Libary of Congress American Memory Exhibit at Second Life Library Parvenu Towers; Anne Boleyn-Beloved and Beheaded

Welcome to the Second Life Library's American Memory Exhibit at Info Island Parvenu Towers, second floor. Please visit and enjoy audio, documents, and graphics of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This display will be up through the end of September and was compiled by Second Life Librarian Shadow Fugazi.

The Library of Congress' American Memory division provides free and
open access through the Internet to written and spoken words, sound
recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps and sheet music that
document the American experience. It is a digital record of American
History and creativity. These materials, from the collections of the
Library of Congress and other institutions, chronicle historic events,
people, places and ideas that continue to shape America, serving the
public as a resource for education and lifelong learning.

Our exhibit focuses on documents from the Continental Congress and the
Constitutional Convention, highlighting the Declaration of
Independence.

The Library of Congress' Continental Congress and Constitutional
Convention Broadside Collection contains 277 documents relating to the
work of Congress and the drafting and ratification of the
Constitution. Items include extracts of the journals of Congress,
resolutions, proclamations, committee reports, treaties, and early
printed versions of the United States Constitution and the Declaration
of Independence.

This exhibit displays only a few items from the collection. We have
made available full texts to documents such as the Declaration of
Independence, a 12-part timeline of "America During the Age of
Revolution, 1964-1789", as well as links to audio materials that can
be downloaded and listened to at the user's leisure.

We hope that you enjoy this exhibit. To visit the American Memory web
site, go to http://memory.loc.gov/ammem

Activities this week
Sunday, August 27, 5 pm sl - Info island orientation for new librarians - meet at main library
Sunday, August 28, 6 pm sl - Library staff meeting
Tuesday, August 30, 6 pm sl - SL VR practice session with Maxito Ricardo
If you need to practice chat this week contact Maxito or Lorelei Junot. Our chat form should be up this weekend.
Thursday, August 31, 5 pm sl - "Anne Boleyn: Beloved and Beheaded" - Participate in an interactive conversation with Anne Boleyn, the controversial second wife of Henry VIII of England, She will talk about her journey to the throne and the price she had to pay to obtain it. This will be held in the Info Island open air auditorium.

New Egyptian Exhibit by Aura Lily; This week at Info Island

Visit Info Island to see a new exhibit by Aura Lily, a build similar to the Kiosk of Trajan. Info Island 24, 42, 33)


This is a build similar to the Kiosk of Trajan found on the Island of Philae. The Kiosk was also known as the "Pharoah's Bed". The Kiosk was one of the landings for people visiting the island.

The Emperor Trajan lived around 100 AD

Below is a pictrure of the Kiosk as it stands today on the Island of Agilkia northwest of Philae Island in Upper Egypt.






Aura Lily has a much more extensive collection of her work at her villa at
Amazon Land, Themiskyra, Themiskyra (52, 241, 36), her treausre room of Egyptian artifacts at Eros (123, 185, 146).

Go and visit her immersirve Egyptian exhibit. Many thanks to Aura for her beautiful display. If you have questions you can IM Aura on second life.



Search Central is now here. Next to Parvenu Towers, you can search World Cat with holdings for books all over the world and google from within Second Life. You can also do with from within the main library. Next to the weclcome area, visitors can search Amazon and get stock prices. These are developed by Hugo Dalgleish and Tabataha Hegel, owner of Life2Life Bookstore.

Other Activites at Second Life Library this week
Monday 9 a.m sl , 11 a.m . central - Tour for Informaion Commons group

Monday 2 pm al, 4 p.m. central - Tour
6 pm sl - 8 pm central - SLL VR meeting in main room of central library

Tuesday - 4 pm sl - Meeting of SL Business communicators group at open air auditorium - Abbey Zenith and Lori Bell will provide a tour of business resources
Tuesday - 6 pm sl - Meeting of the Kuurian Expedition group - contact Poinky Malaprop for more information
Wed - 7 pm sl - Program by Troy McLuhan of the Internatianal Space and Science Museum followed by a tour

Watch this blog and the events calendar for more events. Eiseldora Reisman is back and will be providing a variety of events and activities on Info Island.

Medical Librarian Namro Orman has just returned from holiday and is moving into his new medical library quarters. If you want to help out hwere, contact Namro.

Abbey Zenith and Kari Meadowbrook continue to work on the science and technology area on fifth floor of Parvenu Towers and Lorelei Junot is working on humanities and social sciences. If any of these areas interest you,please contact us.

