Second Life

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Introduction

See also Avatars and Gaming in health libraries

Second Life (SL) is a web-based virtual space where computer users assume digital identities ('avatars') - and live a second life online. One of the coolest features on SL is teleporting - a simulated kind of flying (or, levitating) from place to place. Since its launch in 2003, Second Life has been visited by millions of people from around the world. Virtual worlds have evolved from their early web 2.0 roots including social network sites, online games and simulations. Web 2.0 media point towards an emerging three-dimensionality on the web which some experts call the 3-D web. In mid-2008, Google announced its own virtual world called Lively - but abandoned it in January 2009.

Some health librarians and physicians in SL

A number of librarians follow SL closely (see Facebook groups), and three health librarians are prominent among them: Guus van den Brekel, Carol Perryman and Patricia F. Anderson. (Boulos et al have written several articles in this area). Here is a good April 2008 post of SL on the EBM blog. How many health librarians are using SL? The adoption of SL is still in its early stages in health libraries.

For early technology adopters, SL is the reference and health librarian's online game of choice. Health librarians, in fact, have created their own space in SL called HealthInfo Island. (See this April 2008 report.) There is an associated wiki for background information on HealthInfo Island for interested librarians. A Teen Second Life is also available; for more information,see the entry on gaming.

To get some sense of the use of SL by medical students, visit Bertalan Mesko's Science Roll blog, and his section on Second Life. Physician and informatics blogger, Chris Paton, also writes about the impact of SL occasionally. He reported that SL's first hospital opened in April 2008. Some doctors are concerned about the implications of training and medical practice - including second opinions in SL.

The Future of SL

For fun and exploration, SL may be a good place to start to learn about the gaming phenomenon. Health librarians, physicians and patients are exploring SL. Well-established public, government, medical and academic libraries have an interest in InfoIsland, InfoIsland II, and HealthInfo Island. It seems reasonable to assume that Web 2.0 technologies, and voice-over-Internet and video, will eventually be used within SL.

More than 20 million accounts have been registered at SL. However, many are inactive and some residents maintain multiple accounts. There are actually no reliable figures for actual long term consistent usage, but more than 500,000 people use SL consistently according to SL's web statistics. Despite its prominence, Second Life has notable competitors, including Moove, There (internet service), Active Worlds, Kaneva, and the erotic-oriented Red Light Center.

Notable characteristics of Second Life:

Second Life requires a downloadable client, and an active account;
SL is a vast digital content with businesses, and a thriving economy;
SL users must have an avatar, or digital identity (pseudonymous);
Linden dollars are used as SL's own currency system and have actual value;
Many libraries are being built by groups of techno-savvy librarians;
Health organizations and schools are opening, and offer training courses;
5000 businesses set up with "real" estate.
Health and medical activity in SL is increasing.

SL <http://www.secondlife.com/> has reached a level of success and awareness among information professionals, such that online communities are considered legitimate meeting places. Sweden, for example, has opened a "virtual embassy" in SL and Harvard and other schools have begun to offer courses using SL. Reuters News has just opened a virtual news bureau to cover the SL beat, and the field of medicine is starting to get in on the act too: the American Cancer Society and the US Centers for Disease Control are high profile adopters.

Health information in Second Life

A visit to Second Life would be incomplete without seeing Info Island and Health Info Island. These locations within SL contain aspects of their first life equivalents, including library reference desks where information resources can be found, such as PubMed. An emerging area of our field has been called virtual world librarianship, and some libraries have hired gaming librarians.

Library-related meetings take place in SL as supplements to phone and/ or web-based conference calls. Health librarians answer real health reference questions on SL. They offer library services to their end-users, and socialize with them in situ. SL transcends the physical library, and gives health librarians new ways of doing digital outreach, networking and public relations. SL is considered to be a type of MMORPG.

The National Library of Medicine (U.S.) awarded a $40,000 grant to the University of Illinois Library of Health Sciences Peoria, Central Medical Library and the University Medical Center Goningen for a Second Life project. Carolina Keats, a consumer health and medical librarian has been hired to support SL's health information needs. HealthInfo Island was purchased with grant funds, and is intended to provide gathering space for support groups and to host health fairs and library displays. Guus van den Brekel, a medical librarian at the University of Gronigen in the Netherlands, is head of the medical library, and part of the consumer health grant work. Space has been given to the National Library of Medicine, contractors from the CDC and the Swedish Red Cross.

Orientation and training in SL

There are a number of training modules in Second Life:

Here is some information on the bioterrorism training site in SL:

http://irhbt.typepad.com/play2train/

Second Life and Public Health video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wDl5suE2Uo.

Chat

There are two methods of chat in SL: local chat and global "instant messaging" (known as IM). Chatting is used for public localized conversations between two or more avatars, and can be heard (seen). Chatting takes place on an "open chat channel" (zero-0) though millions of channels are available. A scripted listening device is needed to hear traffic on other channels. Avatars can 'shout' and 'whisper' (audible within 100 and 10 metres, respectively). IM is used for private conversation between two avatars or among members of groups. IM communication does not depend on the participants being within a certain distance of each other.

Canadian context

The evidence to suggest that Canadian health librarians are using SL is lacking. However, if you know of research or presentations being done, please contact dean.giustini@ubc.ca wiki administrator.

Courses at LIS schools

Setting up Your Library or Museum in Second Life: An Applied Approach

This course is intended for those interested in creating their library or museum presence in SL. Each participant will be lent a small plot of land on which to develop a prototype for their SL library or museum. Instructors will focus on the information, skills, and SL utilities necessary to accomplish that task. Participants will also be given the opportunity to reinforce their learning through hands-on experiences that will result in a model for their SL library or museum. Led by Daisyblue Hufferman, Krull Aeon, and Sonja Morgwain.

Working with a Class in Second Life

Join Dr. Bryan Carter (Bryan Mnemonic) in this course created to help librarians and educators learn how to work with a class in Second Life including hardware and software requirements, orientation, faculty and student mindset change, establishing course objectives, finding and creating content, creating meaningful projects, evaluating student work, action learning, grants, managing a sim-island, and collaborative opportunities.

Virtual World Librarianship

What is it like to work as a librarian in the virtual world of Second Life (SL)? What skills and knowledge are needed? What resources are available? This is a hands-on course that will introduce you to providing reference services and building collections and exhibits in Second Life, to planning programs and events, and to the skills needed for the 21st century librarian in a virtual world. Led by Hypatia Dejavu, Abbey Zenith, Rocky Vallejo, JJ Drinkwater.

Second Life

From UBC Health Library Wiki

Contents

Introduction

Some health librarians and physicians in SL

The Future of SL

Notable characteristics of Second Life:

Health information in Second Life

Orientation and training in SL

Chat

Canadian context

Courses at LIS schools

References

Views

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