Info Island and libraries in Second Life this week

Stonewall Learning Center
The Stonewall Learning Center opened Sunday, August 10th, on the west
side of Info Island just east of the Jazz Cat Club.

Stonewall’s goal is to promote understanding and awareness among
lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgendered folk and straights through
information, discussion and displays. The Center was named for the
Stonewall Riots of 1969 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonewall_riots)
which was a turning point in GLBT history, marking in the minds of
many the beginning of an open gay rights movement in the U.S. and
around the world.

At present the Center has a set of posters up on the walls linking to
information on the Internet with plans for further development over
the ensuing months. Visitors are encouraged! A SLURL to the Center
is provided below. At present Rocky Vallejo, head of Alliance Virtual
Libraries (AVL) Collections, and Hypatia Dejavu, Head of AVL Reference
Services, are working to develop resources for the collection assisted
by a small group of volunteers.

If you’d be interested in volunteering with this project please
contact the AVL Volunteer Services Coordinator, Marimar Berchot.

Stonewall Learning Center
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Info%20Island/24/123/33/

Buckaroo Buzz Session

When: Buzz Session @ Info Island, Aug 22nd at 6pm SL — (new time)
Bucky Barkley will talk about new tools he has developed for education and
libraries in Second Life

Library Art Gallery @ Info Island

Friday, 22 August 2008, 5P - 6P SLT August/September Exhibit
Celebration.
Special Live performance by the very talented Cylindrian Rutabaga,
real life singer and songwriter, in celebration of artists: Alacrity
Lorefield and Sylvia Trilling. Please join us in celebrating these
very fine artists! Bring a friend and your dance shoes! Hope to see
you there!

Steelhead Public Library
Book Discussion - Coming of Age in SecondLife
Sunday August 24, 2pm
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Anteater%20Island/71/108/24

The Steelhead Public Library is proud to sponsor an inworld discussion
of the book “Coming of Age in SecondLife” by Tom Boellstorff.

Mr Boellstorff has (sl name Tom Bukowski) been on SL since 2004. In
real life, he is a professor of anthropology at the University of
California Irvine. This book is an ethnographic study of SecondLife
and looks at SL from the standpoint of a cutlural anthropologist. The
author draws heavily upon his knowledge about ethnographic traditions
and his previous fieldwork in Indonesia, in order to place his
fieldwork in SL into perspective. He does a good job of describing how
his study was conducted and the ethical principles he employed while
doing it.

“It was a joy to read a book about SecondLife where I kept nodding my
head instead of gnashing my teeth. The chapters describing SL
activities and social conventions rang true to me and focused on the
things I love about SL - it’s culture of community, sharing, and
friendship. The author obviously knows SL well and loves being here.”
Riven Homewood
Director, Steelhead Public Library

This event is open to anyone with a serious interest in how we live on
SecondLife and the ways in which academics are studying us. The
discussion will be held in the American Anthropologist Virtual
Auditorium on Anteater Island. Tom will use voice for the talk and
text for q&a. It is not necessary to have read the book in order to
participate, but book’s first chapter is available online at the
Princeton University Press website at
http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8647.html for those who would like
to read it.