Education in Second Life in Boston Phoenix

A great article on education in Second Life appeared in today's Boston Phoenix.

Here is the link:

http://thephoenix.com/article_ektid20561.aspx

I have had trouble getting in. If you would like a copy of the full story let me know and I will send it. There was some great coverage of the library I will put here:


"Expanding in-world resources
In-world, there are offerings that are open to the public, from lectures with NASA engineers to presentations hosted by The Infinite Mind public-radio show, which was the first live-broadcast program to have a presence in SL. There is also Info Island, home to the Second Life Library 2.0, a collaboration between the Alliance Library System and Online Programming for All Libraries (OPAL).

"More and more educators see Second Life as a way to engage students," says ALS director of innovation Lori Bell. "We wanted to see what role a library could play."

A group of about 35 librarians have volunteered their time to build structures and stock the collection, which includes searchable indexes, audio and video clips, and books, many of which are public domain and available to own. "I see this as a great way to promote reading," says Bell. The library also offers live help at certain hours of the day, for the typical real-life reference questions that inevitably come up, and it will hold live events like authors' chats and tours.

The library is also exploring ways to offer learning experiences that simply would not be possible in real life. It is working with the Library of Congress to build a Declaration of Independence room, where a larger-than-life-size copy of the document will be on display along with additional readings, audio files, and period furniture. There's also a library in the works on Caledon, the exclusively 19th-century island where avatars wear period dress. "

Search Central, Henry VIII, and Librarian's Night Out

Next week Second Life Library will introduce "Search Central" developed by Hugo Dalgleish. There will be a Search Central near Parvenu Towers and one in the main library. Visitors will be able to search within Second Life by speaking their search for google, wikipedia, or OCLC Open World Cat where they can see where books are located all over the world. More on this exciting development soon.






On Friday night, August 11, about twenty people attended a program at the open air auditorium by Henry VIII who talked about his life and wives. Although he died in 1547, noted by many, he is now excited to have a Second Life. The picture shows pictures of Henry and his six wives. Several wanted him to return again to talk about his political achievements.





Librarians have been working hard all summer on Info island. Librarian Abbey Zenith planned a Librarian's Night out at the Alquimia Club where everyone danced and had a great time. Abbey won the prize for Best Dressed Female, Percival Ogg won for best dressed male, and Lorelei Junot won a prize for Wildest librarian.

Two Exciting Upcoming Mixed Reality Events: Virtual Worlds, Education and Libraries

Alliance Library System is pleased to announce Innovation Days: 2006 - "Virtual Worlds and Alternate Realities: Where Do Education and Libraries Fit In?"

There are two events, both which will be held at Alliance in East Peoria in person, on OPAL via audiocast, and at the Second Life Library Open Auditorium using OPAL for Audio.

Thursday, October 12- Virtual Worlds and Education - The Cutting Edge
In-person - $10 per person for dinner, register on CLEO on ALS Website
OPAL and Second Life - email me at lbell927@gmail.com to indicate you are coming so I can send audio link- no fee
Welcome and Introdcutions - Kitty Pope, Executive Director, Alliance Library System
4:00 pm sl, 6:00 p.m. central - Overview of Higher Education Activities in Second Life - John Lester, Community Manager, Linden Labs - Librarians bring your interested teachers and administrators! Learn about exciting learning activities and projects universities are undertaking in Second Life.
4:45 p.m. sl, 6:45 p.m. central - What Bradley University is Doing in Second Life for Education and Libraries - Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph.D, Associate Professor, Multimedia Program and Department of Communication, Co-Director, New Media Center and Barbara Galik, Director - Cullom Davis Library, Bradley University
5:15 pm sl; 7:15 p.m. central - Education Activities at Alliance Library System in Second Life - Tom Peters, CEO TAP Information Services, and Lori Bell, Alliance Library System
5:45 pm sl; 7:45 pm central - Questions

