Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Libraries! Edited Transcript

Jedburgh30 Dagger: *clears throat* Hello everyone!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Viv, Serafina, Jasper and I are pleased to welcome you to the June edition of the Aether Salon - Libraries!. I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining us today.

As many of you know, the Aether Salon meets to discuss steam and Victorian topics on the third Sunday of each month, in Palisades and Academy, New Babbage. We have been doing so since October 2008, when a Brit, an urchin, and a newish to town redhead took the stage. This is our 27th salon and I hope you are all as excited about being here today as I am.

Just a few matters of housekeeping before we get started. If you are standing in the back, please move forward onto the maze so that you can be assured of hearing the speaker. Please hold your questions until the end, and as a courtesy to all, please turn off everything that feeds the lag: all HUDs, scripts, AOs and so on. For the consideration of your neighbors, please refrain from using or deploying any mystical weapons, alien rings, or ambrotypes of elected representatives in their undergarments. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Edited and unedited transcripts will be posted this week on aethersalon.blogspot.com so you can revisit today’s merriment, read transcripts of past salons, and for a laugh, peruse “overheard at the salon.” Please join the Aether Salon group and receive notifications of future salon events, click the lower right hand corner of the large brown sign by the entrance. We sincerely appreciate the support we receive from everyone in the community and we humbly thank you all.

Many fine people have contributed to today’s salon: We are grateful to Miss Canolli Capalini of Capalini Fine Furnishings for the wonderful salon chairs and to our own Mr. Jasper Kiergarten for his expertise in creating today’s craft. We appreciate all of you who have contributed to salon. As a reminder, all speakers' fund jar donations go directly to the speaker.

Now I will turn the stage over to my cohort in crime Miss Sera for the introduction of today’s speakers.

Serafina Puchkina: Thank you, Miss Jed.

"If we may have your attention please, we have a very special and important announcement. For three incredible years, the Aether Salon has celebrated the talents and ingenuity of the steampunk and victorian communities in SL, all from the heart of New Babbage, our treasured home.

We are so very proud of the quality, wit, and imagination of our 44* brilliant speakers, and our innumerable, very funny, always attentive, somewhat explosive audience members.

After three years, the founders of the Salon have concluded that it is time for new adventures. Therefore, it is with much sadness, and even more gratitude that Jed, Serafina, Jasper and I wish to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support." (This is Miss Viv's speech I am reading for her)

*We hope you will join us for one final Hurrah! in August, when Dame Ordinal Malaprop returns to the stage.

And we hope that you will give the next season of Salonistas, or however they determine to be called, the same support and attention that you have so generously shared with us and our speakers. More information on that topic will be forthcoming from Baron Wulfenbach and his Vice Consul.

Words cannot express how much we will miss you all. On a personal note, my co-hosts are dear friends, and I cannot envision every third Sunday without them. You have all worked so hard. Thank you, sincerely and with every inch of my being."

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce Sir JJ Drinkwater and Dame Kghia Gherardi.

Sir JJ is the director of the Caledon Library system, and founder of the Alexandrian Free Library, a consortium of libraries serving themed communities such as Caledon, Steelhead, and and Winterfell.

JJ's "physical avatar", JJ Jacobson (MSI 2005, University of Michigan School of Information) is a librarian with longstanding interests in narrative, intentional community, and the history of everyday life. Professional interests include digitization, metadata, teaching virtual world librarianship, and the uses of Food Studies materials to serve scholarship in the social sciences and the humanities.

Dame Kghia is an Aquarius, but her typist is a Gemini. One is a water sign, the other air, so the result is a lot of steam. Kghia is co-founder of Bookstacks, the in-world community for readers; co-host of the Off the Shelf podcast, which airs on Radio Riel; and a volunteer at the Caledon Library, where she leads book discussions and builds towers from card catalogue discards when Mr Drinkwater isn't looking.

Her typist has a master's degree in English, with a fondness for the British and American Romantics, and she is an avid reader of urban fantasy.

Please give your utmost attention to Dame Kghia and Sir JJ. We will take questions at the end.

Serafina Puchkina looks up from her notes and applauds

Kghia Gherardi: Thank you for this opportunity, Viv, Jed, Jasper, & Sera. It is an honor to be here today. And it is an honor to talk about Libraries with one of my oldest and dearest friends in Second Life, and someone whom I greatly admire.

Mr. Drinkwater, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I know the audience is as interested in the history of libraries and of the Alexandrian Free Library System as I am. Let’s start with setting some context. Your library is, I believe, a public library? Public libraries are relatively recent institutions, are they not?

JJ Drinkwater: I have delighted to be here to chat with you, Dame Kghia, and with our guests.

Well, ever since there have been collections of texts, those texts have been made available to some group of people, so the idea of a public library grew out of various kinds of private libraries.

Two important precursors were the subscription library (which had both a buy-in price and a yearly fee -- an early US example is the Library Company of Philadelphia, incorporated in 1742 ) .... and the circulating library (originally created, it is believed, by booksellers, to make money by essentially renting out books). A public library, funded by the community, to which anyone in the community can have access, is a creation of the 19th century...

Kghia Gherardi: It is a bit of a surprise to see so many libraries in a virtual world, but they seem very popular. How did they get their start?

JJ Drinkwater: ...but found its flourishing in the first half of the 20th century. My impression is that there were small libraries in SL pretty early on. When I started investigating libraries here (in 2006) I ran across several that had clearly been around for some time. They typically had anywhere from a dozen to a hundred books, and had been set up by residents who usually made simple notecard books, and made them available either to read on the spot. or to take copies. The Librarium over on Abitibi was the largest of these that I found.

It seems to have been a common impulse: “Hey, we should have a library here!” The basic technology is simple, so I’m sure the idea arose independently in different places. The first substantial library I saw here was over on Info Island, originally sponsored by a library consortium in Illinois, now run by the Community Virtual Library. I came to SL originally to get involved with the project there - it was a good way to get started here.

Kghia Gherardi: It says something about our culture when we have the impulse to create libraries wherever we go. :)

JJ Drinkwater: It does...and it says something about what libraries mean to people

Kghia Gherardi: So, the Caledon Library evolved from your early visit to Second LIfe?

JJ Drinkwater: Exactly. The Caledon Library was originally a branch of the Info Island library. A few months after Caledon started, an early Caledonian, CoyoteAngel Dimsum, offered to provide land and a building, if some Info Island volunteer would create a library. I had already explored Caledon, and was excited by what I saw, so I was thrilled to be that volunteer. JJ Drinkwater: Later, the Caledon Library became an independent organization, and CoyoteAngel and I became partners in making it happen. She did the building and designing, and I took care of the collections, events, and exhibits. It wasn't just me, I hasten to say! Over the years, we’ve had a changing group of volunteers and supporters, who have built it out into what it is today.

Kghia Gherardi: Do you remember what your first exhibit was? (Kghia goes off script)

JJ Drinkwater: It was an exhibit on "Silas Marner" which was our first or second book discussion

Kghia Gherardi: When did the Caledon Library official open its doors? (aka - how long has it been around?)

JJ Drinkwater: I don't remember exactly, but it was late summer 2006. August, I think.

Kghia Gherardi: In what ways do virtual libraries resemble their physical counterparts? It isn’t like you can check out the latest bestselling novel. (returning to her list of questions)

JJ Drinkwater: Well, rather than what a library *is*.... I find it most useful to talk about what la library *does*, which is to provide access to information assembled for the benefit of the community it serves. (I’m using a broad idea of “information” here, that takes in the research and recreational materials libraries make available, and the events they create). That’s the common thread between RL & SL libraries, as I see it. As for that latest bestselling novel...because there’s no “fair use” for electronic materials, the way there is for hard copy... The kind of virtual libraries you find in SL can’t (with a few exceptions) offer materials that are protected by copyright. So, what we do is guide patrons to materials in the public domain, Fortunately, there’s a lot of great stuff in the public domain.

Kghia Gherardi: Fortunately a library in Caledon can take full advantage of those 19th century materials.

JJ Drinkwater points in the direction of the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg. Well.....libraries and link to anything on the web, so a work that's copyrighted, but up on the web somewhere can be part of our "collection"

Kghia Gherardi: What else is distinctive about a library here?

JJ Drinkwater: The best thing any library can do is to make information available where it’s needed. .. So, one of the things that distinctive about a SL library is that, when it’s doing its job, it makes available the information you need for your SL life. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider how remarkable the life we live here is. One thing that’s always struck me is the diversity of sources we draw on to construct our lives here. Look around you, anywhere in the steamlands, and what you see is drawn from RL history and technology, from literature, from cheesy science fiction movies, from the visual arts....and all made to work together.

