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My Wishes for the Virtual New Year |
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Written by Eirene Janus
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Sunday, 04 January 2009 14:29 |
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 Although this is only our third issue, we actually started this venture exactly one year ago this month, so this could be called our first anniversary. The real world has gone through a lot of changes during that time, some of which are certain to impact the virtual world soon, if not already. So what is in store for Second Life and virtual worlds in the coming year? Darn it! My crystal ball is on the blink… and my predictions are pretty awful without it.
I do have some New Year’s wishes though. And they’re not the usual stuff like "No More Lag!" or "Stop the Flying Penises!" Here they are:
- A truly browser-based virtual world. It is inevitable that this will happen, but wouldn’t it be great if it happened this year – will it be Metaplace?
- During SLCC08 in Tampa, I participated in a discussion group that wrote (and delivered) a letter to the Lindens about the many difficulties related to working with teens in Teen Second Life, such as adults not being able to teleport or send IM’s outside of their allotted sims. I wish the Lindens would address those issues.
- I recently bought some land in OpenLife Grid and I would love to be able to cross back and forth from there to Second Life, without having to sign in and out…and most importantly, keep all my inventory! It would be fabulous if you could just create one avatar and have access to all your virtual worlds and the inventory you bought or created within them. I know, I know…there’s some gadget called Second Inventory that can transfer your items…but that’s not the same thing.
That’s it! I’m not greedy! Just give me those three wishes, oh genie…oh wait. I don’t have one of those. No crystal ball, no genie...I guess I'm out of luck...but if there ARE any genies out there that would like to grant me those three little wishes…please let me know!
And from all of us at RezLibris, we wish you all a Happy New Year, and may YOUR three wishes come true!
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Last Updated on Sunday, 04 January 2009 20:33 |
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Written by Dulcie Mills
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When I joined Second Life in the spring of 2007, there was already a strong but still developing library community in place. Most of the activity took place on one island, Info Island, which had been the first Island purchased by Alliance Library System the previous summer. Imagination Island, Health Info Island, Cybrary City, and Eduisland were key islands at this time, but, at twenty islands total, the newly emerging Info Archipelago was comprised of less than half of the islands it numbers today. That began to change rapidly as more libraries and librarians began to learn about Second Life and sought to mingle with one another to share resources, coordinate services, and adapt to the freedoms as well as constraints of a virtual world.
As my second year in Second Life approaches, the Info Archipelago encompasses 52 islands. Just this past year, 14 new island sims opened including those funded by Alliance: Talis Cybrary Island, Investing Info Island, Bradburyville, Illumination Island, Emerald City and Karuna as well as those funded by partners: the five Openspace museum sims, Cinque Terre, Machinima Institute, and Eduisland 6.
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Last Updated on Sunday, 04 January 2009 20:35 |
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Giving Something Back to the Community |
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Written by Clark Abismo
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The first time I heard about Second Life, it was in an article that stated that some librarians were building a community in virtual worlds, with special attention to Second Life. Instinctively, I created an account and tried to find them, but it was not easy.
After days of being griefed when I left Orientation Island and feeling absolutely lost in world, I was stubborn enough to stay and explore the possibilities Second Life could offer. I was absolutely amazed about a world that could be created by ordinary people, and I was impressed in those first days that there were so many talented people out there. Along the way, I’ve become familiar with building content and objects. I’ve made some friends and met so many talented people.
When I returned to the world of librarians in Second Life, almost two years after my rez-day, I felt overwhelmed about how many activities, services, and places I could visit. This community seemed to have grown immensely, and I felt that with all our busy lives, how could one know what was going in on in that community.
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