#17 Avatars & Second Life

What’s It All About?

Avatars are icons or representations of users in a shared virtual reality, like Second Life. Within online virtual communities and Internet forums, avatars are pictures that users display alongside their contributions to represent themselves. Avatars have also become popular in instant messaging where they are also referred to as buddy icons.

Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world which came to international attention via mainstream news in late 2006. A downloadable client program, called the Second Life Viewer, enables its users, called “Residents”, to interact with each other through motional 3-D avatars. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items and services from one another.

Libraries and Avatars

Sno-Isle Libraries

• If you haven’t already, see if you can recognize our Teen Librarians by their avatars.

Microsoft LiveSearch

• Microsoft has created a “librarian” avatar, Ms.Dewey, to provide support to LiveSearch. You can experience her unique personality here.

Second Life

• Libraries all over the country have a presence in Second Life on InfoIsland. There is enough activity to populate an entire Internet site about the Second Life Library.  The Online Education Database has created a guide specifically for library staff about Second Life.
• In fact, many librarians are now practicing their profession for Second Life residents through institutions with presences both in this world and in Second Life. A four-week course about Virtual World Librarianship is available in Second Life from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  When you become a resident of Second Life, you create an avatar as a virtual representation of yourself. Of course, this is an opportunity for residents to look somewhat different than they do in real life.

Try It Out!

1. Experiment with creating an avatar at DoppelMe.com (no sign in is necessary). Or build one at Tektek.

2. Watch videos of the Second Life world.

What did you think?

Are you ready to share your avatar with us?  Write a post to your blog including your avatar’s image.  In your post tell us what you think about our virtual selves vs. our “real” selves.

Answer these questions in your post as well.

• Do you already live in Second Life?
• If you don’t already live in SL, would you like to live in Second Life?
• Why or why not?

Next Week: No. 18 Maps and Geotagging