ALS featured in Serious Games Source

Enjoying Your First Life? Why Not Add a Second? Developing Library Services in Second Life
by Lori Bell, Tom Peters, and Kitty Pope, Serious Games Source 6/30/06
"...we have been waiting and looking for the right opportunity to get our libraries involved in gaming and virtual worlds – to make library collections and services available where the users already are."

Dobbit Do program at Second Life Library

On Sunday July 9 at the Second Life Open air theater you will have the opportunity to hear authors Woodward and Witt talk about their writing and recently released book "Dobbit Do."

Woodward and Witt began their writing career quite by accident when Pamela Woodward became ill. The couple (who are married) began to tell the story of "Sharon" back and forth to keep Pamela's mind active. The illness progressed until Pamela actually passed away, only to come back in a minute or so, but the experience drove the pair to bring together the simple notes that Wilbur Witt had been keeping and the manuscript for Sharon was brought to be. Sharon has never been edited. In a dream Witt saw a vision that told him that the book would bring joy to millions but would never be financially successful, however because of it other books would be written that would reward the couple. They passed free copies around to friends until it became difficult to keep up with the demand and then they went to a publisher to help. Sharon is a unique blend of Judea,Christian, Islamic culture that each reader finds a slightly different meaning underlying it's story (which has absolutely NOTHING todo with Pamela's illness!)

The next novel was CigarBox which began to relieve the grief caused by the death of a daughter in law on Christmas day. What began as a form of therapy quickly led to a novel with two rewrites. This current version (Copyright 2003) is the one offered here, however a new version is in the works. June Montgomery still lives in the Avatar Emerald Pixie whom you can meet on any Saturday night at the parthenon. June's son, Micheal helps operate the image and keeps his mother's image alive in this small way.

Dobbit Do was the first book written by the duo after realizing that they just may have a talent for weaving a story. Dobbit was a fun book for the couple even though it was a horror, sci-fi book. Pamela bought a doll for Wilbur and perched it above his computer until he consented to write the book. The doll (affectionately named "Dobbit Do") stayed there until the last line, and a description of him appears in the jail scene in the novel.

Woodward and Witt are mystical writers, working together, burning incense and meditating to expand their minds and plots. You will enjoy wandering in their world. Their storys touch the mind and soul, and are not "children's" tales. Real people inhabit real worlds in their books, and you will cry in Sharon, flinch with June dies, and very definately think twice before taking your next IM after reading about Dobbit Do.

Enjoy! Real Woodward and Witt with a bottle of wine, and someone you love!

Upcoming Event/Experiment

Kelly Czarnecki and I are facilitating the YALSA Teen Gaming Interest Discussion Group meeting at ALA annual conference in New Orleans, LA on Sunday June 25 at 1:30 PM SL/Central time in New Orleans. As an experiement we are going to podcast the session and run the discussion simultaneously in RL and SL!

The purpose of this discussion is to discuss issues relating to teens and gaming and to develop and disseminate best practices in collections, programming, and related topics in the field of gaming (including video, computer, internet, handheld, mobile, board, card, and miniatures) for young adults ages 12-18. We've invited librarians to bring a program to share, a game recommendation, or questions about starter collections or successful gaming events. Teens are VERY welcome to attend - we could really use their opinions, experience, and expertise to add to the discussion.

Want to participate virtually? You'll need Skype, which you can download free at http://www.skype.com. Set up and install, and the day of the event, log into Skype
and go to https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk=12754
and join the discussion!

In Second Life, a free download at http://www.secondlife.com
(register and select a username), go to Info Island (128, 128) and meet on the roof of the Second Life Library 2.0. Kelly's avatar is named Blue Wings Hayek and Beth's is named Cerulean Vesperia. If anyone has advice about running audio with SL, I'm all ears!

Games Learning and Society

I am a great conference in Madison Wisconsin. Academic and education researchers have gathered to talk about this topic, and share research.

There are a large portion of individuals here looking into Second Life as a place to hold educational simulations, and instruction.

I am happy to say that I have met many educators and librarians who are excited by what we are doing at our library.

I hope that after ALA we can begin to do more to be a resource for the established and interested educators in Second Life.

Michael Stephens on OPAL and Second Life Library

Over 50 people in OPAL and 10 at Second Life Library enjoyed outstanding presentations yesterday by Michael Stephens on Library 2.0. We are doing it again today - a marathon of 4 marvelous sessions between 8:30 a.m. central and 2:00 p.m. central. Thanks, Michael for inspiration to try these in our libraries.

