Tag: Library and Information Sciences

UPDATED: The Community Virtual Library Celebrates Its 15th Anniversary in Second Life Today with the Grand Opening of Their New Library Building!

The Community Virtual Library in Second Life is throwing a party to celebrate its fifteenth anniversary, and as part of the celebration, they are unveiling a new library building!

On their blog I found the following announcement:

Community Virtual Library is celebrating 15 years in the virtual world of Second Life, sharing resources as a “real library in a virtual world”. Librarians are exploring virtual environments both on desktop and in VR headset worlds as we expand library services beyond our physical walls. Come join us to share our memories of the past and exciting plans for the future.

WHEN:  SUN April 18th Noon-2pm Pacific Time.

I paid an early morning visit to take the following photographs to share with you. Located just outside the main entrance is a “walk of fame” with the names of those library workers who played an noteworthy role in the provision of library service in Second Life over the past 15 years:

Here are a few more shots of the interior of the library:

Clicking on any of the books brings up a menu to take you to the electronic full-text of that book (usually served via Project Gutenberg or OpenLibrary.org):

An outside stairway takes you up to the second floor of the library, with a lovely patio and a spacious reading room:

Here’s the SLURL which will take you to the new library! The celebration runs from noon to 2:00 p.m. Second Life Time/Pacific Time. Hope to see you there!

UPDATE 2:23 p.m.: Here are a few more pictures of Valibrarian Gregg leading a tour group through the new library and its surrounding gardens (please click on each thumbnail for a larger version). I’m the tall one in the green suit!

San José State University School of Information’s Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration Is Holding a Research Symposium in Second Life on October 24th, 2020

While I have written in the past about the use of Second Life by librarians who have set up virtual public and academic libraries, it should be noted that SL has also been home to not just libraries, but also museums and archives of various kinds throughout its 17-year history.

The School of Information (iSchool) at San José State University (SJSU) in California, which offers a Master of Archives and Records Administration (MARA) degree program, runs the Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration (VCARA) in Second Life, which describes itself as follows:

An iSchool student group, VCARA is a MARA-created space and community based in the virtual world Second Life (SL). We offer many resources both in SL and online including annual conferences, events, exhibits, trainings, and webcasts. VCARA is open to all students, alumni, educators, and other professionals interested in virtual worlds and any aspect of information science including archives, education, and libraries.

The SJSU School of Library and Information Sciences in Second Life

On October 24th, 2020, VCARA will be hosting an event titled XR: Bridging the Gap Research Symposium:

Plan now to attend the XR: Bridging the Gap Research Symposium on October 24, 2020, from 9 a.m. to noon SLT (Pacific Time).

Venue: VCARA’s XR Research Center in SL on the SJSU SLIS sim (SLURL)

The goal of this symposium is to provide a venue for members of Virtual Worlds, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Mixed Reality communities to share accomplishments and challenges and to learn from one another.

9 a.m. – 10 a.m. – Keynote Address

10 – 10:45 a.m. – Birds of a Feather 

– Accessibility
– Networking/Communities of Practice
– Content Creation/Building

11 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Lightning Poster Session followed by a trip to Mozilla Hubs (with our without your headsets)

I have accepted an invitation to be a co-host of one of the Birds of a Feather discussion sessions taking place, on the topic of Networking and Professional Development in Virtual Worlds and Virtual Reality (along with Bethany Winslow, an Instructional Designer at San José State University). The BoaF sessions will be approximately 45 minutes in a breakout room, after which we will join up again in the main room to give a 5 minute recap of the important aspects of each BoaF.

The event is free, and everyone who is interested in the topic of virtual worlds and virtual reality in archives, education, and libraries is welcome to attend! To find out how you can become involved, please contact Dr. Patricia Franks, at the SJSU iSchool.