ALA to promote Midwinter Meeting programming in Second Life

Contact: Tina Coleman


ALA member specialist


312-280-2152

ccoleman@ala.org

NEWS


For Immediate Release


January 14, 2009

CHICAGO- ALA’s 2009 Midwinter Meeting kicks off next Friday, Jan. 24 in Denver, Colo., and whether you’re are able to attend you can get in on fun by visiting ALA Island and attending the festivities there.

All activities will take place on the ALA Island, ALA’s virtual space. ALA Island/ALA Main Stage is located at 128, 107, 29. In Second Life, teleport there directly:
http://slurl.com/secondlife/ALA%20Island/128/107/29/

Friday, Jan. 23

  • Inworld availability of AL Education Supplement Publication - Will be available for free from the ALA News Stand near the ALA Store inworld.
  • 12 p.m. SLT (1 p.m. MST) Privacy Revolution Web site launch party - hosted by Bryan Campbell (Bryan Anderton in SL) of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Privacy Revolution t-shirts will also be available.
  • 7 – 9 p.m. SLT (8 – 10 p.m. MST) Official Opening of the YALSA Tech Playground - This interactive exhibit features models of some of the gadgets being featured at the special event. Gadgets are displayed on platforms at ALA Island (61, 228, 35). Please note you may need to fly to see all the platforms!

Saturday, Jan. 24

  • Official Opening of I Love My Librarian Award Winners Exhibit- Will feature a slide show of photos and copies of the nominating essays.
  • 1 p.m. SLT (2 p.m. MST) FINRA Press Conference
  • 2 p.m. SLT (3 p.m. MST) Virtual Communities and Libraries -Member Initiative Group Meeting - Participants will be involved both in SL and from the RL Conference in Denver. Inworld group will gather on the Book Stage on ALA Island

Sunday, Jan. 25

  • 10 a.m. SLT (11 a.m. MST) Guide to Reference Demo - Lili Luo will give a demo presentation of the Guide to Reference from ALA Publishing
  • 1 p.m. SLT (2 p.m. MST) Rural Librarians Connecting Globally - Sonja Plummer-Morgan, librarian at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library in Presque Isle, Maine, will give a presentation featuring an overview of what rural librarians in Second Life are doing, an update on the Association for Rural & Small Libraries efforts in Second Life, a how-to on implementing online book discussions and question-and-answer session for participants.

Monday, Jan. 26

  • Youth Media Awards Announcement Broadcast - Will show the video of the announcement.
  • Inworld Availability of Booklist Editors Choice & Top Picks Publication Supplement - Will be available for free from the ALA News Stand near the ALA Store.
  • 4 p.m. SLT (5 p.m. MST) ALA Book Awards Skating Party - Celebrating all of the book award winners.

Other Midwinter Meeting materials available in Second Life will include:

  • AL Direct web portal to current AL Direct newsletter
  • AL Direct Economy Special Issue web portal
  • Twitter Powered News Ticker for up the minute conference reporting
  • Cross Country Ski course highlighting the YMA Awards
  • Daily editions of ALA Offices and unit updates and reports and Cognotes

Also, available in Second Life is the Campaign for America’s Libraries 2008 Update, featuring news articles and stories of how libraries across the country and around the world are using the Campaign to promote the value of libraries and librarians. Visit
www.ala.org for more information on the Campaign.

To learn more about Second Life, visit ALA’s Second Life wiki at
http://wikis.ala.org/professionaltips/index.php/Second_Life. For more information on National Library Week, visit the National Library Week Web page at www.ala.org/pio/nlw.