Working on the library has taught me that the way libraries tend to organize sources, with non-fiction over here, and fiction over these, and blogs in a completely different category, isn’t perhaps the best way to serve a patron community. Gathering material together by subject, or by broad area of interest, has worked well for us.

Kghia Gherardi: I’ve always felt the Caledon Library was one of the cornerstone of the community, and I know this is something you’ve explored. How do you feel the Library helps shape Caledon? And what role has the librarian played?

JJ Drinkwater: Big question! It was a surprise to me, about a year into the project, that the library had become a significant feature of Caledon. I think several things account for that... First of all, books are of great iconic importance to a lot of people ...
they have a complicated symbolism that takes in a number of important values. Books mean leisure, learning, literacy, the quest for knowledge, education, inquiry...things like that. I brought up this topic at an impromptu party, yesterday, and got these responses: Garnet Psaltery: A book is a door to the future.

Solace Fairlady: and a window on the past

Dream Wrexan: A book is a way to communicate with the souls of people long gone and at far distances

Savannah Blindside: Some of my best friends are books. :)

Linus Lacombe expects they also provide a familar link with reality

JJ Drinkwater: This is the patron community speaking. Second, I see SL as being an extended conversation - A conversation that takes place with images as well as words, but a conversation all the same. What the library does for Caledon is give it material to extend the conversation. which is our life here

Finally I think the library reinforced the community’s identity, by mirroring its interests back to it. ... Any library does that to some extent, but when the community is a community of interest, rather than, say, a geographic community, the library can really give the community a chance to reflect on itself. I asked Miss Serra (Seneschelf of Winterfell, for those who don’t know her) why her realm liked having a library... and she reminded me that it had started out with a different backstory than, say, the Steelhead Public Library. The backstory was that it was the Seneschelf’s private library, in the Winterfell Castle, which she had graciously opened up to the community. She also had this to say.. Serra Anansi: I think having a library lends some kind of legitimacy to a community ...that it values many layers of immersion, not just the superficial ones. The fact that there are people who are willing to put in the work to create a library, find staff, host events.... it all adds up and proves that there is a lasting quality to the nation.

So a library is an institution that helps legitimize the community, perhaps. That’s a thought that’s very flattering to a librarian!

Kghia Gherardi: The model of the Caledon Library has expanded beyond the community, and it has become The Alexandrian Free Library System. How does the System differ the Caledon Library?

JJ Drinkwater: Well, the Caledon Library was an experiment that worked. After it had been in existence for about a year and a half, Riven Homewood was inspired to create a similar library in Steelhead - that was when we organized the AFL. It’s a consortium of libraries, and the members support each other with expertise, and by sharing materials. Our first few libraries were in the steamlands: Steelhead, Winterfell, and of course Babbage (and subsequently New Toulouse and Steeltopia) but we welcome any community library that’s willing to share its materials freely. Each library is a little different in approach, and each fits into its community is a different way.

Charlemagne Allen: how many communities so far?

JJ Drinkwater: I think 8 or so member libraries, plus all the unaffiliated libraries who use the scripts we give away for making books and book givers....one of the things I'm proudest of. The AFL goes along pretty quietly, now that it’s established, but we still hear from libraries that want to join.

Kghia Gherardi: Here's the question I really want to know the answer to: What have you learned from your role as the Librarian of Caledon?

JJ Drinkwater: In a word, that libraries still matter. I was fresh out of library school when I started the library, and I had been taught to think not of books, but of corpora of texts, of information sources.... so one of the first things I learned was how much books mean to people, even in a virtual world. I still marvel at that. Another thing I learned was how grateful a community of readers is to have someone to whom they can talk about their reading. I think that’s a role I play for Caledon...the village reading nerd, in a village full of readers.

Professionally, I’ve learned that there’s a place for librarians in virtual communities, even though most of their members are quite savvy about finding information on their own.

Kghia Gherardi: To step away from the personal, how do you see virtual libraries evolving in the future?

JJ Drinkwater: Well, if we mean libraries without physical books, I think we’ll see a lot more of them in the future.... drawing on the great digital text collections like Internet Archive and Hathi Trust for texts, and on other sources like YouTube for audio, video, and other formats. JJ Drinkwater: This opens up the possibility of each library user having, in effect, their *own* virtual library, with sources they select and arrange for their own interests. We’re not too far from being able to do that now.

FynnFirehawk Resident: I am very new so apologies if my question seems out of place, but I am trying to understand. Do you actuall give out copies of real life books? and if so, could you perhaps expand on that? WOuldn't people just go to the real world source, like Project Gutenbeg?

JJ Drinkwater: We give out full perms copies of books...and, sure, our patrons could go to the sources themselves, but somehow, what we do, which is find materials of interest to the community, has made the libraries popular

Kghia Gherardi grins at Finn. That is one of the things that surprised me about virtual worlds. People like to have copies in-world, though most will read the material else where.

Kghia Gherardi: sometimes it is the collection that has value over the individual objects within it.

JJ Drinkwater: Exactly...a targeted collection

DM Afarensis: Do you see a 3D virtual world like SL potentially replacing the Web and if so then are you efforts here directed at helping to make that come about?

Kghia Gherardi: the interest of an individual will often motivate her to create a collection. Before we open it to the floor, I do have one last question

JJ Drinkwater: I think that's a question we won't answer for the next five, or maybe 10 years, DM

Kghia Gherardi: This is the chance to plug the Library. What do you have going on at the Library this summer?

JJ Drinkwater: We’ve just finished up a year-long discussion series on 19th century poetry, and we’re taking a break for a couple of months... but in August we have a new series starting. It’ll be called “Voices from the Civil War” ... which will look at primary sources from the American Civil War, in honor of its sesquicentennial, which began this year. Each month we’ll discuss a different first-person account from the war. The Civil War is still capable of making people quite passionate, so I’m looking forward to some very lively discussions.

Kghia Gherardi: The first person narratives - they are moving, whichever side of the War the person sided with.

JJ Drinkwater: Also, through the end of this month, we have a wonderful exhibit on social dance

Kghia Gherardi: So, that is the last formal question, but I believe there are some question from the audience?

Jedburgh30 Dagger: If we're ready for the floor, just raise your hand so we can do this in order

Linus Lacombe has a question:

DM Afarensis raises hand

Jedburgh30 Dagger: Mr Henly has been waiting patiently

Holocluck Henly: That's all right :) it was answered.

Jedburgh30 Dagger: DM, then Linus

DM Afarensis: ok this is a kind of long one... do you see your work with the libraries here as more theoretical or applied... that is, is there a question you are trying to answer through your library work or is it about how best to provide information to the community?

JJ Drinkwater: The latter....the experiment has been "What does a library do in a virtual world?" In this virtual world, the Caledon Library os one answer...there are many others

Jedburgh30 Dagger: Linus?

Linus Lacombe: Thank you

JJ Drinkwater: There's been a lot of making it up as we go along, indeed

Linus Lacombe: What kinds of regular programs do the libraries have? You mentioned a couple of specific events of past and future, but what about regular events?

JJ Drinkwater: Well, our regular evcents right now are the book discussions and the exhibit openings. And our yearly Bookbinders Ball. We welcome anyone who wants to create other events, and can go the distance to make them happen

Jedburgh30 Dagger: Miss Fairlady?

Solace Fairlady: Thank you. A follow up of sorts to Mr Lacombe's questions. Given the news at the start of this salon - and without wishing to put your or the libraries on the spot - but as a way of preserving the Independence of the salons we have come to love, would the Library consider becoming their next host?

JJ Drinkwater: Alas, we don't have the staff time to take on such a commitment. JJ Drinkwater suspects that this series has taken a lot of time and energy to create!

Jedburgh30 Dagger: Any more questions?

Leslie Weston raises hand. Sir Drinkwater, now that your rl commitments have limited the time you once spent in sl, what challenges to you find yourself missing most, about your previous work?

Kghia Gherardi: Mr Drinkwater is passionate about virtual libraries and their role within a community, which makes for a great conversation.

Leslie Weston: were there particular series you loved

JJ Drinkwater: Hmmm....good question, Miss Weston

Leslie Weston: particular library building challenges?

JJ Drinkwater: What I think I miss most is doing the "Book of the Month" exhibits...

JJ Drinkwater: They were useful to the discussions, but they also allowed visitors to get inside the book, whatever it was...and I always learned a tremendous amount doing them

Serafina Puchkina: As a reminder, all tips go to the speakers.

Jedburgh30 Dagger: The donations for the Salon itself is on the sign at the entrance

Serafina Puchkina: Today's craft was made by Jasper Kiergarten. Please take a copy.

