ALA TechSource report: MUVE into virtual worlds
ALA TechSource report: MUVE into virtual worlds
CHICAGO – Virtual worlds are here to stay, says Tom Peters (”Maxito Ricardo” in Second Life and Lively) in the October issue of Library Technology Reports. In “Librarianship in Virtual Worlds,” Peters explores how librarianship can survive and thrive in these multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs). For libraries and library-related organizations interested in developing a presence in one or more virtual worlds, this issue of LTR may prove a useful tool for understanding the breadth and depth of the VW scene.
In “Librarianship in Virtual Worlds,” the author — a librarian with years of academic, library technology and VW experience — details virtual library services and provides a host of useful practices for libraries with the desire to innovate and get on the “MUVE.”
Inside this issue:
Terminology, Contexts, and Distinctions, including information about: Virtual Communities; Four Components of the Metaverse; Avatars; MUVEs and MMORPGs; Three Types of Libraries; and Being in the Real World, Online, and In World
Ten Necessary and Sufficient Conditions for Librarianship in Virtual Worlds
Issues to Consider, including: Ownership, Intellectual Property, and Rights Management; Timing; Metrics: Studying the Attitudes and Behaviors of Avatars; and Interoperability and the Portability of Resources
Resources, including information about: Following the Virtual Worlds News; Platforms, Software, and Tools; WebFlock from Electric Sheep; Books and Articles; and A Selective List of Virtual Worlds
More information and a free sample from this Library Technology Report can be found at: http://www.techsource.ala.org/ltr/librarianship-in-virtual-worlds.html
About the Author
Tom Peters began his library career serving as an academic librarian for 16 years at various Midwestern universities and academic library consortia. In 2003 he founded TAP Information Services (www.tapinformation.com), a small company that helps organizations innovate. Current TAP Info projects include OPAL (www.opal-online.org), an easy, affordable, accessible Web-conferencing service, and Unabridged (www.unabridged.info), which provides downloadable digital audiobooks for blind and low-vision users in several states. Tom, his wife, their four children and three dogs live on an acreage nestled between Oak Grove and Grain Valley, Missouri.
About ALA TechSource
ALA TechSource, www.alatechsource.org, is a unit of the Publishing Dept. of the American Library Association and publishes the periodicals Library Technology Reports and Smart Libraries Newsletter as well as the popular ALA TechSource Blog