Since registration for the 2007 ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium closes this Friday (July 13, 2007), I thought I’d do one more post about why I think this opportunity is so unique for those who are interested in gaming services in libraries.

Technically, Second Life isn’t a game, although you can do game-like things in it if you choose to. So what do library services look like in a virtual world like SL? How can we experiment there when we’re still working on our first life presences? Who, what, where, when, how, and why?

If you’ve been asking yourself any of those questions, this event will help answer them for you, thanks to a group of speakers who are leading the way in this area, including the folks from the Alliance Library System spearheading the Info Island effort.

Libraries Get a Second Life
Lori Bell (Alliance Library System), Tom Peters (TAP Consulting)
“First lives are often busy enough but a second one can allow you to be anyone you want! Alliance Library System started the Second Life Library in April 2006. We have found that people in virtual worlds do want libraries, and even books. We have offered some traditional and some new services. This program will cover how we got started, what works and what does not work. Tom Peters and Lori Bell will discuss the project.”
How to Convince Administration and Management of the Value for Libraries in Virtual Environments
Kitty Pope (Alliance Library System), Barbara Galik (Cullom-Davis Library, Bradley University)
“These speakers will discuss effective strategies and how to build a case for your library’s involvement in virtual environments such as Second Life. They will provide practical examples of why libraries are important in the virtual environment and information you can provide to your administrator to convince them to get involved. …

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During the past several months I’ve been peripherally involved with the (Illinois) Alliance Library System’s project in Second Life, which has led to the creation of the Info Island…

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SciFi/Fantasy Gallery
“The Prestige” by Christopher Priest
Hosted by Phenyks Winx
It’s a story of two magicians during the era when electricity became part of a magician’s bag of tricks. Their rivalry takes them to the peaks of their careers, but with dire consequences. Christopher Priest spins a tale of misdirection and malace. We become the audience trying to figure out how things were done.
The Book of the Month Discussion is always~
the 3rd. Tuesday at 6:30 pm (Sl time)….July 17th.
and following Saturday at 12 noon………July 21st.
Contact Franja Russell for more information
Welcome to Mythica!
Alliance Library System announces the opening of Mythica, a residential community on the Imagination Island sim. The area shares Imagination Island with Rachelville, well known for its Dragon Maze, Secret Garden and children’s literature collections.
Mythica consists of 14 rental parcels surrounding a pond, plaza and library building (Griffin’s Nest) which will house collections on myths, legends, fairy tales and fables. Parcels are available at reasonable rates and information on renting can be obtained by contacting BrianA Corleone inworld. Green colored cones over residences still available to rent list land size and prims available on each parcel. Cottages on the land can be used or replaced with approved dwellings that reflect the rural surroundings. One parchel’s residence is solely a skybox and skyboxes are allowed for other parcels at prescribed heights above the dwelling below.
The rustic setting of Mythica along with the charm of neighboring Rachelville make this an ideal place for rest, relaxation and the development of a creative spirit within the SL Libraries community. Imagination Island is located south of ALA Arts Island and southwest of Cybrary City 2. …

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Well, the answer is: “Not yet”! But - following on from debates at CILIP’s bi-annual conference, Umbrella 2007, where library professionals also met online to discuss the potential value of Second Life to library services - CILIP will open an office in the Second Life virtual world on 19th July at noon. A press release today announced: Representatives at the virtual conference were positive about the potential Second Life holds for library services, “at present Second Life really reminds me of the net in the mid-90s. It needs some time to develop as a reliable platform, but once it does, its potential is enormous!”… Future sessions on the value of Second Life to library services are planned and a virtual office for CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals will open at 12.00pm on the 19 July. Anyone with an interest in libraries on Second Life who wants to find out more should contact Rheinallt Jones on rheinallt.jones@wales.gsi.gov.uk or by searching his online name ‘Welshman Humphreys’ through Second Life. As a CILIP Councillor, I can only applaud the initiative. CILIP is keen to be seen moving into a Web2.0 / Library2.0 age, to be a real (or virtually-real!) force for the new, knowledge economy and the new young professional. As Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library, in the opening plenary talk urged us all: ‘just go and do’.But, on a more light-hearted note, is this a new grade of member we are talking about? Will there be new post-nominals (SLiMCLIP)? And, more importantly, if CILIP has a virtual office, who will staff it and what services will it offer?>>Technorati tags: CILIP; SecondLife; governance>>IceRocket tags: CILIP; SecondLife; governance (Source: info NeoGnostic)

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Steven J. Taylor, director of academic computing at Vassar College, has recreated the interior of the Sistine Chapel in the virtual world Second Life. On the college’s Second Life island,…

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