Parallel universe

Net Results:UCD students who are fans of the Second Life may stumble across an unexpected reminder to get back to the studying as they roam the online virtual reality world, the UCD library, writes Karlin Lillington.

Joining such venerable real world institutions as the Reuters news agency, Sony and Reebok, all of which have virtual world presence, UCD now has a building on Information Island in Second Life and is considering the ways in which it could be used by UCD students and other visitors.

Cathal McCauley, the UCD librarian behind the idea, quotes a study by industry analyst Gartner that predicts some 80 per cent of internet users will frequent virtual worlds like Second Life in the next five years. Nearly seven million people are now members of Second Life. "As a librarian, I could see lots of potential," he says.

But why enter the virtual world?

"Sometimes students don't want to approach us in the library but we know they will approach us online. Already, we use instant messaging and blogs in the library at UCD and this is an obvious alternative."

A survey of students who use the bricks and mortar UCD library has indicated that about 30 per cent would like to be able to use a virtual reference desk.Offering a useful, indirect route for students seeking research assistance is just one element, says McCauley, however, who sees far more opportunity ahead.

Many organisations deliver lectures and training online through Second Life and it's a perfect venue for distance learning, he says. Sky News, for example, offers three streaming television broadcasts from within Second Life.

Many UCD lecturers supply downloads of lecture notes and slides or even podcasts to students, McCauley says. These too could easily be obtained through the online UCD and viewed in their virtual building. Although students can simply go online and download or view these elements, many would prefer exploring the virtual option within Second Life: "It might be a more attractive route for some people. Students want the internet to be flashy."

UCD is the first Irish library to make its way into Second Life, where there are about 40 libraries in the Cyber E-city section. Other librarians are finding reasons to set up there - or, at least, starting to think about it. "The University of Portsmouth has a plot there, but I don't think they've done anything with it," says McCauley.

Comments like that may sound surreal, but if Gartner is right, it may be a glimpse of the future. Second Life is a bona fide internet phenomenon with a significant economy of its own and an active currency, the linden dollar. Goods and services are bought and sold, as is land, an increasingly scarce resource, with the most select residential areas long since bought by members. UCD got its valuable plot through a group that donates land on Information Island to public organisations like libraries, but it has to be used in specific ways to benefit residents and cannot be turned over for residential use.

McCauley was inspired by a conference at Trinity College last February focusing on educators and Second Life. When he saw some examples of what is happening - that Harvard University, for example, has a virtual centre for its law students to practice advocacy in Second Life - he was sold.

It's not easy being cutting edge, though. While he has had strong support from UCD and fellow librarians to develop the university's Second Life presence, others at the conference said they had to do all their Second Life work in their own time or at home as it wasn't considered "real work".

There is little to see at the online UCD at the moment but a few e-books and a virtual PC on which people can search the collection. McCauley would like to see a regular staff presence in the online library, have it feel more like a real-life branch of a library and to offer teaching skills and services on how to use UCD library's resources more effectively.

"I don't think we're ever going to be replaced by Second Life," says McCauley, "but we'd like to met our students' needs in there."