Thing #15: Online Games & Libraries

From the Sirsi Dynix Institute's Teen Second Life: Library Services in a 3D world with Kelly Czarnecki of The Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County PowerPoint presentation:

What do you see as the biggest barrier to working with a virtual environment?

Answers (partial):

"Don't see this as related to library services/my job"
"Barrier? No way, I'm in!"

I would fall into the first answer above, but this Thing, particularly the PowerPoint presentation referenced above, has helped me to better accept and appreciate virtual worlds. A couple of the key take-aways from the PowerPoint are:

"Many teens want to contribute; not just consume."
"[The] teens we work with on a regular basis aren't frequent bricks/mortar library users."

Both of these comments are relevant to my company and my job. I'm in a special library in a consumer goods company. Consumers want to actively participate in product design/development (co-creation). This includes not only the external customers for our company products, but also our internal customers/clients/patrons who want and need to be consulted about our library products and services.

With regard to the second response above, most of my clients don't want to walk into my library. They want digital content; they want it easily available and searchable on their desktops and they want their own custom view.

That said, I'm not sure how or if I could use a virtual world within my library, but this Thing makes me more open-minded about the possibility of considering that option.