i have heard quite a lot about second life - from dwight on the office playing in wolrd, to CSI and SVU episodes dedicated to the dangers of the game. i never quite understood how it could be so addicting, but after exploring the world for myself, i now get it...!

i checked out info island, where the librarians are so friendly and say hello/ask if i need help even before i have totally landed from teleporting! i always feel bad when i dont have a question for them and have to tell them im just poking around.  i also picked up some great stuff at the free dove - and took a snapshot of me shopping (although with out my new clothes on!).  unfortunately, SL does not work too well on my laptop, so i can only play for short periods of time at once or else everything starts running slowly; but even still, i have way too much fun in-world exploring and chatting to total (animated) strangers. i think the fact that you can talk to and "see" people that could be anywhere in the world is the most interesting/strange part of SL - and yet another example of how the web is shrinking the world and the time/space continuum!

...i had entirely too much fun this week telling my friends that i had to go in-world on SL for class! some people that i told were familiar with the game and the fact that there were libraries in world, whole others were confused, and others were jealous.  one person asked me if there were any intellectual property/copyright infringement issues with second life and having libraries there - but then i found out that they thought that they had digitized books in the SL libraries...i think i may have disappointed them when i said no (at least not to m knowledge), but perhaps a google book SL portal is in the future?

and since i have to teach my own class (unfortunately, its in real life and not SL!) at the same time as our virtual class this week, here are some thoughts on best practices and choosing tools:

i think the most important thing to keep in mind when using web2.0 tools is that while we are all now very familiar and comfortable with the technology, many are not.  if we want to put these tools to good use, we will most likely also have to put in the time to show others how easy they actually are! many people are wary of technology to begin with, and adding a "2.0" to the end i think makes is more intimidating!

also, keeping any 2.0 technology current is extremely important.  seeding a new site/social network/wiki so that others can feel comfortable using and adding to the site is definitely the way to get the ball rolling.   

and finally, my other best practice tip is to not get discouraged! while i have found a lot of the web2.0 technologies similar in some way, and therefore easy to work with once you get the hang of the 2.0 structure, we cannot be expected to know everything! so, dont get frustrated if a tool is not as user-friendly as you would like/are used to.  play around with it for a little or ask for help - it will not only have your life easier if you dont expect to know everything right off the bat, but will also make you a better techie if you know when to take the time to explore the tool deeper and when to ask for assistance!

final, final best practice thought: just because we are working with a new technology does not mean that we need to rid ourselves of 1.0 thinking! good grammar, organization and interesting messages/content are still of the utmost importance (even if "good spelling" translated into using the correct acronyms and web slang!)

as far as choosing which technology to use for a particular task, i think there are two things to keep in mind - who will be using the tool and who will be the audience? if the users are relatively new to web2.0 technologies, then it may be best to use a platform that is not the prettiest to look at, but is very user friendly.  if it is the audience is the main concern (ex: a blog), then i would choose a platform that offers lots of storage space, extra features and other goodies to bring in readership and show off your web2.0 knowledge as you employ the tool. 

the medium is certainly the message, and librarians using 2.0 technologies sends the message that the library is still relevant, useful and - dare i say it - fun!

thanks for a great class, ellyssa!

hope to stay in touch with you all - see you on facebook or SL! :)

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