Librarians Develop a Second Life to Reach More People

Brian Gray(Brian Garfield in Second Life)

Case Western Reserve Universitybcg8@case.edu

KSU-SLA Student Chapter SymposiumFebruary 28, 2009

What is Second Life?

• 3-D virtual metaverse entirely built and owned by its residents

• Began as 64 acres in 2003• By 2007 was 64K+ acres• Fully-integrated economy: Linden

Dollar Exchange• Linden Lab – Support & development• Pacific Standard Time (SL Time)

Metaverse (According to Wikipedia)

• From Neal Stephenson’s 1992 novel Snow Crash

• Widely used to describe the vision behind current work on fully immersive 3D virtual spaces

• Environments where humans interact (as avatars) with each other (socially and economically) and with software agents in a cyber space, that uses the metaphor of the real world, but without its physical limitations.

http://secondlife.com

Windows MinimumSystem Requirements

• Internet Connection: Cable or DSL• Operating System: Windows XP or Vista• Computer Processor: 800MHz Pentium

III or Athlon, or better• Computer Memory: 512MB or better• Screen Resolution: 1024x768 pixels• Video/Graphics Card: nVidia GeForce 2,

GeForce 4mx, or better– OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better– OR Intel 945 chipset

LindeX Market Data

2009 JanuaryTotal Customers SpendingMoney In-World 4421431 - 500 L$ 169809501 - 2,000 L$ 795142001 - 5,000 L$ 564385,001 - 10,000 L$ 4006710,001 - 50,000 L$ 6964350,001 - 100,000 L$ 14905100,001 - 500,000 L$ 10062500,001 - 1,000,000 L$ 910Over 1,000,000 L$ 795

~$4000

Retain ALL IP Rights

Linden Lab's Terms of Service agreement recognizes Residents' right to retain full intellectual property protection for the digital content they create in Second Life, including avatar characters, clothing, scripts, textures, objects and designs. This right is enforceable and applicable both in-world and offline, both for non-profit and commercial ventures. You create it, you own it – and it's yours to do with as you please.

Example of Use Fees(Beyond Basic Free Account)

• US$9.95/month Premium Membership, includes 512sqm and weekly stipend

• 1/128 region, 512sqm, 117 prims, US$5

• Entire region, 65,536sqm, 15,000 prims, US$195

1.4 million last 60 daysand 69k currently

Ohio University Without Boundaries

http://www.ouwb.ohiou.edu/

Ohio University Video on SL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFuNFRie8wA

PLAY MOVIE

Avatars – Who do you want to be?

Dress for the Moment

Recreating or Redesigning

Virtual Recruiting

http://admission.case.edu/secondlife.asp

CWRU Promotes Dorms

Try Before You Buy

Kelvin Smith Library (CWRU)

Alliance Virtual Library

• Partner: Alliance Library System– one of nine regional library systems in

Illinois with over 250 member libraries of all types

• Partner: OPAL– Online programming for all libraries

• Public Blog: http://infoisland.org/• Other links, including “working site”:

http://infoisland.org/links/

Examples from AVL

• Genealogy Research Center

• Library Gallery

• Mystery Manor

• Performance Center

• Science Center

• SF/Fantasy Center

• Health Info

Second Life Library:Info Island I, Cybrary City, etc.

By HVX Silverstar

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/511035937/in/pool-secondlifelibrary/

Renaissance Island

By HVX Silverstarhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/

527404571/in/pool-secondlifelibrary/

Collaboration Takes New Format: My First Experience

Online PresentationsExample: Presentation by R. David Lankes, PhD, is Director of the Information Institute of Syracuse (IIS) and an Associate Professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies

http://quartz.syr.edu/rdlankes/blog/

Socialize Online

Example Course: Virtual World Librarianship - Your Second Life

• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, The Graduate School of Library and Information Science, & Illinois Alliance Library System

• Six 2-hour synchronous sessions will meet online in Second Life

http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/programs/cpd/Second_Life.html

San Jose State University's School of Library & Information Science

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADE0VSffgis

PLAY MOVIE

Mukwa Dibou (ALA President-Elect, Loriene Roy) and Jeremy Kemp (arriving) on SJSU sim

chatting with SJSU students and librarians.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photolibraries/511014362/in/pool-secondlifelibrary/

Brand Map of Second Life: http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=430

Avatar Academics, UCLA Magazine (4/07)

• Esther Grassian, an information literacy outreach coordinator at UCLA's College Library; her avatar - Alexandria Knight.

• “Ball State University's students discuss their assignments on SL”

• “Students of a Pepperdine University distance-learning course meet every fortnight to learn, as well as explore, what it's like to be part of an online community.”

http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/second-life_virtual-classroom/

Educators Explore 'Second Life‘Online (CNN.com)

• “The three-dimensional virtual world makes it possible for students taking a distance course to develop a real sense of community, said Rebecca Nesson.”

• “Most people think online learning doesn't require participation or engagement with course material, he said. But in "Second Life" there's real-time interaction, which means students need to engage in the discussion -- much as if they were sitting in a brick and mortar classroom.”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/11/13/second.life.university/

Negative Comments to Expect

• Only a game• Diversion• Only trying to be edgy• Waste of time• Lets do “first” life better instead• Fantasy, fake• Unprofessional• Porn, gambling

Signs of Growth & Acceptance

• Sweden to set up embassy in Second Life

• ALA Washington Opens Virtual Office

• Reuters had dedicated SL reporter

For Teens as Well

• Teen Second Life: http://teen.secondlife.com/

• Eye4You Alliance Island is sponsored by the Alliance Library System, PLCMC and SirsiDynix: http://www.eye4youalliance.youthtech.info/

More Towards Education

• http://secondlife.com/education/

• Second Life Best Practices in Education: Teaching, Learning, and Research 2007 International Conference– http://slbestpractices2007.wikispaces.com/

• https://blogs.secondlife.com

Directory of Libraries and Organizations

• http://infoisland.org/directory/

• National Library of Medicine, Specialized Information Services

Virtual Ability Island

Cleveland Public Library

Deep Sea Marine Aquarium& Sea-Life Centre

Second Life Science Center

International Spaceflight Museum

Nature Publishing Group's Island:Eukaryotic Cell

Texas State University – San Marcos

Texas State University – San Marcos

The Tisch Library and Wright Center Climate Change Education Center (Tufts University)

NASA CoLab

Piata Revolutiei - First Romanian city accurately represented in SL

Cultural Arts Museum's interpretation of England during the Neolithic Period

(James Madison University)

Team OKAPI and Berkeley archaeologists mirror the prehistoric village, museum and archaeology

in action at Catalhoyuk, Turkey.

Museum of the African-American Experience

Vikingecenter (Denmark)

Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown NY

Abyss Museum of Ocean Science

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Librarians Develop a Second Life to Reach More People

Brian Gray

(Brian Garfield in Second Life)

Case Western Reserve University

bcg8@case.edu

KSU-SLA Student Chapter Symposium

February 28, 2009