I will post transcripts of today's talk at http://aethersalon.blogspot.com. Thank you all, gentle patrons. Dame Kghia and Sir JJ, thank you both so very much. Good evening and thanks again

Kghia Gherardi: thank you all

Jedburgh30 Dagger: Thanks for coming everyone

Monday, June 20, 2011

Libraries! Unedited Transcript

[13:47] Serafina Puchkina: Hello Dame Kghia.Nice to see the speaker
[13:47] Kghia Gherardi: Good afternoon.
[13:48] Serafina Puchkina: I set out two couches for you and Sir JJ
[13:48] Kghia Gherardi grins, "When I host, I feel reassured to see the guest early."
[13:48] Serafina Puchkina chuckles
[13:48] Kghia Gherardi: It prevents panic
[13:48] Bookworm Hienrichs nods.
[13:48] NBTA Streetcar v3.41: Crossing sim boundary. Please hang on.
[13:49] Linus Lacombe: That is a very chatty streetcar
[13:49] Serafina Puchkina: Miss Viv's typist is on vacation but will try to make it in time
[13:50] Bookworm Hienrichs: They can be vindictive, too, Mr. Lacombe.
[13:50] Bookworm Hienrichs chuckles.
[13:50] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Mass Transportation with an attitude
[13:50] Linus Lacombe: I am sure it loves sim boundaries
[13:50] Bookworm Hienrichs grins at Jed.
[13:51] Jedburgh30 Dagger: We have had a few go astray
[13:51] Jedburgh30 Dagger: I found one in the missus' factory one morning
[13:52] Bookworm Hienrichs: Greetings, Miss Fairlady, Sir Drinkwater.
[13:52] Solace Fairlady: Hello Miss Hienrichs, Herr Baron, Mr Lacombe!
[13:52] Solace Fairlady bobs a curtsey
[13:52] JJ Drinkwater: Greetings, Invisibles
[13:52] Linus Lacombe: Perhaps it was delusional and thought itself a freightcar?
[13:52] Serafina Puchkina: Welcome Sir JJ and Miss Fairlady
[13:52] Linus Lacombe: Good afternoon, Ms Fairlady
[13:52] Kghia Gherardi: Hello, Sir JJ
[13:53] JJ Drinkwater: Hello Dame Kghia!
[13:53] Jedburgh30 Dagger: I think it fancied itself a housecat from where it was hiding
[13:53] Bookworm Hienrichs laughs.
[13:53] JJ Drinkwater: You are looking most fashionable, as always
[13:53] Solace Fairlady: Good afternoon Sir JJ, Miss Gherardi, Miss Puchkina
[13:53] Solace Fairlady: And Miss dagger!
[13:53] Serafina Puchkina: Miss Serra and Frau Lowey, welcome!
[13:53] Solace Fairlady bobs a curtsey
[13:53] Kghia Gherardi: Good day :)
[13:53] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Damen.
[13:54] Solace Fairlady: Lady twilight, Miss Lowey
[13:54] Annechen Lowey: Good afternoon.
[13:54] Bookworm Hienrichs: Good day, Frau Lowey, Lady Serra.
[13:54] Serra Anansi: Hello, everyone!
[13:54] Kghia Gherardi waves at Serra
[13:54] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Miss Serra, always a pleasure.
[13:55] Linus Lacombe: I wonder if that was the same factory in which poor Mr Thorne nearly met his maker when Designing Worlds came to New Babbage recently
[13:55] Serra Anansi waves happily at Miss Gherardi
[13:55] Serra Anansi curtsies to the Baron
[13:55] Linus Lacombe: Good afternoon, Ms Widdershins
[13:55] Bookworm Hienrichs: Hello, Saffia!
[13:55] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Fraulein Editrix, that is a lovely dress.
[13:56] Saffia Widdershins: Thank you, Herr Baron. One of Miss Benelli's finest, I think
[13:56] DM Afarensis: Good afternoon everyone
[13:56] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: She does excellent work consistently.
[13:56] Leslie Weston: I'm terribly sorry
[13:57] Leslie Weston: didn't see you
[13:57] Saffia Widdershins: Indeed!
[13:57] Linus Lacombe: Good afternoon, Mr Afarensis
[13:57] Kghia Gherardi: Hello, Herndon.
[13:57] Solace Fairlady: Hello Miss Bluebird, Miss Widdershins
[13:57] Kghia Gherardi: Good evening, Saffia.
[13:57] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Frau Lowey, bitte, my attention is needed for a few moments.
[13:57] Herndon Bluebird: I'm not yet in complete control of where I am
[13:57] Herndon Bluebird: Hello all
[13:57] Serafina Puchkina: My apologies. Welcome everyone.
[13:57] Annechen Lowey: Yes, sir.
[13:57] Saffia Widdershins: Hello Kghia! Good luck with the talk :-)
[13:58] Kghia Gherardi: I have the easy part. :
[13:58] Solace Fairlady: wonderful outfit Miss Dagger!
[13:58] Rhianon Jameson waves. "Good afternoon."
[13:58] Serafina Puchkina: Hello Rhianon!
[13:58] Savannah Blindside: Good afternoon, all!
[13:58] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Thank you :)
[13:59] Serafina Puchkina: Welcome Miss Blindside
[13:59] Solace Fairlady: Pixel Dolls?
[13:59] Leslie Weston: I don't seem to have a stream enabled--will this be in voice?
[13:59] Serafina Puchkina: Welcome M.Krupinski
[13:59] Savannah Blindside: Thanks, Miss Sera
[13:59] Serafina Puchkina: No, it's in text
[13:59] Serafina Puchkina: No voice
[13:59] Leslie Weston: phew, thank you
[13:59] Jedburgh30 Dagger: it's half PD, half Trafalgar Outfitters
[13:59] Solace Fairlady: O!
[13:59] Solace Fairlady: very nicely done
[14:00] Mel Krupinski: ah thanks serafina
[14:00] Solace Fairlady: Hello Mr Couturier!
[14:00] Jedburgh30 Dagger: If anyone needs a chair, please let me know in IM
[14:00] Serafina Puchkina: The chairs are free and you wear them
[14:00] Serafina Puchkina: Welcome Riven
[14:01] Linus Lacombe: Hello, Ms Riven
[14:01] Riven Homewood: Hello Miss Serafina - Hi Linus - Hello everyone
[14:02] Savannah Blindside: Hello Miss Homewood.
[14:02] Saffia Widdershins: I think I will stand. Otherwise Miss Heinrichs will photograph my ankles
[14:02] Bookworm Hienrichs chuckles.
[14:02] Serafina Puchkina: Welcome Mr Firehawk
[14:02] Linus Lacombe: Someone has voice on
[14:02] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: We can't be having that, Editrix.
[14:02] Riven Homewood: I fear the asset server as eaten my chair. How do I get another one?
[14:02] Saffia Widdershins: Indeed
[14:02] Annechen Lowey: Not without an RFL vendor.
[14:02] Savannah Blindside hastily crosses hers and tucks them under her chair.
[14:02] Linus Lacombe: Not without a scan-dahl
[14:03] Linus Lacombe: Hello Captain Beaumont
[14:03] Serafina Puchkina: IM Jed if you need a chair
[14:03] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Stand by Riven
[14:03] Riven Homewood: Thank you, Jed
[14:03] Simeon Beresford: good day sirs and madams
[14:03] JJ Drinkwater: Good day, Mr Beresford
[14:03] Leslie Weston: I'm cooking, so I hope that people will take long, well-considered pauses...
[14:04] Linus Lacombe: Hello Mr Beresford
[14:04] Serafina Puchkina: Hello Mr. Beresford
[14:04] Riven Homewood: thanks, Jed
[14:04] FynnFirehawk Resident: Hello sera, thank you
[14:04] Jedburgh30 Dagger: You're welcome
[14:04] Jedburgh30 Dagger: *clears throat*
[14:05] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Hello everyone!
[14:05] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Ladies and Gentlemen, Viv, Serafina, Jasper and I are pleased to welcome you to the June edition of the Aether Salon - Libraries!. I would like to thank each and every one of you for joining us today.
[14:05] DM Afarensis: hello... does anyone else see me precariously perched over the ocean here?
[14:05] KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
[14:05] Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:06] Riven Homewood: The floor should rez presently, Mr Afarensis
[14:06] Jedburgh30 Dagger: As many of you know, the Aether Salon meets to discuss steam and Victorian topics on the third Sunday of each month, in Palisades and Academy, New Babbage. We have been doing so since October 2008, when a Brit, an urchin, and a newish to town redhead took the stage. This is our 27th salon and I hope you are all as excited about being here today as I am.
[14:06] Leslie Weston rings her bell.
[14:06] Riven Homewood: Refrains from hooing
[14:06] Riven Homewood: with great effort
[14:07] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Just a few matters of housekeeping before we get started. If you are standing in the back, please move forward onto the maze so that you can be assured of hearing the speaker. Please hold your questions until the end, and as a courtesy to all, please turn off everything that feeds the lag: all HUDs, scripts, AOs and so on. For the consideration of your neighbors, please refrain from using or deploying any mystical weapons, alien rings, or ambrotypes of elected representatives in their undergarments. Your cooperation is appreciated.
[14:07] Leslie Weston feels foolish for not refraining
[14:07] Savannah Blindside: I'm having the same predicament, Miss Riven.
[14:07] Holocluck Henly: thank you... which side is less lagged?
[14:07] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Edited and unedited transcripts will be posted this week on aethersalon.blogspot.com so you can revisit today’s merriment, read transcripts of past salons, and for a laugh, peruse “overheard at the salon.” Please join the Aether Salon group and receive notifications of future salon events, click the lower right hand corner of the large brown sign by the entrance. We sincerely appreciate the support we receive from everyone in the community and we humbly thank you all.
[14:07] MeinNameIstZuLangAberGutMerkbar Resident: good evening ladies & gentlemen
[14:08] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Many fine people have contributed to today’s salon: We are grateful to Miss Canolli Capalini of Capalini Fine Furnishings for the wonderful salon chairs and to our own Mr. Jasper Kiergarten for his expertise in creating today’s craft. We appreciate all of you who have contributed to salon. As a reminder, all speakers' fund jar donations go directly to the speaker.
[14:08] Holocluck Henly: pardon
[14:08] Leslie Weston: hi Miss Scamon
[14:08] Mel Krupinski: hiya snow
[14:08] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Now I will turn the stage over to my cohort in crime Miss Sera for the introduction of today’s speakers.
[14:08] snow Scarmon: helllo
