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

I have to say I am not a huge fan of second life. I find it very overwhelming, and at the same time not particularly engaging. I don’t like having to navigate my avatar around a virtual space to have to look at things- I am just not good at moving around, which is frustrating. Also, on a very basic level, I just don’t get the attraction. This is not something I would ever do on my own volition; I think I lack the “gaming” gene. I do regret not being able to join the group in the tour; I think I might have gotten a lot more out of the experience if I had been with others from the class.

But back to my thoughts on second life and libraries; I think in some cases it can be a useful endeavor for libraries to create a presence in second life, but I think that a library’s academic or informative presence in second life will only be attractive and interesting to a relatively small number of patrons or potential patrons. I can see an academic or a special library creating a really interesting learning resource in SL, but I just can’t really see it being useful to a large number of students or patrons. I think that this is a case where the mode of delivery overwhelms the content. Maybe my feelings stem from my strange problems with walking and moving around, but I think there is too much to learn that has nothing to do with the content, and too many distractions (like choosing hairstyles and clothes- I spend too much time on that stuff in first life, let alone second). Unfortunately, I don’t think that the amount of time, energy and money a library (or a library school) spends in or on second life is actually worth it, in the long run. 

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