Stumbling, Bumbling, Teleporting & Flying… a Librarian Avatar in

“Second Life”

Esther Grassian(aka Alexandria Knight)

UCLA College LibraryRev. 25 Oct 2006

Alexandria Knight

Agenda

What is Second Life (SL)? Who’s Involved? Examples: Library & Librarian

Involvement & Fun Questions Welcome!

What is “Second Life” (SL)?

MMOG/MMORPG Massively Multi-player Online Role-

Playing Game >1 Million Registered Users 25%+ Increase/Month Based on Snow Crash

(Stephenson)

Virtual World?

Currency = Linden $$ Newspaper = “Metaverse

Messenger” Objects Designed by Residents Intellectual Property Rights

Respected >7000 Businesses

More…

Top Ten SL Entrepreneurs: >$200,000/year

Linden Lab’s Profit $20/virtual acre/month = $1

million/month + cut of currency exchange: L$ & US$ L$280 = US$1

SL Demographics (2 Aug 2006)… 50/50 Male/Female Participants Median age: 33 75% U.S. Participants [early summer] 57% U.S. Participants [20 Aug 2006]

“Second Life Statistics.” The Electric Sheep Company; “Statistics Update.” The Electric Sheep Company

Businesses…

More…

Marketing/Advertising

More…

“Metaverse Messenger” Kiosk

Caledon (19th century Sim)

Elven Glen

Campuses

San Diego State University NMC (New Media Consortium) 100 more in development…

San Diego State University

SDSU WebQuest

NMC Campus

Heart Murmur Sim

Heart Murmur Sim…

Fictional!

“This exhibit is for your entertainment only. None of the medical information presented here should be taken as true.”

Kemp, Jeremy. “Notices and Disclaimers…”

Svarga

Fictional, but… "If I was to turn off the clouds the

whole system would die in about six hours… Turn off the bees and [the plants stop] growing, because nothing gets pollinated.”

Laukosargas Svarog, “Second Life Virtual Ecosystem New World Notes”

Realistic attempt to replicate…

Nash Baldwin, MD & programmer, UC Davis

“…the building contains a closely researched recreation of visual and aural hallucinations, based on interviews of real schizophrenics.”

Au, James. “A Lever to Move the Mind.”

Real! USC Annenberg Island

Social Issues… Sponsor?

Real!

White Band Day: 17 Oct 2006 Global Call to Action Against

Poverty (GCAP)

Libraries, Librarians & Others Info Island -- ALS

Main Library Medical Library Mystery Manor Sci-Fi Building (in development)

Health Info Island (in development) ICT Library TechSoup

Flying in Info Island…

Info Island: Main Library

“Hallie” the ChatBot

Medical Library

Mystery Manor

More Mystery Manor…

International Spaceflight Museum

Entertainment

Bazaars Casinos Bars Be wary… Mature areas

Yadni’s Junk Yard

Casino…

Blarney Stone Bar (Dublin Sim)

Blarney Stone Bar…

Review

What is Second Life (SL)? Who’s Involved? Examples: Library & Librarian

Involvement & Fun To conclude…

Why Get Into SL?

Businesses Higher Education Learn New Technology Skills Collaboration Opportunities

Faculty Other Librarians & Technologists

And…

Go To Users!