GET A (SECOND) LIFE! PROSPECTING FOR GOLD IN A 3-D WORLD
Monday, January 1 2007
Many of us have a full first life and would find it difficult to take on a second. But through the Alliance second Life Library project, a number of librarians from all over the globe are taking second lives and jobs in the Second Life 3-D virtual world library. All the aspects, features, and services that are part of Library 2.0 are mashed together in this virtual world. Library 2.0 morphs into Library 3-D. second Life may not be the ultimate participatory social networking space, but it certainly is one of the current frontrunners.
Second Life experienced phenomenal growth in 2006. The influx of individuals, organizations, and corporations into this virtual world seems like a gold rush. In April 2006, there were only 180,000 residents. By the end of October, there were more than 1.2 million registered global residents. At any given moment, thousands of people are online and "in-world," where they can do almost everything they can in real life: learn, conduct research, buy land, purchase homes, start a business, make friends, and much more.
