Second Life Law Librarians

Comment by Sarah Glassmeyer on May 23, 2008 at 1:29pm

I'm just starting to explore Second Life as part of the "Law Librarians in Virtual Worlds" summer workshop. I'm keeping pictures of my activities at my flickr here and will be blogging about it here. (Thus far all I've done is create the blog and haven't actually filled it with content yet. That will hopefully soon change.) I'm probably best classified right now as a Second Life agnostic and am not sure if it will have many practical applications for law librarians.

Comment by Marguerite Most on May 23, 2008 at 2:08pm

Hi Jim - That was fast. Thanks for creating the group. A colleague at Boston College and I attended a faculty presentation at Simmons School of Library & Information Science this spring - they reported on a class they taught in Second Life; their students took to it right away. But for me the learning curve has been steep compared to Facebook and other social networks. I suspect that many law students won't take the time to join unless they're in a class where it's used in some way.

Comment by Lyonette Louis-Jacques on May 23, 2008 at 4:20pm

Thanks, Jim! This will be great! Happy weekend, Lyo.

Comment by Liz Glankler on May 23, 2008 at 4:30pm

Thanks, Jim for starting this. I love Second Life but am just figuring out how it may apply to our library.

Comment by Lyonette Louis-Jacques on May 23, 2008 at 4:41pm

I'm excited by the potential possibilities of using SL in law libraries. You can put legal research guides/pathfinders on there. You can hold classes. You can give tours. You can be creative and build something that might attract users to the information you're providing.

What I'm trying to find out is:

1. How to overcome the initial awkwardness of manipulating your avatar and navigating Second Life quickly (because that would be an obstacle to use of SL)? Is the avatar itself, its appearance, and its anonymity a barrier?

2. Where are the law students and faculty on Second Life?

3. How can we/If we can, as one of the discussion threads on our Law Librarians in Virtual Worlds page mentioned, go beyond 2-D to 3-D presentations on Second Life?

4. And, to what extent are there foreign, comparative, and international law (FCIL) spots/resources and researchers on Second Life?

So, I'm exploring to see if I can find answers to these questions. Hopefully, there are some practical applications of SL in law libraries. Did y'all see this article? It points out some of the pluses and minuses:

"A Little Grafting of Second Life into a Legal Research Class"
by Rob Hudson, May 9, 2008
http://www.llrx.com/features/secondlife.htm

Comment by Ron Wheeler on May 23, 2008 at 6:18pm

I'll admit it. After spending 5 hours trying to buy new clothes in second life (Yes, I can never escape the urge to shop! I gave up. But, I'm trying. I don't quite get it, but I'm trying.

Comment by Lyonette Louis-Jacques on May 23, 2008 at 7:13pm

My avatar really likes his basic look, but it's been getting a little old showing up to meetings in SL with the same clothes on all the time...:-) He tried to go shopping for new clothes. Major fail! :-) He'll be trying again soon. Or at least get tattoos! :-)

Comment by Prano Amjadi on June 3, 2008 at 12:42pm

Have you guys been to Free Dove yet? It is a group free store. Most clothes designer but a sample of theie work there with a landmark to their store. You can get skins and shapes, hair, clothes, jewelry and shoes. If you have not been, check it out.

Comment by Lyonette Louis-Jacques on June 4, 2008 at 3:31pm

I went and looked at Free Dove yesterday. I had been there before, but couldn't find the men's clothes department. But I succeeded this time. It really does seem to try to be friendly to newbies. There were a couple of avatars changing appearances though. What's that about?

Anyway, thanks for the tip, Prano!

BTW, I met my twin avatar there...:-) Ciao, Lyo.

Comment by Lyonette Louis-Jacques on June 18, 2008 at 1:34pm

How does one find out about events such as law-related lectures in SL? What about parties, concerts, dances, and such?

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