[14:08] Serafina Puchkina: Thank you, Miss Jed.
If we may have your attention please, we have a very special and important announcement.
[14:09] Serafina Puchkina: For three incredible years, the Aether Salon has celebrated the talents and ingenuity of the steampunk and victorian communities in SL, all from the heart of New Babbage, our treasured home.
[14:09] Serafina Puchkina: We are so very proud of the quality, wit, and imagination of our 44* brilliant speakers, and our innumerable, very funny, always attentive, somewhat explosive audience members.
[14:09] Breezy Carver: ✰·.·´` Claps Very Loudly!! ´`·.·✰
[14:09] Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[14:09] Leslie Weston rings her bell.
[14:09] Kghia Gherardi applauds
[14:09] Serafina Puchkina: After three years, the founders of the Salon have concluded that it is time for new adventures. Therefore, it is with much sadness, and even more gratitude that Jed, Serafina, Jasper and I wish to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.
[14:09] Serafina Puchkina: (This is Miss Viv's speech I am reading for her)
[14:09] Rhianon Jameson gasps
[14:10] Linus Lacombe: oh dear
[[14:10] Solace Fairlady: what what??
[14:10] Serafina Puchkina: *We hope you will join us for one final Hurrah! in August, when Dame Ordinal Malaprop returns to the stage.
[14:10] JJ DrinkwaterJJ Drinkwater mutters "Egad"
[14:10] Riven Homewood: Oh my!
[14:10] Darlingmonster Ember: o m g
[14:10] Solace Fairlady: o goodness
[14:10] Serafina Puchkina: And we hope that you will give the next season of Salonistas, or however they determine to be called, the same support and attention that you have so generously shared with us and our speakers. More information on that topic will be forthcoming from Baron Wulfenbach and his Vice Consul.
[14:10] Riven Homewood: What a marvellous way to end!
[14:10] Serafina Puchkina: Words cannot express how much we will miss you all. On a personal note, my co-hosts are dear friends, and I cannot envision every third Sunday without them. You have all worked so hard. Thank you, sincerely and with every inch of my being.
[14:10] Solace Fairlady: Dame Ordinal! Finishing with a flourish!
[14:10] Kghia Gherardi: The Salons will be missed.
[14:10] Riven Homewood: Indeed they will
[14:11] Saffia Widdershins: Very much so
[14:11] Serafina Puchkina: And now...
[14:11] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Erm..
[14:11] Riven Homewood: They are such a part of our lives
[14:11] Serafina Puchkina: Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great pleasure to introduce Sir JJ Drinkwater and Dame Kghia Gherardi.
[14:11] Rhianon Jameson: Indeed.
[14:11] KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
[14:11] Rhianon Jameson applauds
[14:11] Breezy Carver smiles
[14:11] Riven Homewood: Herr Baron, will the embassy be continuing the tradition?
[14:11] Solace Fairlady: Such an outlet for independent thought
[14:11] Serafina Puchkina: Sir JJ is the director of the Caledon Library system, and founder of the Alexandrian Free Library, a consortium of libraries serving themed communities such as Caledon, Steelhead, and and Winterfell.
[14:11] Darlingmonster Ember applauds
[14:11] Solace Fairlady applauds
[14:11] Annechen Lowey raises an eyebrow atr the Baron.
[14:11] Breezy Carver: ✰·.·´` Claps Very Loudly!! ´`·.·✰
[14:11] Riven Homewood: Applauds loudly
[14:11] Charlemagne Allen waves
[14:11] Serafina Puchkina: JJ's "physical avatar", JJ Jacobson (MSI 2005, University of Michigan School of Information) is a librarian with longstanding interests in narrative, intentional community, and the history of everyday life. Professional interests include digitization, metadata, teaching virtual world librarianship, and the uses of Food Studies materials to serve scholarship in the social sciences and the humanities.
[14:11] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Of course, Frau Riven.
[14:11] Serafina Puchkina: Dame Kghia is an Aquarius, but her typist is a Gemini. One is a water sign, the other air, so the result is a lot of steam.
[14:12] Rhianon Jameson laughs
[14:12] Serafina Puchkina: Kghia is co-founder of Bookstacks, the in-world community for readers; co-host of the Off the Shelf podcast, which airs on Radio Riel; and a volunteer at the Caledon Library, where she leads book discussions and builds towers from card catalogue discards when Mr Drinkwater isn't looking.
[14:12] Darlingmonster Ember: grins
[14:12] Wildstar Resident grins
[14:12] Serra Anansi laughs
[14:12] KlausWulfenbach Outlander chuckles
[14:12] KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
[14:12] Leslie Weston rings her bell.
[14:12] Serafina Puchkina: Her typist has a master's degree in English, with a fondness for the British and American Romantics, and she is an avid reader of urban fantasy.
[14:12] Serafina Puchkina: Please give your utmost attention to Dame Kghia and Sir JJ. We will take questions at the end.
[14:12] Serra Anansi: Applause Applause!!!
[14:12] Serafina Puchkina looks up from her notes and applauds
[14:12] Kghia Gherardi: Thank you for this opportunity, Viv, Jed, Jasper, & Sera. It is an honor to be here today. And it is an honor to talk about Libraries with one of my oldest and dearest friends in Second Life, and someone whom I greatly admire.
[14:13] Savannah Blindside applauds
[14:13] Rhianon Jameson applauds
[14:13] JJ Drinkwaterr blushes
[14:13] Kghia Gherardi: Mr. Drinkwater, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I know the audience is as interested in the history of libraries and of the Alexandrian Free Library System as I am.
[14:13] Kghia Gherardi: Let’s start with setting some context. Your library is, I believe, a public library? Public libraries are relatively recent institutions, are they not?
[14:13] JJ Drinkwater: I have delighted to be here to chat with you, Dame Kghia, and with our guests
[14:14] JJ Drinkwater: Well, ever since there have been collections of texts, those texts have been made available to some group of people,
[14:14] JJ Drinkwater: so the idea of a public library grew out of various kinds of private libraries.
[14:14] Sophiekittycat Resident: hello
[14:14] JJ Drinkwater: Two important precursors were the subscription library (which had both a buy-in price and a yearly fee -- an early US example is the Library Company of Philadelphia, incorporated in 1742 ) ....
[14:15] JJ Drinkwater: and the circulating library (originally created, it is believed, by booksellers, to make money by essentially renting out books)
[14:16] JJ Drinkwater: A public library, funded by the community, to which anyone in the community can have access, is a creation of the 19th century...
[14:16] Kghia Gherardi: It is a bit of a surprise to see so many libraries in a virtual world, but they seem very popular. How did they get their start?
[14:16] JJ Drinkwater: ...but found its flourishing in the first half of the 20th century
[14:16] JJ Drinkwater: My impression is that there were small libraries in SL pretty early on
[14:17] JJ Drinkwater: When I started investigating libraries here (in 2006) I ran across several that had clearly been around for some time.
[14:17] JJ Drinkwater: They typically had anywhere from a dozen to a hundred books, and had been set up by residents who usually made simple notecard books, and made them available either to read on the spot. or to take copies.
[14:18] JJ Drinkwater: he Librarium over on Abitibi was the largest of these that I found.
[14:18] JJ Drinkwater: It seems to have been a common impulse: “Hey, we should have a library here!” The basic technology is simple, so I’m sure the idea arose independently in different places.
[14:18] JJ Drinkwater: The first substantial library I saw here was over on Info Island, originally sponsored by a library consortium in Illinois, now run by the Community Virtual Library
[14:19] JJ Drinkwater: I came to SL originally to get involved with the project there - it was a good way to get started here.
[14:20] Kghia Gherardi: It says something about our culture when we have the impulse to create libraries wherever we go. :)
[14:20] JJ Drinkwater: It does...and it says something about what libraries mean to people
[14:21] Kghia Gherardi: So, the Caledon Library evolved from your early visit to Second LIfe?
[14:21] JJ Drinkwater: Exactly. The Caledon Library was originally a branch of the Info Island library.
[14:21] JJ Drinkwater: A few months after Caledon started, an early Caledonian, CoyoteAngel Dimsum, offered to provide land and a building, if some Info Island volunteer would create a library
[14:22] JJ Drinkwater: I had already explored Caledon, and was excited by what I saw, so I was thrilled to be that volunteer.
[14:22] Linus Lacombe: Hello Ms Derryth
[14:22] JJ Drinkwater: Later, the Caledon Library became an independent organization, and CoyoteAngel and I became partners in making it happen.
[14:22] Simeon Beresford: listens rapt
[14:23] JJ Drinkwater: She did the building and designing, and I took care of the collections, events, and exhibits.
[14:23] Rowan Derryth whispers 'Hello' like she's in a library.
[14:23] JJ Drinkwater: It wasn't just me, I hasten to say!
[14:23] Holocluck Henly: :)
[14:23] JJ Drinkwater: Over the years, we’ve had a changing group of volunteers and supporters, who have built it out into what it is today.
[14:23] Rowan Derryth: Ouch, does someone have voice on here?
[14:24] Holocluck Henly: are they eating crisps?
[14:24] Kghia Gherardi: Do you remember what your first exhibit was? (Kghia goes off script)
[14:24] Charlemagne Allen: mmmm chips
[14:24] Darlingmonster Ember smiles
[14:25] JJ Drinkwater: It was an exhibit on "Silas Marner" which was our first or second book discussion
[14:25] Serafina Puchkina: How interesting!
[14:25] Kghia Gherardi: When did the Caledon Library official open its doors? (aka - how long has it been around?)
