Info Island and Libraries in Second Life this week

SciFi Fantasy Gallery

Wednesday July 16 at 1 pm and Saturday July 19 at 1 pm
Book of the Month Discussion
featuring Paul Levinson’s THE SILK CODE
For more information contact Franja Russell.

Cybrary City 1
Advanced Second Life Features: An Interactive Potluck, August 7, 2008 8:00 a.m. SLT & 3:00 p.m. SLT, Open Auditorium on Cybrary City 1(http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/124/157/24). Join Wilbur Wood, CEO of LearnTimes, producers of online conferences, communities and events http://www.learningtimes,net/3d for a free program and discussion about advanced features in second life. Participants are encouraged to bring their own favorite feature or useful gadget to display. Presentation will be in voice.

So You Want a Library or Organzation in Second Life: A Practical Guide 8:00 a.m. SLT August 1, Open Auditorium, Cybrary City I Brief presentation in voice, tour an existing library, learn about available parcels, & lots of time for Q and A. All are welcome. Riven Homewood from the Alexandrian Library, Caledon will also present.

Contact Sonja Morgwain for more information.

Alexandrian Free Library: Caledon, New Toulouse, Steelhead, & Winterfell Library Events July 15th-26th, 2008

Book Discussion - The Sea Wolf by Jack London
Sun, July 20, 2pm – 3pm
Steelhead Public Library, Steelhead City
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Steelhead/123/185/24
A discussion of Jack London’s stirring epic. From bibliomania.com “The Sea-Wolf was published in 1904, during the time of London’s great successes with The Call of the Wild, published the year before. It tells of Humphrey Van Weyden, an amateur literary critic who finds himself picked up by the sealing schooner Ghost when the ship that he is travelling on across the San Francisco Bay collides with a steamer. A new central character emerges in the form of Wolf Larson. Larson is a fierce, strong and ruthless industrialist. After the Ghost rescues some refugees near Japan on its sealing expedition, Larson and Van Weyden come into conflict over the poet Maude Brewster. In time Brewster and Van Weyden manage to escape to a desert island together. However, in time, the Ghost finds itself drawn to them half-wrecked and without a sail. Larson is now in a sorry, semi-paralysed state and even though Van Weyden and Brewster manage to find a way to sail the ship away, Larsen dies a sad and individualistic creature while Van Weyden shows his nature as a moral and decent individual.”

Shakespeare Summer: Romeo and Juliet
Sun, July 20 – Sat, July 26
Radio Riel: http://music.radioriel.org
The second month of Shakespeare Summer, produced by Radio Riel in cooperation with the Caledon Library, and funded by the Foundation for Rich Content. Radio Riel’s “From The Library” programming all this week will feature music from, thematically connected to, or providing commentary and sidelights on, The Bard’s eternally popular play of the impetuosities and tragedies of youthful love. Programming & events this week lead up the the Romeo & Juliet Ball on July 26th. Visit Radio Riel at http://radioriel.blogspot.com/ for details of the programming

Book Discussion - Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Mon, July 21, 6pm – 8pm
The Great Lawn of the Whitehorn Library, Caledon VIctoriaCity
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Victoria%20City/30/180/23
Bellicose Tybalt, fanciful Mercutio, the bawdy Nurse, the compassionate Friar, the tender and tragic lovers, the proud Capulets and the haughty Montagues, each strut and fret their hour upon the stage in Shakespeare’s endlessly popular, endlessly reinterpreted tragedy of young love’s power and pathos. All are welcome at this discussion, whether they have read the play or not.

The Second Annual Bookbinders Ball
July 25th, 6-8 pm SLT
Coughton Court, Caledon Carntaigh
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Carntaigh/83/183/25
A Formal, Fancy Dress ball in Caledon, to celebrate The Caledon Library’s collaboration with Radio Riel on their FFRC supported “Shakespeare Summer” project.
Hosted by JJ Drinkwater of the Caledon Library & the Alexandrian Free Library, Gabrielle Riel of Radio Riel & Riel Events, and the funloving folks of Info Island’s TX950. The theme of this event is “What’s in a Name?” and you are invited to come as your favorite Shakespearian Actor, Character, or Play. We will once again be playing our Guessing Game, where you fill out your “Library Card” with the names of fellow revelers whom you have “checked out” for the dance, and your guesses as to what their costume represents. Join us for an evening of very literate festivity indeed!

Shakespeare Summer Ball #2: Romeo and Juliet
Sat, July 26, 2:30pm – 4:30pm
Coughton Court
Caledon Carntaigh
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Carntaigh/83/183/25
Come and experience the Masquerade Ball in at the villa of the Capulets, from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. All attendees are encouraged to come in Renaissance garb, or costumes inspired by any of the play’s numerous interpretations. If you want, come and roleplay one of the characters from the play….Balconies *will* be provided! Sponsored by the Caledon Library and Produced by Riel Events.

“Summer Author Chats” Event in Teen Second Life® – Summer, 2008

The Public Library of Charlotte & Mecklenburg County (PLCMC), TeachingBooks.net, and Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries and Information Services are pleased to announce a very special series of three events, “Summer Author Chats”, discussions that will take place in Teen Second Life. These programs will give selected authors and teens the opportunity to interact online in a safe and creative way on PLCMC’s virtual island, Eye4You Alliance.

Kelly Czarnecki, Technology Education Librarian at PLCMC shares, “Having authors interact with teens in the medium of a virtual world is not only a great way to bring stories to life, but connects youth with authors in ways they might not have the opportunity to otherwise.”

