virtual Teen Library: Second Life

We've Moved!

2006-10-28T05:38:00.000-05:00

Thank you for reading! Please follow us at: www.eye4youalliance.wordpress.com.

Talking with Talis

2006-08-09T17:31:00.000-05:00

Kelly Czarnecki, Lori Bell, Tom Peters and Matt Gullett participated in a rather lively discussion about DOPA and Second Life today. The discussion was an interesting mix of folks bantering about the DOPA legislation and its various deficiencies and strategies along with the Second Life emergence onto the whole social networking and creative computing scene.

The conversation will be available via podcast on Talking with Talis.

Still moving ahead

2006-08-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

Wow-I didn't realize June was the last post on here. Ummm. . .sorry, folks. Things are still moving along-I promise-really. We just need a few more things in place and we're moving ahead. Keep checking-within the next month. I know that can be really, really slow in the online world. I will post more here too regularly.

School Library Journal writes about Second Life

2006-06-11T12:43:00.000-05:00

Check out the article in the June issue. Available on their site too. Thanks again to Eiseldora Reisman, (SL name) who's posts to the YALSA blog raised interest by SLJ.

6/1/06 by Lauren Barack.

If patrons won’t come to the library, librarians are willing to take the institution to their customers—even if that means traversing through cyberspace into the virtual world.

That was the decision a group of librarians with the Alliance Library System (ALS) in Illinois made earlier this year when they purchased land and built a library in the online environment known as Second Life (secondlife.com).

With more than 206,000 subscribers, Second Life has developed into a thriving community since it launched in 2003. Although entering the world is free, buying land and becoming a significant part of the community requires a subscription fee. Users can design their own avatars (iconic representations of themselves), get married, even turn to a life—a second life that is—of crime. The game has become so popular that some users have started to support themselves in the real world from their business activities online.

Opened only in the last few months, the Second Life library has already held its first discussion group on the Charles Portis novel Norwood. More events are planned, as is a lending library comprised of audiobooks. “The response has been much more than we imagined,” says Lori Bell, ALS’s director of innovation, who has spearheaded the Second Life library. “We had people stopping by to check it out and even ask reference questions.”

Now ALS and other libraries are planning programs for Teen Second Life, a virtual world just for youth that launches this fall. Ideas include classes on podcasting and filmmaking, and even an open-mike night, says Kelly Czarnecki, teen librarian at Charlotte & Mecklenburg County Library in North Carolina, another participating institution.

John Lester, community manager at Linden Lab, creator of Second Life, says the ALS project is the first such entry into Second Life by “real-world librarians.” “They understand what Second Life is good for,” he says. “They immediately realized that it is a 3-D world where people can interact with each other.”

New Google Group

2006-05-30T19:45:00.000-05:00

A new google group is set up just for teens to give input on the teen library (not to be confused with the one that librarians are primarily subscribed to!) teenlibrarysecondlife@googlegroups.com About the group can be found here.

Tshirt design logos

2006-05-30T19:44:00.000-05:00

We plan to have flyers available to distribute at the upcoming ALA conference for tshirts. We would like to sell these tshirts to raise money for an island for the teen library.

Teen Metaverse Messenger

2006-05-30T19:41:00.000-05:00

Keep your eyes open on the Teen M2 which is picking up again for information on the virtual teen library!

Rotating chair

2006-05-12T09:15:00.000-05:00

Last week Eiseldora's rotating chair in the Teen discussion space on the second floor of the Medical Library building won first prize of 250L for entering it in the weekly 'show and tell' contest at the New Citizen's Plaza. It's a lot of fun to be on!

Thanks YPulse!

2006-05-08T21:05:00.000-05:00

Librarians rule...again (Robin at Snarkmarket spoke to a group of librarians last week about getting onto MySpace...Ypulse reader and librarian Kelly takes it even further by working on how do build a youth library in Second Life)

Teen SL Library - Meeting Minutes, 5/7/06

2006-05-07T18:46:00.000-05:00

Virtual Teen Library Services Meeting
Sunday, May 07, 2006 5:00 PM
Medical Library building, 2nd floor

AGENDA

Purpose of meeting
Where we are with SL teen services
Teen/Adult grid
Teen SL Campus in fall
Island for library
Updates/News

School Library Journal

YPulse

M2-Metaverse Messenger column

Focus of project-Teen driven

How we can reach them in the game (M2 and in RL)

Build partnerships with people/organizations in RL and in SL

MySpace account

Educators mailing list

Private island owner to work with other educators

People’s interests

Communication (different google group, forum?, etc.)

Committees?