[14:26] JJ Drinkwater: I don't remember exactly, but it was late summer 2006
[14:26] JJ Drinkwater: August, I think
[14:26] Kghia Gherardi: In what ways do virtual libraries resemble their physical counterparts? It isn’t like you can check out the latest bestselling novel. (returning to her list of questions)
[14:27] JJ Drinkwater: Well, rather than what a library *is*....
[14:28] JJ Drinkwater: I find it most useful to talk about what la library *does*, which is to provide access to information assembled for the benefit of the community it serves.
[14:28] JJ Drinkwater: (I’m using a broad idea of “information” here, that takes in the research and recreational materials libraries make available, and the events they create)
[14:29] JJ Drinkwater: That’s the common thread between RL & SL libraries, as I see it
[14:30] JJ Drinkwater: As for that latest bestselling novel...because there’s no “fair use” for electronic materials, the way there is for hard copy...
[14:30] JJ Drinkwater: he kind of virtual libraries you find in SL can’t (with a few exceptions) offer materials that are protected by copyright
[14:30] Darlingmonster Ember: nods
[14:30] JJ Drinkwater: So, what we do is guide patrons to materials in the public domain, Fortunately, there’s a lot of great stuff in the public domain.
[14:30] Riven Homewood: nods sadly
[14:31] Riven Homewood: and smiles at the thought of what is still available
[14:31] Kghia Gherardi: Fortunately a library in Caledon can take full advantage of those 19th century materials.
[14:31] JJ Drinkwater points in the direction of the Internet Archive and Project Gutenberg
[14:32] Charlemagne Allen: how are you directing new peoples into the library now?
[14:32] Caledonia Skytower wonders about the exceptions Sir JJ mentions
[14:33] JJ Drinkwater: Well.....libraries and link to anything on the web, so a work that's copyrighted, but up on the web somewhere can be part of our "collection"
[14:33] Kghia Gherardi: What else is distinctive about a library here?
[14:33] Caledonia Skytower nods in appreciatively
[14:34] JJ Drinkwater: The best thing any library can do is to make information available where it’s needed. ..
[14:35] JJ Drinkwater: So, one of the things that distinctive about a SL library is that, when it’s doing its job, it makes available the information you need for your SL life. That doesn’t sound like much until you consider how remarkable the life we live here is.
[14:36] JJ Drinkwater: One thing that’s always struck me is the diversity of sources we draw on to construct our lives here.
[14:36] JJ Drinkwater: Look around you, anywhere in the steamlands, and what you see is drawn from RL history and technology, from literature, from cheesy science fiction movies, from the visual arts....and all made to work together.
[14:37] Wildstar Resident: You archive all those old blueprint of a battle-airship, hmm ?
[14:37] JJ Drinkwater: Working on the library has taught me that the way libraries tend to organize sources, with non-fiction over here, and fiction over these, and blogs in a completely different category, isn’t perhaps the best way to serve a patron community.
[14:38] JJ Drinkwater: Exactly, Wildstar
[14:38] JJ Drinkwater: Gathering material together by subject, or by broad area of interest, has worked well for us.
[14:38] Kghia Gherardi: I’ve always felt the Caledon Library was one of the cornerstone of the community, and I know this is something you’ve explored. How do you feel the Library helps shape Caledon? And what role has the librarian played?
[14:39] JJ Drinkwater: Big question!
[14:40] Savannah Blindside laughs I was thinkng the same thing..
[14:40] JJ Drinkwater: It was a surprise to me, about a year into the project, that the library had become a significant feature of Caledon. I think several things account for that...
[14:40] Kghia Gherardi grins, "I could ask you what kind of tree you think you are."
[14:41] Riven Homewood: Please, no either/or questions :)
[14:41] Jedburgh30 Dagger: The Jung and the Restless...
[14:41] JJ Drinkwater: That would be Oak-kay with me....
[14:41] Bookworm Hienrichs groans and laughs.
[14:41] Serra Anansi groans
[14:41] Riven Homewood: grins
[14:41] Holocluck Henly: sigh
[14:41] Rhianon Jameson groans and thinks "Here we go..."
[14:41] Charlemagne Allen makes like a leaf
[14:41] Savannah Blindside: :;snorts::
[14:41] Serafina Puchkina rimshots
[14:41] Linus Lacombe turns ashen
[14:42] JJ Drinkwater: first of all, books are of great iconic importance to a lot of people ...
[14:42] Darlingmonster Ember: restrains herself lest she be thought a beech
[14:42] Charlemagne Allen: willow stop now
[14:42] Holocluck Henly raises his hand.
[14:42] JJ Drinkwater plows grimly on...
[14:42] JJ Drinkwater: they have a complicated symbolism that takes in a number of important values
[14:43] JJ Drinkwater: books mean leisure, learning, literacy, the quest for knowledge, education, inquiry...things like that.
[14:43] JJ Drinkwater: I brought up this topic at an impromptu party, yesterday, and got these responses:
[14:43] Riven Homewood: Books as objects have all those meanings, no matter what their contents
[14:44] JJ Drinkwater: Garnet Psaltery: A book is a door to the future
[14:44 Solace Fairlady: and a window on the past
[14:44 Dream Wrexan: A book is a way to communicate with the souls of people long gone and at far distances
[14:44] Savannah Blindside: Some of my best friends are books. :)
[14:44] Linus Lacombe expects they also provide a familar link with reality
[14:44] JJ Drinkwater: This is the patron community speaking
[14:44] Darlingmonster Ember: *listens
[14:44] JJ Drinkwater: Second, I see SL as being an extended conversation - A conversation that takes place with images as well as words, but a conversation all the same.
[14:44] Riven Homewood: I had a dear friend who died - but when I read the novels she wrote, I still hear her voice and feel like I'm with her
[14:45] Solace Fairlady notes that all the quoted responses were from women
[14:45] JJ Drinkwater: What the library does for Caledon is give it material to extend the conversation. which is our life here
[14:46] Simeon Beresford: nods
[14:46] JJ Drinkwater: Finally I think the library reinforced the community’s identity, by mirroring its interests back to it. ...
[14:46] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Hmm.
[14:46] Riven Homewood: Oh! Yes, I feel that about the Steelhead Library too
[14:47] JJ Drinkwater: Exactly, Madame Colleague!
[14:47] JJ Drinkwater: Any library does that to some extent, but when the community is a community of interest, rather than, say, a geographic community, the library can really give the community a chance to reflect on itself.
[14:48] Caledonia Skytower: hmmm . . . like a specialized rl collection.
[14:48] JJ Drinkwater: I asked Miss Serra (Seneschelf of Winterfell, for those who don’t know her) why her realm liked having a library...
[14:49] JJ Drinkwater: Exactly, Miss Skytower...it's all Special Collections work here
[14:49] JJ Drinkwater: and she reminded me that it had started out with a different backstory than, say, the Steelhead Public Library. The backstory was that it was the Seneschelf’s private library, in the Winterfell Castle, which she had graciously opened up to the community.
[14:49] Riven Homewood: nods
[14:49] Wildstar Resident: :)
[14:50] JJ Drinkwater: The ever-gracious Seneschelf!
[14:50] KlausWulfenbach Outlander smiles
[14:50] JJ Drinkwater: She also had this to say..
[14:50] Herndon Bluebird: Indeed!
[14:50] Leslie Weston: well, when you have shelf as part of your title....
[14:50] KlausWulfenbach Outlander chuckles
[14:50] Holocluck Henly chuckles
[14:50] Riven Homewood: smiles
[14:50] Serra Anansi laughs!!!
[14:50] Wildstar Resident: :))
[14:51] JJ Drinkwater: Serra Anansi: I think having a library lends some kind of legitimacy to a community
...that it values many layers of immersion, not just the superficial ones. The fact that there are people who are willing to put in the work to create a library, find staff, host events.... it all adds up and proves that there is a lasting quality to the nation.
[14:51] Darlingmonster Ember: nods
[14:51] Solace Fairlady applauds quietly
[14:51] Wildstar Resident: :)
[14:51] Savannah Blindside: ooh, well said!
[14:51] Wildstar Resident: well said
[14:51] Riven Homewood: Miss Serra, may I have the emblazoned over the door of my library>?
[14:52] Jedburgh30 Dagger claps and smiles at the New Babbage librarian
[14:52] JJ Drinkwater: So a library is an institution that helps legitimize the community, perhaps. That’s a thought that’s very flattering to a librarian!
[14:52] Kghia Gherardi: The model of the Caledon Library has expanded beyond the community, and it has become The Alexandrian Free Library System. How does the System differ the Caledon Library?
[14:53] DM Afarensis apologizes for jumping on stage... (client troubles)
[14:53] JJ Drinkwater: Well, the Caledon Library was an experiment that worked. After it had been in existence for about a year and a half, Riven Homewood was inspired to create a similar library in Steelhead - that was when we organized the AFL.
[14:54] Riven Homewood: That was like magic - it was as if it was meant to happen, so everything conspired to make it so
[14:54] JJ Drinkwater: It’s a consortium of libraries, and the members support each other with expertise, and by sharing materials. Our first few libraries were in the steamlands: Steelhead, Winterfell, and of course Babbage (and subsequently New Toulouse and Steeltopia) but we welcome any community library that’s willing to share its materials freely
[14:54] JJ Drinkwater: Each library is a little different in approach, and each fits into its community is a different way.
[14:55] Charlemagne Allen: how many communities so far?
[14:55] JJ Drinkwater: I think 8 or so member libraries
