Libraries in Second Life: Linking Collections, Clients, and Communities in a Virtual World
Presenters:
John T. Gannt, Head of Technical Services, Auburn Montgomery Library, Auburn University-(M. Gaston Villers in SL).
J. Randal Woodland, professor, Department of Language, Culture & Communication, University of Michigan-Dearborn (Rudolfo Woodget in SL).
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For the October program, the group met to discuss the findings of John and Randal's survey of libraries as published in
"Libraries in Second Life: Linking Collections, Clients and Communities in a Virtual World" Journal of Web Librarianship,
7:2, 123-141,
This article attempted to survey the landscape of Second Life in order to reveal the kinds of libraries found there. One of the first difficulties the authors encountered was that there is no comprehensive listing of everything called a "library" in Second Life. Using a strategy that combined the search feature of the Second Life client, with a comprehensive literature review and with libraries they learned of anecdotally, they managed to create a list of libraries operating in Second Life. This environmental scan led them to a set of questions which allowed them to get at the important features of each library.
1. Is the library connected to First Life?
2. Who are the librarians? Who are the clients?
3. What information is provided? What does it look like?
4. Where is the building? Why this building?
5. How is it immersive?
Their goal in the end was to answer the question, "What might a virtual library be?"
Their survey allowed them to classify Second Life libraries. What they found were that most of them fit into one of 7 different categories:
These types of libraries often represent and replicate actual libraries which exist in the real world, in Second Life, these generally have no collection, provide no services nor are they staffed by librarians. Primarily their function is to help establish a larger place/context within Second Life. They help create the "identity" of a region within Second Life. They serve as images of what virtual libraries might be.
2. The Public Library Portal
Public library portals often function as a base of operations for librarians to explore Second Life. While often housed in small, unimpressive buildings, many offer innovative library services. These libraries provide a link for librarians between First Life and Second Life. They serve to nurture the growth of creative library work in virtual worlds.
3. The Campus Library
These types of libraries share some features of the first two categories. They can serve as both an anchor for a university's Second Life campus and, also serve as an information portal, providing real information about a particular college. These types of libraries often include exhibits and displays offering information about the university and access to the library's web sites. Library spaces are often a major component of Second Life University spaces. They reflect the real life importance of libraries to an institutions academic mission and provide possibilities for librarians to engage in virtual library work.
4. The Community Library/ 5. Role Play Resource Center Library
These types of library are often place-based. They serve a real community that exists within Second Life and can be vitally involved in the growth of that community. Second Life communities are often built up around a particular subject. These libraries exist to support the communities of practice which can form around a regular series of events, discussion groups or even around role-play. These types of libraries often house collections of books, presented as virtual objects, which are authored by members of the Second Life community and which provide information about that community's organizing subject, be it meditation, spirituality, role-play or other interests. Many role-play communities have libraries that offer resources which help to structure and enhance the role-play experience. These "books" can be made available to users in a number of ways: as note cards within Second Life, as links to internet resources, or as virtual objects that can be used/read within Second Life.
6. The Utopian Library
These libraries take advantage of the freedom of virtual space to reimagine library spaces not constructed of brick and mortar. These libraries are often fanciful pavilions, reminiscent of a World's Fair exhibition or theme park. These libraries offer links to texts and to internet resources and use
innovative strategies to identify and present particular collections of materials. Although these libraries rarely look like a real life library, they often offer access to collections and resources about related Second Life spaces and activities. Information in these libraries is usually presented in a visually compelling way designed to spark user interest and invite further research on whatever subject they are organized around.
7. The Library of Extraordinary Things
These are libraries that could only exist in a virtual world. They are designed to help Second Life residents live, work and play in Second Life. Often they are not labeled as libraries, nor do they operate using principals of librarianship. What they do instead is collect resources used to personalize one's Second Life experience. These are resources that can be used to create virtual items which can be shared or sold to others. They also include resources that permit users to change their physical appearance within Second Life. One such library exists within each Second Life user's inventory. This immense collection of carefully organized/arranged resources, includes things such as building materials, objects and even whole avatars. These resources allow users to explore capabilities within Second Life. These types of libraries demonstrate that libraries in virtual spaces can be informational spaces that allows users to understand how virtual worlds work and how they can actively alter their relationship to that world. These libraries, as the authors suggest, offer "access to a certain kind of virtual literacy."
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Virtual worlds are not going away. Examining the types and functions of libraries in Second Life is valuable because they make us focus on issues and questions about the future of libraries and librarians. This type of examination helps us consider how libraries and librarians will provide information and services to those populating virtual worlds.
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My thanks to Beth Ghostraven who provided all the images used in this entry.
