in SL and volunteer at Mystery Manor (I currently order the mystery books for my library's mystery collection and am an avid mystery reader).

For now, however, I am trying to master the basics which is more challenging than I'd anticipated. I am hoping that belonging to SL library groups and a social network like this one will also help.

[Donavan Vicha]

As a Web Program Officer for two divisions of the American Library Association, I am embarked on opening an office and looking for ways to help SL Librarians do what they do. Of course, we want to promote the organization as well but the best way to do that is find out how we can help and do just that. I foresee continuing education endeavors (blended learning linking with Web pages) once SL has vocal capabilities fixed (or work with Skype). We provide online courses on Readers Advisory, Business Reference, Marketing for Libraries, and The Reference Interview, and are working on one for Medical Reference. These can be translated into SL.

I also hope to work out something called Notable Books Chats, with authors who have written books that are recommended by our Notable Books for Adults Council. They would discuss their work in SL and we would capture it for podcasting in RL as well. If it can be arranged, we may also podcast a live presentation at Annual Conference to SL.

A number of people have said that the more time you spend in SL, the rewards of being there become more evident: I share that same feeling about the potential for unique opportunities that don't exist in RL for learning. They just haven't quite evolved yet.

[phenyks]

I'm trying to drum up interest in SL on my campus (Ball State University). So far, just a few (about 3) people have heard of it/are interested. I try to volunteer my time, too. I'm set to lead a book discussion at the Sci Fi & Fantasy Portal in July on Christopher Priest's The Prestige.