Friday, October 13 - Virtual Worlds and Alternate Realities - Where do Libraries Fit in?
In person - $10 per person for lunch, register on CLEO on ALS Website
OPAL and Second Life - email me at lbell927@gmail.com to indicate you are coming so I can send audio link - no fee
7:30 am sl, 9:30 central - Welcome and Introductions, Kitty Pope, Executive Director Alliane Library System
7:45 a.m. sl and 9:45 a.m. central - Introduction to Virtual Worlds and Educational Activities in Second Life - John Lester, Pathfinder Linden, Community Education manager, Second Life
Never been in a virtual world? Can't imagine what they are? This is your opportunity to hear about exciting, creative, and interactive educational, medical, and other applications in Second Life. There are immersrive ancient Egyptian worlds; a nineteenth century setting where everyone dresses in Victorian clothes, the buildings are period, and we have a library; and International Space and Flight Museum; and campuses where universities are teaching classes in new and exciting ways.
8:45 a.m. sl and 10:45 a.m. central - The Alliance Second Life Project and How to Get Involved- Kitty Pope, Lori Bell, and Mary-Carol Lindbloom, Alliance
Want to get involved and offer these services to your patrons? We will show you what we are doing and how you can get involved
10:00 a.m., 12 noon central - not on OPAL or Second Life - Technology Leadership in Real Life, Lori Johnson, CIO, Pearl Technologies
The rest offered in real time, OPAL and Second Life - some presentations from Second Life
11:30 a.m. sl and 1:30 pm central - The Teen Second Life Project and How to Get Involved - Kelly Czarnecki, Teen Services Librarian, and Matt Gullett, Technology Education Librarian, Imaginon, Public Library of Chalotte and Mecklenburg County
Want to offer interactive library services where they are on the Internet? Learn about this exciting new service for teens your libraries can offer.
12 noon sl time and 2:00 pm central - Perspective of the Millenial Librarian on Libraries in Virtual Worlds- Jami Schwarzwalder, Library and Information Sciences Graduate Student, Indiana University
12:30 pm sl, 2:30 pm central - Thoughts About What We've Learned About Libraries and Virthual Worlds Over The Last Six Months - Tom Peters, Second Life Project Evaluator, TAP Information Services
Tom Peters will talk about what we have learned and the future of libraries in virtual worlds during the six months of the Alliance Second Life Library proejct.

Email Lori Bell at lbell927@gmail.com for more information

This week at Info Island: Amazon in world Search and Henry VIII

Info Island is open now with services, events, and materials we hope
you will enjoy. Please stop by and visit. Our grand opening event
will be October 14 when we will have a day full of tours, orientations
and special events to celebrate. Gonzo Mandelbrot is in charge of
this. As we have more information, we will share it.





Tabatha Hegel, who owns the Life2Life bookstore in Second Life and Hugo
Dalgleish have created an in-world ability to search the Amazon.com website
for books. They have generously put this wonderful search tool on Info Island
and readers can search the U.S., Canadian, UK, and Japanese Amazon site with
a key word typed into the text chat with a /1keyword. The search will bring up 5 search results and with your movie screen control, you can view the cover of the book. This is the one of the first integration of web into Second Life initiatives and is very exciting. We are still working on the display, but the site is completely functional now. Thanks to Tabatha and Hugo. We are hoping to have search engines and other functionality if possible.


Henry VIII will visit the Second Life Library open auditorium Thursday August 3
at 5 pm sl, 7 pm central, and 8 pm eastern. He will share his story and answer questions about his life during the sixteenth century in England.






Parvenu Tower is the latest addition to Info Island. Built by Vince
Parvenu, the building will have a theater which will seat up to 50 and
nine other floors with a beautiful view of the ocean. Staff are
working on a display with materials from the Library of Congress on
the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Shadow Fugazi is
leading this group the the display will be open in a few weeks! The
third floor will hold business and government documents resources and
we are working on the other floors to add additional resources and
services.





Logannn8 Lombardi, an architectural student, is building a new medical
library. It should be finished in three weeks and we will have an
open house so that you can view our medical resources and services.
Namro Orman is our medical librarian.





In the central library, Robin Chamberlin has created an anime/manga
area where visitors can view materials and relax. In the future we
will have some programs on this topic. In the meantime, stop by and
visit this fun and imaginative area.




We are adding titles on display in the central library - many created
in Second Life. Some of the free copies of public domain books you
can take were created by Naru SLibrary located in Naru. Stop by and
see their neighborhood library. Contact Slinky Stiglitz for more
information. This new sim also has a community theater.



The library branch in Caledon is taking shape. We will be adding
books and audio books there in addition to some special nineteenth
century magazines and resources. Contact JJ Drinkwater or Lorelei
Junot for more information and suggestions.



Info Island is also home to the wonderful ICT Library which has a
number of free tools, scripts, and materials for edcuators. Stop in
and make use of these wonderful resources. Info Island also is proud
to host TechSoup and World Bridges.



If you would like to know of any specific services or would like a
tour for your group, please contact Lorelei Junot and we will be happy
to schedule a tour designed specifically for your group.