“This series merges the traditional “Author in the Library” summer reading event with the exciting technology of Second Life,” says Lisa Perez, the Area Library Coordinator, Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries. “We’re bringing authors to where the teens are, and enabling them to interact and learn from each other.”

Teen Second Life (http://teen.secondlife.com) is a 3D virtual world where teens can learn valuable 21st century skills and build a variety of developmental assets as they engage with their peers from all over the world, communicate in multiple media formats, and express their identities through their own virtual appearances.

Teens have helped construct a space for author presentations with author liaison support provided by PLCMC, TeachingBooks.net and Chicago Public Schools Department of Libraries. Teens have assisted in the planning of these events, participated in an avatar design contest, created web-based support materials, and advertised these programs to the Second Life teen community. Writing, role playing, and anime/manga groups are just some of the teen-driven, literary-related groups within Teen Second Life.

The three participating authors, who are volunteering their time for this program, are extraordinarily well known and acclaimed. They have received dozens of awards and distinctions, and have never participated in a Second Life program before.

Authors of young adult literature will participate as avatars, digital representations of themselves.

To learn more about these events, how to log onto Teen Second Life (must be 13 – 17 years old), how to visit a companion educator’s event (18 years +) and to download a flyer, visit http://www.libraryloft.org/secondlife.asp

Literature in Virtual Worlds Conference

On August 4th, 2008, and again on August 6th, Alliance Library System, in cooperation with LearningTimes, will offer a one-day conference exploring the possibilities of using virtual worlds to teach literature and to promote its appreciation for people of all ages. The conference, titled “Stepping into Literature: Bringing New Life to Books through Virtual Worlds” will be held entirely in the virtual world of Second Life, allowing participants to attend from any location with a computer and a broadband internet connection. Cost to attend the conference is $65 USD per person. Go to the registration form at http://www.learningtimes.net/shop/cgi-bin//cp-app.cgi?pg=prod&ref=SLCONF2008 and to the conferene website at www.steppingintovirtualworlds.org.

“Books have been with us for millenia, from Homer to Beowulf to Harry Potter” notes John Howard, conference director and Special Projects Coordinator for Alliance. “Great literature doesn’t change, but our ways of interacting with it do. What possibilities do virtual worlds offer us in sharing a love of literature? Is there value in building worlds that previously existed only in print, or in our imaginations? How can we use 3-D experiences to enhance our experience of literature?”

The conference will not be solely lecture-based, according to Howard. Instead, participants will take take part in a virtual book discussion, and take field trips into literature-based locations that have been created in Second Life. Participants may find themselves in an Edgar Allen Poe poem, visiting a “secret garden” or learning about gothic literature in an authentically spooky Gothic mansion. “They may even fall down a rabbit hole!” notes Howard. The conference will also feature one or more authors who have used virtual worlds to create, refine or promote their works. The day will conclude with a panel discussion including experts from a number of disciplines, and a social event.

“By doing this conference in Second Life, we can do more than just talk about ways to promote a love of literature in virtual worlds,” says Howard. “We can see and interact with some creative and educational applications in person.”

Beth Ritter-Gluth/Desideria Stockton is Second Life will be the keynote speaker and her talk is on “A Vision for Making Literature Come Alive in VIrtual Worlds.”. She is the creator of Literature Alive in Second Life and teaches English and Women’s Studies at Lehigh Carbon Community College in Schnecksville, PA. She is the creator and director of Literature Alive! in Second Life, founding co-chair of hte 2007 SL Best Practices in Education International Conference: Teaching, Learning, and Research, Co-Founder of the SL Virtual Orphanage and Child Sponsorship program, and co-founder of Open SLedware

The keynote author is Kim Rufer-Bach who will speak on “Using Virtual Worlds to Promote Real Life Literature.” Kimberly Rufer-Bach (Kim Anubis in Second Life) is Owner, Designer and Producer of The Magicians, a 3D interactive software development company that specializes in creating innovative Second Life content. Some of her clients include the British Council, University of California Davis Medical Center, Global Kids, NASA, University of Queensland, and New York Law School. Kimberly is co-author of Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life (Sybex, October 2007) and is currently at work on The Second Life Grid: The Official Guide to Communication Collaboration, and Community Engagement. Her online community management experience includes the roles of Community Forums Coordinator for There, and special events moderator and Editors Forum Host for iUniverse.com on AOL and the Web. She was on the team that
created the best-selling educational computer game First Men in the Moon Math

(Fisher-Price) in the mid-1980s. Publishing credits include articles, columns, non-fiction for children, and fiction. Kimberly garnered recommendations for the 1995 Bram Stoker Award for the novella “Daddy’s Girl,” which appeared in Adventures in the Twilight Zone (Ed. Carol Serling, DAW Books, Inc)

Alliance has partnered with LearningTimes to put on this conference. In addition to helping organize the conference, LearningTimes is setting up the technology for individuals and groups to participate in the conference without having to create a Second Life account. “For those who haven’t done it, Second Life can take a little getting used to” notes John Walber, CEO of LearningTimes. “We have had great success this year in providing ’simulcasts’ of events in second life, essentially, looking over the shoulder of a participant.” Walber notes that this should make attendance easier for more people. While not quite as “immersive,” the solution is highly interactive, and creates a recording for later playback Conference organizers will also provide an orientation for those who would like to attend the conference in Second Life, but have no prior experience with the program.

LearningTimes and Alliance have created an ongoing on-line community for participants in this and future conferences. Within this community registrants will have access to conference recordings, contribute to on-going discussions, and network with other interested people from around the world after the conference is over.

Full conference schedule and registration information is available at the conference website, www.steppingintovirtualworlds.org or people may contact John Howard directly at 309.694.9200.