MLC Open House In Second Life Report by Rosie Kidd July 2007

MLC sent a notice to Michigan libraries notifying them that they had developed and implemented a virtual site in Second Life. The open house celebration was held on July 12 th, Sara Martin, Associate Dean from the University of Detroit Mercy, attended the event representing DALNET. Sara’s Second Life avatar is named Rosie Kidd. Background Information behind the Event

Learning about your Second Life Second Life is a relatively new software program created by Linden Lab out of California. It’s being used by the education community to communicate with both individuals and groups, to provide remote access to information and to teach distance education classes. What makes this product unique, is that you are using a 3 dimensional environment with figures (called avatars) that represent people. Not only can you give patrons access to textual information, images and sound… you can actually demonstrate “how” to do things. Rosie, doing a demonstration. Water moves, wind blows, trees sway, avatars walk, talk, dance and fly.

Second Life Membership and Software are Free ( The Second Life software is free to anyone. Using your web browser, go to the URL listed. There you can register for your free membership and download the software. Once the software has been loaded, a new icon will appear on your Desktop. Click on it to connect to Second Life. To run Second Life, you will need a good network connection and a newer computer with plenty of memory. Over 6 million people world wide are currently using Second Life. The age restriction for the site is 18 and older. A Teen Second Life allows teenagers 13 through 17 years old. Currently there is no site for children.

What makes this different? A key feature of Second Life is that this virtual world is being created by users. This means…. that schools, libraries and organizations use Second Life to create their own content. Second Life Reference Desk Rosie, visiting Mohawk College University of North Carolina

Getting to the Event Second Life is built on the idea of virtual land. Land is actually space on a computer server. MLC has acquired space on the server housing the Second Life Island called Cybrary City II. Residents of Second Life find information by moving from one location to another. They move through the use of an interactive map. The MLC press release gave the name of the Second Life Island and ground coordinates where their new building Is located. Acting as Rosie, I opened my map, typed in Cybrary City II and the Coordinates 167,51,21. Then I pressed the enter key. The map system transported Me to the MLC site.

The MLC Garden In front of the MLC building is a lovely garden with a pond and fountain. As I landed, MLC staff arrived to greet visitors.

The New MLC Building The new facility boasts a unique design of metal and glass. The first two floors of the building are used for public and office space with a reception area on the third floor. If you look closely at the picture, you can see Randy Dykhuis and Ruth Dukelow’s heads spinning in the background.

A side view of the MLC Building

Contacting MLC Staff The MLC staff can be contacted via by clicking on the floating book located in front of the MLC building.

The MLC Lobby As I walked into the lobby, I saw a wall with pictures of all the MLC avatars.

MLC Membership Desk Just to the left of the front doors lies the MLC Membership Desk. I clicked on the stack of papers and was given a note card with membership information. Next I clicked on the computer screen which caused my web browser to open up to the MLC website. Then I clicked on the Moose and it gave me a free MLC T-shirt for my avatar to wear.

The Party! As I walked through the lobby, I heard music playing. I ventured up to the 3 rd floor where I found a party in full swing. Each one of the Avatars in this picture represents a librarian. Some of these people were from Kansas and Nebraska. Second Life provided them with the ability to attend a Michigan event.

Networking I did a little networking and met Patricia Anderson, a librarian from the University of Michigan. Patricia has named her avatar Perplexity Peccable. Perplexity shared some great online health resources with me. (Yes… that’s a pool in the background.)

The Tour A short time later Evie, (Evette Atkin in real life) offered to give us a tour of the new facility. About 6 or 7 of us happily accepted and gathered around Evie near the buffet table. Evie

First Stop – Lecture Bowl The first stop on the tour was the Lecture Bowl. This area allows MLC Staff to hold online group meetings. There’s no need to leave work, spend hours on the road and have to pay for Gas and parking.

Online Databases The next stop on our tour was a room that held several computer monitors. Evie showed us how to click on a monitor to get access to the online databases.

Michigan e-Library Next, Evie showed us their e-library section. The computers work in a similar way as the other room.

Second Floor Slide Show Evie took our group to the 2 nd floor where a large interactive slide show was displayed. MLC was using the equipment to highlight their program offerings.

Contact Desk Across the room from the slide show is the reference desk. Evie commented that there have been several instances where she has met with an avatar in Second Life to make arrangements for real life events.

Outdoor Auditorium The educational institutions located on Cybrary City II Island share an outdoor auditorium with seating for over 40 people and two screens for presenting. Live audio is available in Second Life via voice over IP. This works very well when presenting to large groups.

Saying Goodbye When the tour was over, I said my goodbyes and headed home.

What Does All This Mean For DALNET? A growing number of Universities, Colleges, Public Schools, Public Libraries, Art Galleries and Health related organizations are utilizing Second Life for promotion, communication and education. Major companies are buying into Second Life as a new way to reach consumers. Second Life Reference Librarians are already in place providing service to a large number of patrons. It’s time to become familiar with this new technology and to begin discussing how it can benefit DALNET.

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