Programming begins

Today was perhaps the first banner day for the Second Life Library 2.0, as we held our first in-world program. About 12 residents gathered in what has become the main meeting area to hear David King talk about bridging the gap between techies and non-techies. I was particularly excited that some of the residents in attendance were non-librarians who had seen the event listed in the Second Life events list and were curious enough to stop by. I think that alone demonstrates the potential reach that this effort can have.



Overall, the program went smoothly, as all OPAL programs do. It was enjoyable (if a little distracting) to have ongoing interaction with other avatars throughout the program. We had to explain to the non-librarians how to access the VoIP in the OPAL Auditorium. It will be interesting to see if we can bring that audio stream in-world using some of the available technologies. Same goes for the slides, although I imagine that this will be trickier.

So the activity did not stop when the program ended. There was some discussion immediately thereafter, but RL (real life) called me away. Later in the evening, the discussion was focused on the acquisiton of land and alternate concepts for our facility. We were joined by Katt Kongo of the Metaverse Messenger, who contributed some great ideas and supportive suggestions.

After so much talking and thinking, it was time to let loose, which meant a trip to The Blarney Stone in the Dublin sim, which is apparently a re-creation of the real thing. Here's a snap of three librarians on the dance floor.



A long day, but inspiring and rewarding. Much, much more to come.