MINUTES

In Attendance:
BlueWings Hayek (Kelly), teen librarian
Ray Lightworker (Matt), youth/teens and technology in RL
Klutzy Marx Teen librarian in RL
Cerulean Vesperia (Beth), Library trainer/consultant
Lorelei Junot (Lori), Alliance Library System
Eiseldora Reisman (Jami), LIS student and gamer
Jenna Darrow (Jenna), middle school/high school librarian
Brackish Ludwig (Sebastian) works w/ computers and admin
Rex Riel (Rex), Head Buyer/Technician for a small IT company, library lover, scrounger and info nut
Planetneutral Fackler (Greg), supervisor at a public library
AXEl Foley
Robin Chamberlin, (Robin) YA Librarian & Simmons online CE instructor

Before the meeting officially started, we learned that Eiseldora is training as an instructor through TeaZers, and has added the following classes to next week's schedule: Making a HulaHoop, Virtual Reference, and Basic Decorating. Her rotating chair in the Medical LIbrary won an award at the Wednesday design contest. Congrats Eiseldora!

After a round of introductions, Blue Wings updated us on the progress of the Teen Library on the Teen Grid concept. On Adults are not allowed on the teen grid, and teens are not allowed on the adult grid. For more details, see the message from Pathfinder Linden forwarded from Planetneutral Fackler at http://virtualteenlibrary.blogspot.com/2006/04/explanation-of-sl-teen-grid.html.

We could wait for a Teen Campus (in development) to be completed this fall, or purchase an island outside the teen grid that teens could go to. The benefit is that there would be support for us to be a part of it as a teen services library.

The current procedure is adults must buy an island off the Teen Grid that teens can go to. Islands cost $1200 plus $150 a month for maintenance (20% educator discount). One option would be to share an island with other educators by renting plots, or creating a content creation space for teens. Islands can't be split between the Teen/Adult grids at present.

Initial funding sources could include Libraries Matter / Alliance Library System for the initial purchase. Grant sources, and corporate funding could fund the $150 a month fee. Corporate sponsors to approach might include OCLC and Overdrive, or businesses within SL. Lorelei, Ray, BlueWings and Cerulean offered to work on a grant.

Joining the educators mailing list was mentioned again. The Education Community page suggests emailing pathfinder AT lindenlab DOT com to join the Educator's listserv.

Ray suggested putting together a small group to investigate the island building options; Brackish has some experience. BlueWings Hayek expressed interest, and the issue was tabled.

News and Updates
Rex Riel and Namro installed visitor detectors in the main and medical buildings. Current traffic is around 40/day. Use the command “say list” to view visitors.

A signboard has been added in front of the current building.

A new open classroom has been added next to the SL library, and at the conclusion of the meeting, most of the group went to check out the space. It’s located at Minoa 220, 43 and includes a "Welcome to Second Life" script with notecards from classes and information on how to get started in SL. The space can be reserved through Google calendar or by contacting Rain to schedule.

Publicity
School Library Journal (BlueWings Hayek) -mention appearing in June issue
YALSA blog (Eiseldora Reisman) - Eiseldora has been doing lots of posting!
YPulse (Katt Kongo & Daughter) - interested in doing a story and getting teen perspective
M2 Teen Metaverse Messenger (BlueWings Hayek)

A discussion on how to reach out to teens in RL followed. There is already a mySpace profile set up at http://www.myspace.com/73899784. Other suggestions included setting up an OPAL room and getting Alliance Libraries involved in recruiting teens.

At present, we don’t have figures for how many teens are playing. Brackish said he thought the teen rate of joining SL is very good at this point, and Eiseldora reported that the teens she's talked to don't know about it, so it's not cool yet, or past cool. The teen grid is not as developed as the Adult grid. Episode 7 of Secondcast interviewed a teen player, Mercury Metropolitan, said there are about 10,000 users, not all are active. Download this episode at:
http://www.secondcast.com/podcasts/secondcast-ep07.mp3.

The issue of cost of getting teens involved came up – Lorelei reported that it is possible for institutions to set up educational accounts with logins/passwords. A basic account is free, but not all teens have credit cards. Cell phones with text messaging capabilities are a no-credit card option.

Action Plan

Continue learning about building and scripting (Eiseldora)
Set up a separate Google Group (Ray)
Set up a Teen Forum and take advantage of the polls options
Conduct a meeting for those interested in funding options (BlueWings)
Continue with mySpace profile
Develop programming (Lorelei)
Create in-world orientation workshops for librarians this summer (Klutzy Marx
Jenna Darrow)
Promote the project in RL workshops and trainings (BlueWings, Cerulean)
Create a Teen SL library Flickr group (Eiseldora)
Publish meeting notes to:

SL blog (Cerulean)
Teen SL blog (Cerulean)
YALSA Gaming Dicussion Group (Cerulean)
YALSA blog (Eiseldora)
YALSA listserv (BlueWings)
LM_Net listervs (BlueWings)
Teen SL Google Group (Ray)

Lorelei gave meeting attendees a Free Culture package, and the meeting concluded with an evaluation to determine if we covered everything we needed to, and a tour of the new open air training center.

Resources
Some resources from Planetneutral Fackler – Teen insights to adult presence on the Teen Grid
http://www.audioblogger.com/media/105581/319102.mp3
http://www.secondcast.com/modules/news/

Informational meeting tonight

2006-05-07T09:36:00.000-05:00

Please join Ray Lightworker and I tonight at 5pm (SL time), on the second floor of the Med library building. This will be the first meeting to discuss the virtual teen library and services. Hope to see you all there. If you're not able to come, we'll keep good notes.