[14:55] Charlemagne Allen: ah
[14:55] Stereo Nacht: Oooh!
[14:56] JJ Drinkwater: Plus all the unaffiliated libraries who use the scripts we give away for making books and book givers....one of the things I'm proudest of
[14:56] Leslie Weston: most excellent resources, sir!
[14:56] JJ Drinkwater: The AFL goes along pretty quietly, now that it’s established, but we still hear from libraries that want to join.
[14:57] Darlingmonster Ember: oh good
[14:57] Kghia Gherardi: Here's the question I really want to know the answer to:
[14:57] Kghia Gherardi: What have you learned from your role as the Librarian of Caledon?
[14:57] Jedburgh30 Dagger: To be a comic book icon?
[14:57] JJ Drinkwater: In a word, that libraries still matter
[14:57] Rhianon Jameson grins
[14:57] Bookworm Hienrichs laughs.
[14:57] Linus Lacombe: heh
[14:57] Kghia Gherardi chuckles
[14:58] Wildstar Resident throws a knife @ Jed (missing on purpose ;) )
[14:58] Saffia Widdershins: The Keeper of Secrets
[14:58] JJ Drinkwater: I tell my RL colleagues that I'm a cartoon librarian, than they think it means I have a collection of comic books...
[14:58] Wildstar Resident: LOL
[14:58] Holocluck Henly: heh
[14:58] Serra Anansi chuckles
[14:58] Darlingmonster Ember: grins
[14:58] KlausWulfenbach Outlander chuckles
[14:59] Charlemagne Allen: graphic novels, you mean
[14:59] Charlemagne Allen ducks
[14:59] Rhianon Jameson: They wouldn't believe the truth.
[14:59] Linus Lacombe: A cartoon librarian in a comic, can't beat that
[14:59] Savannah Blindside: Either way; instant geek chic
[14:59] Jedburgh30 Dagger: They can't handle the truth
[14:59] JJ Drinkwater: They haven't any context for what I do here, it's true
[14:59] JJ Drinkwater: I was fresh out of library school when I started the library, and I had been taught to think not of books, but of corpora of texts, of information sources....
[15:00] JJ Drinkwater: ...so one of the first things I learned was how much books mean to people, even in a virtual world. I still marvel at that.
[15:00] JJ Drinkwater: Another thing I learned was how grateful a community of readers is to have someone to whom they can talk about their reading.
[15:00] JJ Drinkwater: I think that’s a role I play for Caledon...the village reading nerd, in a village full of readers.
[15:00] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Heh.
[15:01] Rhianon Jameson laughs
[15:01] Linus Lacombe laughs
[15:01] Bookworm Hienrichs chuckles.
[15:01] Darlingmonster Ember: our hero!
[15:01] Serra Anansi smiles at her nerd ♥
[15:01] JJ Drinkwater: Professionally, I’ve learned that there’s a place for librarians in virtual communities, even though most of their members are quite savvy about finding information on their own.
[15:01] Solace Fairlady: Our Knight!
[15:02] Kghia Gherardi: To step away from the personal, how do you see virtual libraries evolving in the future?
[15:02] Riven Homewood: When Rodvik was furnishing his Linden Home, he asked that people send him sl books for it. I sent him two of the Steelhead Public Library's bookcases, with the wonderful book giver script Sir Zen made, and told him that if he wanted books in a Linden Home he would need them. He IMd me back to thank me for them :)
[15:02] JJ Drinkwater beams
[15:02] JJ Drinkwater: Well, if we mean libraries without physical books, I think we’ll see a lot more of them in the future....
[15:03] Charlemagne Allen: do you have any plans to move into opensim? /raises hand
[15:03] JJ Drinkwater: ..drawing on the great digital text collections like Internet Archive and Hathi Trust for texts, and on other sources like YouTube for audio, video, and other formats.
[15:03] JJ Drinkwater: This opens up the possibility of each library user having, in effect, their *own* virtual library, with sources they select and arrange for their own interests.
[15:04] JJ Drinkwater: We’re not too far from being able to do that now.
[15:04] Riven Homewood: nods
[15:04] JJ Drinkwater: I don't have any plans for OpenSim, myself...the library here keeps me as busy as I'm able to be
[15:05] JJ Drinkwater: No doubt someone will, though
[15:05] FynnFirehawk Resident: Question?
[15:05] JJ Drinkwater: Sure
[15:05] FynnFirehawk Resident: I am very new so apologies if my question seems out of place, but I am trying to understand. Do you actuall give out copies of real life books? and if so, could you perhaps expand on that? WOuldn't people just go to the real world source, like Project Gutenbeg?
[15:05] Riven Homewood: I tried very hard to create a library in BlueMars - Mesh defeated me, and now there seems no point since their format has changed
[15:06] JJ Drinkwater: We give out full perms copies of books...and, sure, our patrons could go to the sources themselves
[15:06] JJ Drinkwater: But somehow, what we do, which is find materials of interest to the community, has made the libraries popular
[15:07] Kghia Gherardi grins at Finn. That is one of the things that surprised me about virtual worlds. People like to have copies in-world, though most will read the material else where.
[15:07] Riven Homewood: Yes, exactly, Kghia
[15:07] DM Afarensis raises hand to ask question
[15:07] FynnFirehawk Resident: thank you
[15:07] Linus Lacombe: Books have a meaning as objects in their own right
[15:07] Charlemagne Allen: why do anything in SL? there's a nice feeling of tangibility
[15:07] Kghia Gherardi: sometimes it is the collection that has value over the individual objects within it.
[15:07] Mel Krupinski: there are many beautiful books created in sl
[15:08] JJ Drinkwater: Exactly...a targeted collection
[15:08] DM Afarensis: Do you see a 3D virtual world like SL potentially replacing the Web and if so then are you efforts here directed at helping to make that come about?
[15:08] Kghia Gherardi: the interest of an individual will often motivate her to create a collection.
[15:08] FynnFirehawk Resident: I think I see
[15:09] Kghia Gherardi: before we open it to the floor, I do have one last question
[15:09] Riven Homewood: If your rl home is filled with books, you want them in your sl home too
[15:09] JJ Drinkwater: I think that's a question we won't answer for the next five, or maybe 10 years, DM
[15:09] DM Afarensis: :)
[15:09] Kghia Gherardi: This is the chance to plug the Library.
[15:09] Kghia Gherardi: What do you have going on at the Library this summer?
[15:09] JJ Drinkwater: We’ve just finished up a year-long discussion series on 19th century poetry, and we’re taking a break for a couple of months...
[15:10] Charlemagne Allen checks water level at library
[15:10] Simeon Beresford: ah well
[15:10] JJ Drinkwater: but in August we have a new series starting. It’ll be called “Voices from the Civil War” ...
[15:10] Riven Homewood: The American Civil War, or the British one?
[15:10] JJ Drinkwater: ...which will look at primary sources from the American Civil War, in honor of its sesquicentennial, which began this year.
[15:10] Riven Homewood: Ah
[15:10] Jedburgh30 Dagger: The War of Northern Aggression
[15:11] JJ Drinkwater: Each month we’ll discuss a different first-person account from the war.
[15:11] Rhianon Jameson grins at Jed
[15:11] Charlemagne Allen pokes Jedburgh with a stick
[15:11] JJ Drinkwater: The Civil War is still capable of making people quite passionate, so I’m looking forward to some very lively discussions.
[15:11] Kghia Gherardi: The first person narratives - they are moving, whichever side of the War the person sided with.
[15:11] JJ Drinkwater: Also, through the end of this month, we have a wonderful exhibit on social dance
[15:12] Simeon Beresford: It killed people in the UK.
[15:12] Leslie Weston blushes
[15:12] Serafina Puchkina: The Social Dance exhibit is quite good. I highly recommend it.
[15:12] Leslie Weston: thank you so much Ms. Puchlina
[15:12] Riven Homewood: It's wonderful
[15:12] Leslie Weston: Puchkina!!
[15:13] Stereo Nacht: The dances kill people?
[15:13] Serafina Puchkina chuckles
[15:13] Stereo Nacht looks perplexed...
[15:13] Riven Homewood: Only if they forget to eat and sleep
[15:13] Kghia Gherardi: it's those magic dancing shoes. Dangerous
[15:13] Victor1st Mornington chuckles
[15:13] Simeon Beresford: sighs
[15:13] Linus Lacombe: Sometimes they will kill people from embarassment, if you hit the wrong intan & keep it on random mode
[15:13] Kghia Gherardi: So, that is the last formal question, but I believe there are some question from the audience?
[15:13] Leslie Weston: there is a frame on the dangers of waltzing too vigorously....
[15:13] Leslie Weston: ...in really really large skirts...
[15:14] Jedburgh30 Dagger: If we're ready for the floor, just raise your hand so we can do this in order
[15:14] Linus Lacombe has a question:
[15:14] DM Afarensis raises hand
[15:14] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Mr Henly has been waiting patiently
[15:14] Holocluck Henly: That's all right :) it was answered.
[15:14] Charlemagne Allen: the dancing judges with a lever for the alligator pit kill people, not the social dances
[15:14] Savannah Blindside: Aplogizes for having to duck out early. This was wonderful. Thank you so much.
[15:14] Jedburgh30 Dagger: DM, then Linus
[15:15] DM Afarensis: ok this is a kind of long one...
[15:15] Riven Homewood: dancing doesn't kill people, alligators kill people?
[15:15] DM Afarensis: do you see your work with the libraries here as more theoretical or applied... that is, is there a question you are trying to answer through your library work or is it about how best to provide information to the community?
[15:15] JJ Drinkwater: The latter....the experiment has been "What does a library do in a virtual world?"
[15:16] JJ Drinkwater: In this virtual world, the Caledon Library os one answer...there are many others
[15:16] Simeon Beresford: I suspect LIke us Sir JJ wonders if an idea will work and trys.
