Library Celebrates One Year in Second Life

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Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.usThis weekend, InfoIsland on Second Life celebrates their one year anniversary. Over ten islands and events running throughout the day, including a discussion from Mukwa Dibou (aka ALA President elect, Loriene Roy pictured here) who said that sl gives additional options for communication and social spaces. She also invited everyone to the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C. on Friday, June 22, 3:30p-5:30p for a celebration in her honor.

Don’t miss Cerulean Vesperia’s presentation on Sunday at 5p sl (PST) on Pain in the Brain! How to cope with teens in the library on HealthInfo Island in second life. (check out this article from this month’s issue of Scientific American Mind on The Myth of the Teen Brain by Robert Epstein.)
Other events include book discussions, building classes, music concerts, machinima classes, tours, grand openings of other buildings, and more. It’s an amazing weekend.
Check out the article on page three of the Metaverse Messenger, Second Life’s newspaper for more detailed information. Create your own avatar at www.secondlife.com, install the program on your computer, log in, click on search and type in Info Island and teleport.
btw, starting this summer, San Jose State University will offer a graduate degree course in Library and Information Science tracking the world of libraries in immersive environments.

Posted by Kelly Czarnecki

Positive Use of Social Networking #13 – Second Life

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During October a small group of YALSA bloggers are posting ideas and information about positive uses of social networking tools in schools and libraries. Here’s positive use #13.

Second Life(SL) is a 3D virtual world for adults age 18 and over where one can create an avatar, interact with others, and design the world they want to live in. Over 100 universities and colleges are involved in SL to offer their students a learning experience through this world.

Teen Second Life is for teens, 13-17 and is separate from adults because of safety reasons. Teens can own land, run their own business, design clothes, create machinima, bring their favorite story scene to life through build and design skills, and learn about social issues such as child pornography and sex trafficking which was what GlobalKids did through their camp in Second Life this summer with teens. Schools such as Suffern Middle School in New York, is aligning curriculum standards for their 8th graders with Teen Second Life, and will have a presence to serve their students hopefully by next month.

The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in NC and the Alliance Library System in IL have announced a partnership last week to collaborate on library services for teens through Teen Second Life. The project will involve a collaboration with libraries and other youth serving organizations to reach teens where they are at and keep the library relevant to their needs. To find out what libraries are already doing on Second Life with adults, check out: www.infoisland.org Many YALSA members are already involved in Second Life with incredible and tremendous talent and are involved with the teen library project as well. The Alternative Teen Services blog links to Second Life under their ‘connect’ list.

While background checks are required for any adult working with teens on Second Life, if DOPA in its current form, had passed, teens at public and school libraries that are offering Second Life as a program, might be unable to access it or at least the rich world of communication tools that surround the virtual world such as blogs and wikis that foster collaboration and information for projects.

Developmental needs such as community support, motivation to learn, and cultural competence are perfect combinations to build upon through Second Life.

For more information on the library project, or to get involved, check out www.infoisland.org. To find out what other educators are doing in Second Life, go to the SimTeach wiki at: www.simteach.com.

It’s not too late to participate in Info Island’s open house going on this weekend in Second Life. Create an avatar and join the fun! Audio presentations will be archived on OPAL

Posted by Kelly Czarnecki