School Library Journal

2006-05-02T21:15:00.000-05:00

I spoke with School Library Journal today about a short write -up to appear in their June issue about the Teen Second Life project. Thank you to Eiseldora for her posts on the YALSA blog to get the project noticed. Stay tuned!

My Library System

2006-05-02T20:55:00.000-05:00

I have interest and support from my library department for this project as 'cutting edge technology' that we can aim to use as another access point for meeting teens where they are at.

Wow.

My supervisor asked what other virtual library services are available (as a reference point). I mentioned OPAL (Online Programming for All Libraries), and of course thought of podcasting and IM reference.

I shared that I believe the game itself helps meet teen developmental assets in many of the ways that our current programs are doing-helps to build a positive identity, contributes to the community by sharing skills, and allows teens to learn boundaries as the game is structured in the sense of land ownership and that there are consequences for certain behaviors.

I also suggested that the Teen Second Life project is an extension of what we already do at our library with bringing stories to life: performing plays, filming movies, and using the story jar (creating stories and pictures to be shared over the internet with a searchable index).

Lots of praise to my supervisor and to the SL librarians. This is so much fun!

Second Life Library 2.0 myspace page

2006-04-28T11:51:00.000-05:00

Ray Lightworker's Second Life Library 2.0 myspace page was set up by him and Eiseldora. Hopefully, this will be a great place to reach teens! Go to: http://www.myspace.com/73899784

Updates

2006-04-28T11:26:00.000-05:00

Teen SL is planning a Campus that will hopefully have the resources by fall to give us the support we need to have a library as part of the campus. Right now, there is an option of having a private estate on an island here: http://secondlife.com/community/land-islands.php. Lori mentioned looking into applying for a grant for this and fall gives us plenty of time.

Meanwhile, Rain announced an area on the top floor of a smaller (than the Second Life Library) house (on the adult grid) for those working on the teen space. This is great! Thank you, Rain (and all that have been working so hard on this building). I'm scheduling a planning meeting, hopefully next week and we can discuss where we want to go from here.

Explanation of SL Teen Grid

2006-04-28T10:58:00.000-05:00

Message from Pathfinder. Thanks Greg!

The main Grid of Second Life is for adults only (18+). We also have a
Teen Second Life Grid ( http://teen.secondlife.com), and that world is
strictly for teens (13-17).

We don't allow anyone under 18 years old in the adult world of Second
Life, and likewise we do not allow adult Residents (18+) on the
mainland of the Teen World. Both of these worlds are separate from
each other, and we do not allow inworld travel or communication
between them.

Teen Second Life is a world for teens, created and shaped by teens.
Please remember that falsely registering as a teen to gain access to
Teen Second Life is a serious offense, and cause for permanent
banishment from *all* of Second Life.

The *only* adults allowed on the mainland in Teen Second Life are
Linden employees. If you are an educator and want to work with teens
in Teen Second Life, there is the opportunity to buy a private island
on the Teen Grid and participate, but you will not be able to leave
that island and visit the Teen Grid mainland. Teens from the mainland
will be able to visit your private island if/when you choose, but they
will be automatically informed that there are adults present. Also,
if you are planning to use a private island on the Teen Grid to
interact with teens from the mainland, we will need to run a
background check on you for security and safety reasons.

If you'd like more details about getting a private island for
education work on the Teen Grid, please contact me directly at
pathfinder@lindenlab.com.

For details on the Terms of Service for Teen Second Life, please see:
http://teen.secondlife.com/footer/tos

Planning Meeting tonight

2006-04-25T21:47:00.000-05:00

This was a great meeting tonight and thanks to all for the support on the teen library-Lorelei, Ray, Brackish, Cerulean, Eiseldora-and if I forgot anyone (or spelled their name wrong :) ) I apologize. I think it is important to have as much meaningful teen participation as possible. I don't want to build a library based on what we think teens want (thank you Ray for the reminder) but on what they want and how we can best serve a need on the teen grid. Just an idea to keep that in mind. More information on the May 10 planning meeting later. Thank you!

Second Life: Teen Services

2006-04-23T21:08:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the Second Life Library discussion for Teen services! We are two Teen Librarians from North Carolina. We have received permission from Lori Bell to head SL library services for teens. Second Life is a program that we hope will bring teens together, especially nontraditional library users, in a way that hasn't been done previously. Some ideas we have are to create a space for teens to socialize and learn more about library services and to stand as an avatar for libraries in the RL.

We are working with Lindenlabs to set up a library space in the teen world. We welcome input from those interested in creating programming and services for teens in this virtual space. We will propose a meeting time/date soon.

Please let us know if you want to contribute to this blog and we will send you an invite.

I wanted to thank Rain, Brackish, and Garnet for showing me around SL Library 2.0 this evening. You are all working so hard on this project and we're looking forward to working on this with you.