LIBR 246-11

What uses can you think of for virtual worlds within your own organization?

This is very wishy-washy of me, but I think that libraries should maybe participate in virtual worlds such as second life.

When they should:

Do you think that libraries should be in virtual worlds such as Second Life, why or why not?

I'm fairly new to Second Life and while I think it is fun, I wonder how many people actually attend meetings held by libraries and information organizations.  That said, Second Life is the type of social application that needs to be marketed to be successful.  I know the California Library Association held an event at their island in 2008 for which they sent email to their members. That type of notification probably guaranteed a well attended event.

Pros:

Do you think libraries should be in virtual worlds, such as second life, or not?

What uses can you think of for virtual works within your own organization?

I can think of two uses for virtual worlds such as SecondLife in a public library atmosphere. One use would be staff meetings, especially if staff are highly distributed across a large area. Staff that live hundreds of miles apart can log into a virtual world, access a pre-coordinated meeting place, and have their meeting in second life. This would be using it in sort of a video-conference style, because you can 'see' the person and talk with them in the virtual environment.