I spent a bit of time experimenting with Second Life and was rather amazed by the plethora of options that are available to users. My character's name is Remus Meiller. SL offers users a tremendous degree of customization and freedom, which doesn't exist in other MMORPG's. And, its more than that. Dozens of universities, major corporations, and as many as 500 librarians offer services through SL. Users can listen to lectures, attend meetings, advertise products, or seek referencing help at a library. I was also impressed by the option to literally build and own any sort of object that a player conceives and produces.

Nevertheless, I don't find SL to be an essential service that ought to be offered by libraries. Many of the same functions offered by SL can be handled by other Web 2.0 tools such as facebook, delicious, blogspot, Librarything, etc. While all that many be centralized in SL, the game requires a powerful computer, a high speed connection with sufficient bandwidth, and close monitoring by libraries in order to protect the content of users. As far as hardware is concerned, its not very cost effective. Most libraries have limited budgets, which restricts their ability to buy extra equipment for media-intensive software like Second Life. Additionally, Second Life operate like an MMORPG, which would prove to be very distracting for users, particularly in the classroom, and would, therefore, be counter-productive if a library is trying to offer services to SL users. While SL is an impressive platform for individual initiative and creativity, the simple fact of cost and the game's very nature as an MMORPG outweigh its benefits.

Best,

Phil

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