Looks like a game.

Had a visitor to my office this week, someone wanted him to see what we were doing in Activeworld. He asked if this was real work. “Looks like a game.”

I received an email concerning the blog from two people interested in using virtual social world technology for their school. They said it was difficult for those in authority to take all of this seriously. “Looks like a game.”

Now there are many ways of approaching this problem. However, the best way is to be honest, we are playing games of a sort. Yes, its fun!

What's wrong with fun?

However we are using something fun to address a serious issue. The question is how are we, librarians, to remain relevant in a society that increasingly sees our profession as antiquated? How are we going to service a world where the technology for delivering information has far surpassed our imagination and ability to cope? How will we answer the question, what does a librarian do?

Face it folks, the kids probably can out do us when it comes to finding the relevant materials they need for school and life. Don't tell me they listen in those BI sessions. I've taught hundreds of them. They may take away a few facts; however, when it comes to research they turn to their peers and the Internet. Folks those are pretty fair resources.

Their peer to peer networking (and I am not talking about computers here) with their friends is much faster than anything we can retrieve. I get the feeling that they only turn to us when all else fails.

I hear my colleagues crying "traitor" as I type.

YOU BET I AM A TRAITOR! The winning side is with the young kids! The way they operate makes excellent sense. They know how to retrieve and organize information (look at facebook or myspace) in ways we can not imagine.

They know how to cooperate with each other, over the Net. They know how to get what they need, site licenses and copyright are not boundaries to them (this is another issue).

So what am I saying? Am I just rambling here? I hope not.

Probably I am. But, I feel passionate about this, whatever this is.

My growing apprehension is that we, information professionals, better begin to immerse ourselves into their world. No matter how often we discuss Web 2.0 or Library 2.0 in conferences. We better begin to play games. Get involved with their world.

I have a friend (one of my few), who says "Don't think, just do." Doesn't sound professional or scholarly, but it’s correct. We want to organize and control. Too late guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, my solution is this, sign up for Second Life, make some friends in MySpace, and use Windows Live Messenger to chat with people. No! No! No! Don't schedule virtual reference desk time!!! Just do it! Make all this part of your natural existence. Immerse yourself. Believe it or not, YOU HAVE THE TIME!!!!

Great experience the other day, I arrived in my office and received a notice on my Windows Messenger that someone wanted to chat. I logged on and had a live video session with one of the students from her family's home in Korea. No, this is not scheduled reference desk time, its real time, and its real life. I was able to assist her!

I run several IMs on my PC! I can monitor the virtual world with a similar tool! My email is always open (though its the older grad students and professors who contact me that way). My phone rarely rings.

I have student friends in facebook and all the other similar sites. I routinely check all! I like doing it.

It’s not really "my job.” It’s what I do.

Its time to play games! Its time to have fun! It’s time for us to take part in our patron’s world.

Yeah, I know the boss thinks you’re just playing games.

Cy World

I have a very short blog today. A product out of South Korea is taking the world by storm and challenging My Space, is CyWorld. Take a look at this interesting social space, http://us.cyworld.com/main/index.php .

Aside from the usual web space for sharing personal info, there is a 2-D representation of a personal living space. Members can create their own personal avatar and place it within a home of its own. It can even speak, within a text bubble, to other members and friends in the community.

CyWorld has sites all over the world and in various languages. The company makes a profit off those who would accessorize their living quarters. There's lots of cool stuff to purchase.

Wouldn't this be great for a university to offer their students and alumni? Its a vision I've been working on. A virtual community for an academic setting. Its would be something to attract students and hold alumni.

It's not a bad place for networking. A university could sponsor a networking world for all their recent grads. It could be a place to guide alumni and promote the university in the greater RL world.