Virtual Reality Marketing and Media: Second Life

In Friday's Boston Globe business section, Jenn Abelson had a fascinating report on new developments in Second Life. She looks at the rise of marketing and media firms in the virtual world. The article is very interesting, full of intriguing developments.

I wonder if the American Association of Law Libraries' Sections on Legal Information to the Public (LISP - SIS) and Social Responsibilities (SR-SIS) would be interested in staffing a virtula presence in Second Life. We could build a virtual law library with links to legal information freely available on the web, and explanations of how to use them. According to the article linked above, Second Life now has 340,000 residents and adds 60,000 more are joining every month. What an interesting way to collect and distribute legal information and research skills!

And best of all, you can customize your avatar, to either spruce yourself up, or reinvent yourself. How would you take to being a winged librarian, or trying on a different gender, race or look? It sounds like fun! The image above shows a fairly true-to-life avatar and a comparison photo of Second Life reporter Wagner James Au, from his blog.