Upcoming events at Second Life Library

"Murder at Mystery Manor"


Second Life Library recently opened up Mystery Manor, a castle with a Gothic theme where programs on mystery and horror genres will be offered. On Thursday June 28 at 6 pm sl time, Lorelei Junot will offer a program on hard-core mystery authors. She will introduce you and host discussion on a variety of these types of authors. The program will last about one hour.


Science Fiction Author Series: Bud Starhawk


Science fiction Author Bud Starhawk will give a talk on his writing at the Second Life Library Open Air Theater on Sunday July 2 at 7 p.m. sl time. Bud began writing science fiction stories in 1975 and,
affter two sales to Analog in 1976 and 1977, he
stopped writing for thirteen years. Since he again
took up the pen his stories have appeared frequently
in ANALOG, Asimov’s, and other SF magazines. His
stories have been selected for both Dozois’ and
Hartwell’s Years Best anthologies. His articles have
appeared in several magazines, writing collections,
and even in the Second Life Herald. He has two short
story collections appearing in print and digital form.


Bud was a three-time finalist in the Nebula’s Novella
category in 1998, 2001, and 2005. He has frequently
appeared in Analog's Readers Choice Awards lists.


Sparhawk is a Baltimore native and lives in Annapolis.
He has a degree in Mathematics from the University of
Maryland and an MBA in Finance from Oklahoma City
University. He is currently the Vice President,
Technology for Macfadden, a Federal Government
contractor.


Bud spends his spare time writing, sailing on
Chesapeake Bay in SPARROW, which has been a constant
place of refuge and the source of much inspiration,
and square dancing. More information may be found at:
http://sff.net/people/bud_sparhawk.

Informal Learning

Informal Learning
Originally uploaded by cambodia4kidsorg.

One More Fan

Upcoming events at Second Life Library

Come visit Info Island and meet our partners and experience our programs.
Upcoming programs at Info Island from the Second Life Library and Medical Library include:

Each program will be offered at the Second Life Library at 1:00 p.m. sl time and 7:00 p.m. sl time. Health information is one of the leading uses of the Internet by adults. Second Life Library and Medical Library are offering some programs to help you find credible information. The programs are free. If you would like to attend, please send an IM to Lorelei Junot so we will know if we have enough participants to have a program.

June 21: Finding and Evaluating Health Information on the Internet – Maxito Ricardo will show attendees how to look for health information on the internet and how to evaluate it.
June 28: EBSCO Consumer Health – The Library has received a new trial for access to Ebsco Consumer Health, a database with articles on a variety of health topics.

Thursday, June 15, 2006: Alliance Library System Online Innovation Institute Library 2.0 Extravaganza!
Speaker: Michael Stephens, Writer/Trainer/Teacher/Creator of the Tame the Web Blog

This special event is sponsored by the Alliance Online Innovation Institute. You can attend at Info Island. Audio will be offered at: http://67.19.231.218/v4/login.asp?r=32ed326d&p=0
Type your name and click enter to go into the room. A small software applet will download to your computer as you enter the audio room.

Please Note: Each of the four sessions in this one-day institute will last approximately one hour. The entire institute will be repeated on Friday, June 16, 2006. You may participate either in the OPAL room of the Alliance Innovation Institute or in the Alliance Second Life Library 2.0 through the virtual reality site Second Life.
· 9:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 8:30 a.m. Central, 7:30 a.m. Mountain, 6:30 a.m. Pacific and Second Life, and 1:30 p.m. GMT:
WEBLOGS & LIBRARIES: An in-depth look at the Biblioblogosphere -- all things blogs, libraries and librarians. We'll discuss best practices and lessons learned to make your library blog the most dynamic area of your web site!
· 11:00 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 10:00 a.m. Central, 9:00 a.m. Mountain, 8:00 a.m. Pacific and Second Life, and 3:00 p.m. GMT:
INSTANT MESSAGING: DO YOU IM? How are libraries and librarians using Instant Messaging? This session explores a grass roots effort by many libraries to meet users where they interact online. We'll explore best practices and implementation strategies.
· 12:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 11:30 a.m. Central, 10:30 a.m. Mountain, 9:30 a.m. Pacific and Second Life, and 4:30 p.m. GMT:
SOCIAL SOFTWARE: A SURVEY OF WEB 2.0. Librarians are finding their users are interacting online is social spaces and sites: creating content, collaborating, and building communities? What are some of the thriving social sites? How can we participate in sites like MySpace and Facebook?
· 2:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, 1:00 p.m. Central, noon Mountain, 11:00 a.m. Pacific and Second Life, and 6:00 p.m. GMT:
CREATING STAFF BUY IN FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES: No matter what Web 2.0 technology you start with, a key element is staff buy in. We'll present Ten Tips for Staff Buy in and offer takeaways to get the ball rolling.

