ALA in Second Life - Now on Info Island
The American Library Association resides on Info Island in the Second Life (SL) virtual world.
Next meeting: Virtual Communities and Libraries MIG / ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group at the 2012 Annual Conference: Sunday, June 24, 2012 - 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Anaheim Convention Center: 212A. Shared meeting of the Virtual Communities and Libraries Member Initiative Group and ACRL's Virtual Words Interest Group. Both groups will go over current projects and future plans. Twitter Hashtag: #ALA12VCL You would still follow @ALA_Island on Twitter and ALA Island on Facebook for updates. ALA on Info Island (25, 135, 23) can be reached using the Second Life URL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/25/135/23
ALA Island was first announced February 26, 2007: ALA/Arts Island Set to Open in Second Life
ALA Island closed January 1, 2012: ALA Island will be closing 1/1/2012:
From 12/29/2011: Second Life – Group notice: ALA Island will be closing 1/1/2012
Group Notice From: ALA SL-Events, Kay TairovHello, All.
I wanted to let you know that ALA Island will be closing come the new year. ALA will still maintain a presence in SL, just on a smaller scale. Please send me an IM if you have questions.
Thank you,
Kay
Member feedback and input on virtual worlds comes from ALA's Virtual Communities and Libraries (VCL) Member Initiative Group (MIG). This group is open to all ALA members; contact staff liaison Christina Coleman for information (or send an IM to her avatar in Second Life, Kay Tairov).
Members of ALA's academic libraries unit, the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL, a division of ALA), can elect to join the ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group; contact ACRL liaison Mary Jane Petrowski for more information.
Need help and information on signing up for and participating in the Second Life virtual world? Please see the Second Life page on the ALA Library Professional Tips Wiki. Check your local public and/or community college library for any of the books on the list at the WorldCat.org library catalog website, Second Life Books and More!: Introductory and Beyond the Basics.
The ALA Island Facebook Page and ALA Island Twitter, @ALA_Island (as well as the ALA Island Events Public Google Calendar, when needed) will communicate next steps and other virtual world items of interest. Photos of various in-world events and activities can be seen at the American Library Association in Second Life Flickr Group; feel free to join the group and add your own Second Life snapshots.
Pictures, blog posts, and other online resources for ALA Island can be found by searching its tag: "alaisland."
The American Library Association Virtual Communities and Libraries Member Initiative Group (ALA VCL MIG), which was proposed and founded in 2007, records its activities at the Virtual Presence Blog. Both the ALA VCL MIG on ALA Connect and the ALA VCL MIG E-Discussion List are online forums for discussing topics of interest to the group, which explores issues and interests of libraries and library workers in a wide variety of social networking and multi-user universe settings. Further in-depth resources on ALA Island can be found on the ALA in virtual worlds page of the ALA Read Write Connect Wiki.
For more information on the virtual world itself and how it functions, consider joining the Second Life Users Group on ALA Connect.
More information about academic libraries and librarians in Second Life is available at the ACRL Virtual Worlds Interest Group on ALA Connect.
Also see the page Library Uses for Second Life -- and feel free to add your own suggestions or regular activities.
The history of the ALA Island that appears on the Virtual Presence Blog was adapted from an Association of Virtual Worlds Blog Post by Donavan Vicha, known as avatar Oberon Octagon in the Second Life virtual world.
The ALA VCL MIG Statement of Purpose:
To provide a group within ALA for members interested in fostering the practice of library work, the visibility of libraries and library workers, and the extension of library services within online social networks, virtual worlds, and other communities of intention. To provide a mechanism for sharing experiences and practices in-person or virtually through programming or asynchronous communications. To encourage wider participation by the profession and the association in virtual worlds. and To establish a forum across all types of libraries and at all levels of library employment concerned with the development of library services in emerging social networks, virtual worlds, and other communities of intention. This group is open to all members.
The proposal to ALA's Committee on Organization in 2007 noted:
Within the past year and a half a wide variety of libraries, library workers, and library-related organizations have begun exploring, working, and creating library services in virtual worlds, such as Second Life, Teen Second Life, Active Worlds, Whyville, and others. Just as real-world libraries serve communities of users, these initiatives in virtual worlds are striving to serve the residents of these virtual worlds. An ALA VCL MIG will foster and facilitate communication, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices within the organizational structure and communication channels of ALA.
The Announcement of the Formation of the American Library Association Virtual Communities and Libraries Member Initiative Group dated June 26, 2007:
During its meeting in Washington, DC during the Annual Conference of the American Library Association, the ALA Committee on Organization approved the request -- supported by 101 signatures from supportive ALA members -- to form a Member Initiative Group on Virtual Communities and Libraries. The ALA VCL MIG will foster and facilitate communication, collaboration, and the sharing of best practices as library workers from all types of libraries explore ways to provide information and information services to members of virtual communities. Kitty Pope, the Director of the Alliance Library System, Lori Bell, the Director of Innovation at the Alliance Library System, Matt Gullett, the Emerging Technology Manager at the Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County, and Tom Peters, CEO of TAP Information Services, are the four designated organizers of the VCL MIG.
The ALA VCL MIG Designated Organizers -- which came to include Rhonda Trueman, Librarian, Johnson & Wales University Charlotte -- first met during the 2008 ALA Midwinter Meeting.
Last updated: June 2012
