Second Life for Second Life for Academic LibrariesAcademic Libraries

Craig AndersonCraig AndersonNJLA Annual ConferenceNJLA Annual Conference

May 1, 2008May 1, 2008

We are living in a virtual world.We are living in a virtual world.

Snow CrashSnow Crash

• In 1992, science fiction author Neal Stephenson wrote a novel about a future society who lived much of their lives in a type of virtual online world.

• The novel was called “Snow Crash”, and the virtual world was called “The Metaverse”.

• The citizens of the Metaverse lived their lives as “Avatars”, which were virtual representations of actual humans.

• Movies such as The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, and Total Recall have explored these concepts.

Multiplayer GamingMultiplayer Gaming

• World of Warcraft

““I can’t even manage my I can’t even manage my firstfirst life!” life!”

• Second Life launched in 2003. It was created by a company called Linden Labs in San Francisco.

• Linden Labs intended for the world of Second Life to be designed and built by its residents.

• Some users of Second Life purchase land and set up virtual businesses, which can earn real-world cash.

• At this time, the US Dollar is equal to approximately 270 “Linden Dollars”.

Educational Institutions in Second LifeEducational Institutions in Second Life A Ilha Vestibular BrasilAachen, RWTH University, GermanyAarhus Business CollegeÃbo Akademi UniversityAnglia Ruskin UniversityArcada University of Applied Sciences The Art Institute of California-San Diego The Art Institute of PittsburghAudiocourses Music Production School Australian Film TV and Radio School Ball State University The Bay School of San Francisco Beach College Bentley College - Department of Natural and Applied Sciences Boise State University, Dept. of EdTechBournemouth University, The School of Health & Social Care (HSC) Bowling Green State UniversityBradley University Bridges for Women Society Bromley College of Further and Higher Education

Buena Vista University Buffalo State College California State University – PomonaCentral Piedmont Community College - Futures Institute Chapman University Clemson University Clemson University Graduate School Cochise College College of DuPage College of Humanities and Social Sciences atMontclair State University College of Internet Distance Education of Assumption UniversityColumbia College Chicago Columbia University

Derby UniversityDevry University Duke University Drexel UniversityDyersburg State Community College East Carolina University East Tennessee State University Edinburgh University Elon University Empire State CollegeSUNY TELECOM Bretagne  ESC Toulouse Europeen School of Visual Art Fachhochschule des Mittelstands BielefeldFachhochschule Pforzheim Finger Lakes Community College Fontys University of Applied SciencesFullerton College Gerald D. Hines College of Architecture University of Houston Glendale Community CollegeGraz, Austria, Technical University, Institut fuer WohnbauGreat Northern Way Campus goFluent, Global solutions for learning english Anytime Anywhere :Griffith University Harvard University Heinrich-Heine-Universitadt Helicon Opleidingen Heriot-Watt University Hong Kong Polytechnic UniversityHuddersfield University Idaho State University Illinois State University Indiana University Insead Iowa State University Ithaca College Johnson & Wales University Kalamazoo Valley Community College

Kean University

Labette Community CollegeLancaster University Lawrence University Lazarski School of Commerce and Law. Warsaw, PolandLeeds College of Art and Design Leeds Metropolitan University Lehigh Carbon Community College University of Leicester Link Campus UniversityLoyalist College Massachusetts Institute of Technology Mayville State University Minneapolis College of Art and DesignMinnesota State Colleges and Universities:Mohawk College Monroe Community College

Montclair State College NC State UniversityNew York City College of Technology ("City Tech"), CUNY Brooklyn, NYNew York University, New York City Nova Scotia Community College Northern Illinois UniversityOhio State UniversityOhio University:Penn State UniversityPenn State University – BerksPrinceton University Rice University

San Diego State University

San Jose State University Sungshin University – KoreaSt. John's University

Tacoma Community CollegeUnisinos:Universita degli studi di Cagliari Universität BielefeldUniversität Duisburg-Essen Universität FrankfurtUniversity of Hamburg

Universität KonstanzUniversity of Derby University of EdinburghUniversity of Kansas Medical CenterUniversity of Louisville University of Notre Dame University of PlymouthUniversity of Portsmouth University of SaskatchewanUniversity of Southern California: Institute for Multimedia LiteracyUniversity of Warwick: Coventry, UK Rheinische Fachhochschule University of Applied Sience CologneTexas A&M University Graduate StudentsTufts UniversityUniversidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City

Librarians in Second LifeLibrarians in Second Life

• Librarians came to Second Life in 2006.• Created the Info Island reference area, which is currently staffed by

64 volunteer librarians. • Includes several themed islands which comprise the “Info

Archipelago”, including such places as “Renaissance Island”, “Cybrary City”, “EduIsland’, and the newly-created “Land of Lincoln”.

(Dejavu, personal communication, 2/15/08)

Kean UniversityKean University

• 13,050 full-time Graduate and Undergraduate Students.• 376 full-time faculty.• 5 Colleges; 50 undergraduate and 31 graduate degree programs.• 18 division III varsity teams and 30 fraternities and sororities.• Average 30 minute commute to NYC.

(Kean University, retrieved 2/19/08)

Our Feature PresentationOur Feature Presentation

ReferencesReferences

• “Gamers Today, CEOs Tomorrow” (Jan. 2006) Career World. 36(4), p7-7, 2/3p

• Hillis, Scott. (10/10/07) “IBM, Linden Lab seek open borders for virtual worlds”. Reuters Newswire. Retrieved 2/20/07 from: http://secondlife.reuters.com/stories/2007/10/10/ibm-linden-lab-seek-open-borders-for-virtual-worlds.

• Kean University (retrieved 2/19/08) from: www.kean.edu• Lee, James. (7/5/2005) “From sweatshops to stateside corporations, some

people are profiting off of MMO gold”. Computer Gaming World. Retrieved 2/18/07 from:http://www.1up.com/do/feature?cId=3141815

• Second Life. (Retrieved 2/15/08) from: www.secondlife.com.• Stephenson, Neal. (1992) Snow Crash. Bantam Books. New York.• World of Warcraft. (Retrieved 2/8/08) from: www.worldofwarcraft.com• Yee, N. (2006). The Demographics, Motivations and Derived Experiences of

Users of Massively-Multiuser Online Graphical Environments. PRESENCE: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, 15, 309-329.