Speaker Biography: Holding an MLS from Indiana University, Michael Stephens has spent the last fifteen years in public libraries working as a reference librarian, technology trainer and manager of Networked Resources and Training at the St. Joseph County Public Library in South Bend, IN. His most recent position in the public library setting was as Special Projects Librarian, focusing on technology, policy and planning. Beginning in the fall of 2006, Michael will be joining the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Dominican University in River Forest, IL as an Instructor.

Magic of Mysteries – The Second Life Library is building a “Mystery Manor,” castle decorated in Gothic style. Inside the Mystery Manor will be pictures of mystery authors. We will have a “Magic of Mysteries” discussion group at the Mystery Manor lead by Lorelei Junot on Thursday, June 29 at 6 p.m. sl time at the Mystery Manor.
Brackish Ludwig has built a maze of authors coming soon. You can still try the maze. We also have a new rock pond garden you can come and relax at.
More programs and services are being planned. Beginning this week from 6-8 sl time, we will have staff members on the island to greet people and show them Info Island. If you would like to schedule a tour, contact Lorelei Junot.

Next week we will feature some of Info Island’s partners including the ICT library and TechSoup.org.

If you have questions or suggestions, please contact Lorelei Junot or Rain Noonan.

Miller and Lee a Hit! SciFi in the Sky

Approximately 25 people attended tonight's "Entangled in Cyberspace Program" with science fiction authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. The authors spoke about their experiences with cyberspace over the last 20 years and their writing. The program was excellent.

In honor of the program, Second Life Library has built a "SciFi in the Sky" area. This is a skypod with futuristic works of art, a screen which will show sci fi movies, and a place for those interested in science fiction to meet, have book discussions etc. We are hoping to put up a display of different authors each month and have authors and others as guest speakers.

Second Life Library Presents: Entangled in Cyperspace with Science Fiction Authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Entangled in Cyberspace:

Fresh from their Guest of Honor appearance at the joint Linux-Science Fiction convention Pengicon 4.0, award-winning authors Sharon Lee and Steve Miller discuss their careers, collaborating as writers, and how the expanding virtual world helped entangle them with the world-wide science fiction community. The program will be held on Sunday, June 4, at 6 pm sl time at the Second Life Library open air theater.

Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller are co-authors of the best-selling Liaden Universe? series and have been writing together since the "Kinzel" stories hit Fantasy Book in the early 80s. They began work on the first Liaden story in 1984 and have published a dozen novels and several dozen short works in that series alone. They count Meisha Merlin, Ace Books, Buzzy Multimedia, and Embiid among their English language publishers and have several foreign language publishers as well.

Their short fiction, written both jointly and singly, has appeared in Absolute Magnitude, Catfantastic, Dreams of Decadence, Fantasy Book, Such a Pretty Face, 3SF, and several incarnations of Amazing.

Their work has enjoyed a number of award nominations, with "Scout's Progress" being selected for the Prism Award for Best Futuristic Romance of 2001 and "Local Custom" finishing second for the same award. "Local Custom" was published by Buzzy Multimedia as an audio book read by Michael Shanks -- StarGate's Daniel.
"Balance of Trade," appeared in hardcover in February 2004 and hit Amazon.com genre bestseller lists before going on to win the Hal Clement Award as Best YA Science fiction for the year. Their most recent Liaden novels are "Crystal Soldier" and "Crystal Dragon" -- and as usual they have a book due out next spring.
Their backgrounds -- Steve was Vice Chair of the Baltimore in 80 Worldcon bid as well as Founding Curator of Science Fiction for the University of Maryland's SF Research Collection, while Sharon has been Executive Director, Vice President, and President of the Science Fiction Writers of America -- give them a unique perspective on the science fiction field.