Thing 15 - Second Life

I have been enjoying reading the linked articles in this "Thing" about Second Life and also listening to a couple of podcasts and the video link. I knew gaming is popular...just come to my desk (which is located in one of our computer labs) before or after school. I have a room-full of regular gamers. I wasn't sure I would be a positive promoters of this "Thing", but after reading about Info Island and how other libraries are creating a Second Life presence, I can definitely see how this would be a place where we could reach our library patrons.

I shared one idea with our Media Specialist on how we could use Second Life. It would be fun to have our 9th Grade Library Orientation on Second Life. At this point, both Puzzle Pirates and Second Life are blocked at school. This would also be a fun place to showcase student artwork and video projects. I am curious if a Second Life presence would open up opportunities not usually available or affordable to school libraries, such as author visits. Also, as I write this, our high school's Anime/Manga Club is meeting in the library. There are consistently around 30-40 kids that show up for this. I read that Info Island has an anime/manga section and has programs on this genre. We could possibly introduce this to our Anime/Manga Club. Another feature I thought would be fun is to create a world in Second Life for a book the students are reading (i.e. Grapes of Wrath).

I found the college presence on Second Life very interesting. With record high gas prices, I wonder if this is the "college visit" of the future.

I did go to the Second Life web-site and look around, but haven't registered yet. I plan on doing that this weekend, so I can explore a little more. I really want to check out Info Island.