VALISblog

Vast Active Library and Information Science blog. From a recent library science graduate in Wellington, New Zealand. A focus on reference and current awareness tools and issues, especially free, web-based resources.

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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Libraries in Second Life?  
 
Second Life is an online virtual world where users create content. The game is so popular that it's possible for players to make a real-world living from the content they create in the game (Wired News). Copyright expert Professor Lawrence Lessig has lectured in Second Life, and author and blogger Cory Doctorow has conducted a virtual book signing in the game.

The Wired article linked above says "in a recent contract with the UC Davis Medical Center, Rufer-Bach created virtual clinics in Second Life to train emergency workers who might be called upon to rapidly set up medical facilities in a national crisis. The work is funded by the Centers for Disease Control."

So......wouldn't it be cool to have virtual libraries in Second Life? Or virtual reference librarians? Does anyone know if this is happening?


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Comments:
I have poked around a bit in SL but haven't quite found the library yet (I always get sidetracked!). At the Gaming in Libraries Conference, Les Gasser from UIUC said that faculty at University of Illinois had virtual meetings in SL, which would be super cool (http://www.hiddenpeanuts.com/archives/2005/12/05/gaming-in-libraries-2005-keynote-les-gasser/). I'm a distance ed librarian and I wonder how applicable online worlds like this would be for instruction generally and library instruction particularly.
 
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