[15:17] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Linus?
[15:17] Linus Lacombe: Thank you
[15:17] JJ Drinkwater: There's been a lot of making it up as we go along, indeed
[15:17] Linus Lacombe: What kinds of regular programs do the libraries have? You mentioned a couple of specific events of past and future, but what about regular events?
[15:17] Kghia Gherardi refuses to make eye contact with anyone
[15:17] Riven Homewood: wb Miss Serra
[15:17] JJ Drinkwater: Well, our regular evcents right now are the book discussions and the exhibit openings
[15:18] JJ Drinkwater: And our yearly Bookbinders Ball
[15:18] Solace Fairlady raises hand
[15:18] Wildstar Resident: time to go for me ... good night all
[15:18] JJ Drinkwater: We welcome anyone who wants to create other events, and can go the distance to make them happen
[15:18] Linus Lacombe: Night Captain
[15:18] Serafina Puchkina: Goodnight Captain
[15:18] Darlingmonster Ember: waves to Adm Wildstar
[15:18] Herndon Bluebird: Good night Admiral!
[15:18] Solace Fairlady: Goodnight Admiral:)
[15:18] Serra AnansiSerra Anansi dips her head in a nod to Riven "thank you"
[15:18] Simeon Beresford: Good night ADmiral
[15:19] Bookworm Hienrichs suspects it's the latter part that's the problem.
[15:19] Kghia Gherardi waves
[15:19] Bookworm Hienrichs smiles wryly.
[15:19] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Miss Fairlady?
[15:19] JJ Drinkwater: It is indeed, M~ Heinrichs
[15:19] Solace Fairlady: Thank you
[15:19] Solace Fairlady: a follow up of sorts to Mr Lacombes questions
[15:19] Riven Homewood: Regularly-scheduled events are a very large committment - we've tried them at SPL and found people usually start out very willing and then burn out
[15:20] Solace Fairlady: Given the news at the start of this salon - and without wishing to put your or the libraries on the spot -
[15:20] JJ Drinkwater's experience is much the same as Miss Homewood's
[15:20] Solace Fairlady: but as a way of preserving the Independence of the salons we have come to love
[15:20] Solace Fairlady: would the Library consider becoming their next host?
[15:20] JJ Drinkwater: Alas, we don't have the staff time to take on such a committment
[15:21] Darlingmonster Ember: nod
[15:21] Solace Fairladynods
[15:22] JJ Drinkwater suspects that this series has taken a lot of time and energy to create!
[15:22] Charlemagne Allen: you'll have to excuse me. being hailed.
[15:22] KlausWulfenbach Outlander frowns
[15:22] Charlemagne Allen: great salon today
[15:22] Charlemagne Allen waves
[15:22] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Any more questions?
[15:22] Leslie Weston raises hand
[15:22] Pip Steamer: aye so it was
[15:23] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Leslie?
[15:23] Leslie Weston: Sir Drinkwater, now that your rl commitments have limited the time you once spent in sl, what challenges to you find yourself missing most, about your previous work?
[15:23] Kghia Gherardi: Mr Drinkwater is passionate about virtual libraries and their role within a community, which makes for a great conversation.
[15:24] Leslie Weston: were there particular series you loved
[15:24] JJ Drinkwater: Hmmm....good question, Miss Weston
[15:24] Leslie Weston: particular library building challenges?
[15:24] JJ Drinkwater: What I think I miss most is doing the "Book of the Month" exhibits...
[15:24] Kghia Gherardi nods in agreement
[15:25] Serafina Puchkina: Thank you, Dame Kghia and Sir JJ!
[15:25] Jedburgh30 Dagger: I have to say when I found the Steamlands in 2008 the library in Victoria City was a frequent haunt of mine
[15:25] Serafina Puchkina: This has been most informative and entertaining
[15:25] Bookworm Hienrichs applauds enthusiastically.
[15:25] Darlingmonster Ember applauds
[15:26] Serra Anansi:
*•.¸'*•.¸ ♥ ¸.•*´¸.•*
.•*♥¨`• W00tilicious!!! •¨`♥*•.
¸.•*`¸.•*´ ♥ `*•.¸`*•.¸
[15:26] JJ Drinkwater: They were useful to the discussions, but they also allowed visitors to get inside the book, whatever it was...and I always learned a tremendous amount doing them
[15:26] Stereo Nacht: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[15:26] Serafina Puchkina applauds
[15:26] Holocluck Henly applauds
[15:26] Simeon Beresford: yes Indeed
[15:26] Rhianon Jameson applauds
[15:26] Roberto Couturier: *•.¸'*•.¸ ♥ ¸.•*´¸.•*
[15:26] Roberto Couturier: .•*♥¨`• BRAVO•¨`♥*•.
[15:26] Roberto Couturier: ¸.•*`¸.•*´ ♥ `*•.¸`*•.¸
[15:26] Darlingmonster Ember applauds
[15:26] Solace Fairlady applauds wildly
[15:26] Saffia Widdershins applauds
[15:26] Serafina Puchkina: As a reminder, all tips go to the speakers
[15:26] DM Afarensis applauds politely
[15:26] Herndon Bluebird: APPLAUSE
[15:26] Solace Fairlady: standing ovation
[15:26] Simeon Beresford: applauds
[15:26] Linus Lacombe: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[15:26] JJ Drinkwater beams
[15:26] Solace Fairlady: Huizzah!!!!
[15:26] Solace Fairlady Hooooooooos!!!
[15:26] Riven Homewood: applauds and applauds and applauds
[15:26] Solace Fairlady Hooooooooos!!!
[15:26] KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
[15:26] Kghia Gherardi blushes
[15:26] Solace Fairlady Hooooooooos!!!
[15:26] KlausWulfenbach Outlander applauds
[15:26] Serra Anansi applauds
[15:26] Jedburgh30 Dagger: The donations for the Salon itself is on the sign at the entrance
[15:26] Stereo Nacht: A... pi, Lady Löwey? X-D
[15:26] FynnFirehawk Resident: thank you for the information
[15:27] Darlingmonster Ember: lovely
[15:27] Serafina Puchkina: Today's craft was made by Jasper Kiergarten
[15:27] Annechen Lowey: You're just now noticing, Captain Stereo?
[15:27] Rhianon Jameson reluctantly slips out quietly
[15:27] Serafina Puchkina: Please take a copy
[15:27] Leslie Weston: a wonderful session, and tragic to hear that the Salon may disband
[15:27] Kghia Gherardi: what a fabulous looking audience today!
[15:27] Holocluck Henly: Thank you much!
[15:27] Leslie Weston: I hope that you will find new blood to take it on
[15:27] Leslie Weston: farewell, for the present!
[15:27] Serafina Puchkina: I will post transcripts of today's talk at http://aethersalon.blogspot.com
[15:27] Solace Fairlady: Thank you Sir JJ for a fabulous presentation
[15:28] Serafina Puchkina: Thank you all, gentle patrons
[15:28] Darlingmonster Ember: delightful
[15:28] Stereo Nacht: I never paid attention to what people give, Milady!
[15:28] JJ Drinkwater: Thank you all for a most stimulating conversation
[15:28] KlausWulfenbach Outlander snickers quietly at his Liaison
[15:28] Annechen Lowey chuckles.
[15:28] Serafina Puchkina: Dame Kghia and Sir JJ, thank you both so very much
[15:28] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Ah, sehr gut. I might need these soon enough.
[15:28] Annechen Lowey eyebrows.
[15:29] Mel Krupinski: thanks jj, nice to see you in sl
[15:29] Solace Fairlady: a beautifully delivered interview, wonderful format dame Kghia
[15:29] Kghia Gherardi: thank you :)
[15:29] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: There is only so many times one's eyes can be repaired.
[15:29] Riven Homewood: What a lovely way to spend an afternoon
[15:29] Emperor Crumb: Hear hear!
[15:29] Annechen Lowey: Hm.
[15:29] Darlingmonster Ember smiles
[15:29] Solace Fairlady: and many thanks to Mr Kiergarten for the glasses!
[15:30] Emperor Crumb: What were IN the glasses??
[15:30] Darlingmonster Ember: my best huzzah to the staff of AetherSalon
[15:30] Serafina Puchkina: I will convey your thanks
[15:30] Serafina Puchkina: Thank you all
[15:30] FynnFirehawk Resident: I am sorry I am not dressed appropriatle for here but thank you again for the interestin salon
[15:30] Darlingmonster Ember curtsies
[15:30] Solace Fairlady: yes, we shall be berfet without you, thank you for all your hard work and generosity
[15:30] Annechen Lowey: I am afraid I have another engagement.
[15:31] Kghia Gherardi: thank you all for coming today
[15:31] Simeon Beresford: mr Firehawk you were just fine.
[15:31] Stereo Nacht: Good night Lady Löwey!
[15:31] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Gute Nacht, Frau Lowey.
[15:31] Riven Homewood: I am off - thank you all for a delightful salon - I'm so looking forward to the next one!
[15:31] Serafina Puchkina: Oh yes, Mr Firehawk
[15:31] Serafina Puchkina: It will be explosive, I am sure
[15:31] Serra Anansi: So good to see you all, and wonderful interview Dame Kghia!
[15:31] Darlingmonster Ember: pencils in next month and Dame Ordinal
[15:31] Serafina Puchkina: August
[15:31] Riven Homewood: /waves and poofs
[15:32] Stereo Nacht: Oh! I hope I can make it!
[15:32] Darlingmonster Ember makes a note
[15:32] Saffia Widdershins: It was lovely to see you again, Sir JJ and Miss Kghia
[15:32] Linus Lacombe: Thank you to the organizers!
[15:32] Serafina Puchkina: Don't forget to take your copy of the craft
[15:32] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: July is a break then, ja?
[15:32] Serafina Puchkina: Yes, sir
[15:33] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Fraulein Stereo, I have been told you need to check your Raglan landmark, bitte.
[15:33] Stereo Nacht: `*.¸.*´ APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´APPLAUSE `*.¸.*´
[15:33] DM Afarensis: That was a very interesting talk
[15:33] Stereo Nacht: Oh? I sent the one I got from Mr. Mistral... I'll double-check it right away, sir.
[15:33] KlausWulfenbach Outlander: Sehr gut.
[15:34] Stereo Nacht: Please excuse me, ladies and gentlemen - duty! ;-)
[15:34] Solace Fairlady: be well Miss Stereo:0
[15:34] JJ Drinkwater: Farewell, Miss Nacht
[15:35] Solace Fairlady: Thank you again Sir JJ, Dame Kghia, salonistas all!
[15:35] Solace Fairlady bobs a curtsey
[15:36] Bookworm Hienrichs smiles and quietly takes her leave.
[15:36] Serafina Puchkina: Good evening and thanks again
[15:36] Kghia Gherardi: thank you all
[15:36] Jedburgh30 Dagger: Thanks for coming everyone

