Challenges
•Staffed by volunteer librarians and others on their own
time (burn-out)
•Funding and sustainability
•It is like the gold rush – everyone is going to stake
their claim – partnerships are key
•Steep learning curve
•In April 2006, there were 180,000 accounts; in January
2007 there are over 2 million accounts
on SL
•SL downtime – usually down Wed. for updates and other
times it can go down in the middle
of an event
•What types of library services do virtual world users
want?
•Not everyone understands when you are in SL you are
working – you might be having
fun too; sometimes convincing bosses of this is challenging
•Hardware and connection required – must have fairly new
computer and use broadband connection
•No integrated audio – several options for audio – just
text chat now
•It is highly addictive and takes a lot of time
•No easy web integration