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Important Salon Announcement

From Miss Viv:

For three incredible years, the Aether Salon has celebrated the talents and ingenuity of the steampunk and victorian communities in SL, all from the heart of New Babbage, our treasured home. We are so very proud of the quality, wit, and imagination of our 44* brilliant speakers, and our innumerable, very funny, always attentive, somewhat explosive audience members.

After three years, the founders of the Salon have concluded that it is time for new adventures. Therefore, it is with much sadness, and even more gratitude that Jed, Serafina, Jasper and I wish to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.

*We hope you will join us for one final Hurrah! in August, when Dame Ordinal Malaprop returns to the stage.

And we hope that you will give the next season of Salonistas, or however they determine to be called, the same support and attention that you have so generously shared with us and our speakers. More information on that topic will be forthcoming from Baron Wulfenbach and his Vice Consul.

Words cannot express how much we will miss you all. On a personal note, my co-hosts are dear friends, and I cannot envision every third Sunday without them. You have all worked so hard. Thank you, sincerely and with every inch of my being.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Libraries! June Aether Salon



Sunday, June 19 at 2 pm slt
Babbage Palisade & Academy of Industry

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Babbage%20Palisade/254/60/106
and
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Academy%20of%20Industry/2/56/106

What is a library in SL? What services does it provide and what does it add to a community?
Discover the world behind the virtual front desk. Find out what really goes on amongst the library bookshelves. Pay your overdue fines!

JJ Drinkwater and Kghia Gherardi will share their experiences in the wild world of virtual libraries and reflect on the impact of those libraries on their communities.



Join us on Sunday, June 19 at 2 pm slt

Library aficionados,
Viv, Jed, Jasper, & Sera