SL Job Interview Tips: Don't Dress Like a Mermaid!

One of our classmates posted this great article from the June 20th, 2007 Wall Street Journal about how to prepare for a job interview in Second Life. There were 431,00 unique visitors to SL in May 2007, and this is a sufficient number of visitors to be considered a job applicant pool. So if you interview in sl either at a job fair or in an individual corporate interview, how do you dress appropriately? Do you walk into the room or teleport? Do you sit or hover during the conversation? How do you clear up which time zone you are agreeing to meet in? How do you avoid accidents, like one person being interviewed, who instead of pulling out his resume from his inventory, pulled out a beer instead. And unless you are planning to work at a seaport, you probably don't want to dress like a mermaid.
--Laurel Zenovka

International Spaceflight Museum

I attended the International Spaceflight Museum located on Spaceport Alpha and Spaceport Bravo. According the Museum's official website this sl Museum hosts exhibits and events about real-world spacecraft, rockets and space travel." The Museum is located on Spaceport Alpha and Spaceport Bravo, with the second location, Spaceport Bravo, just recently opening. The SL News Network (SLNN) published a May 8, 2007 article, "International Space Museum launches a second island" by Therese Carfagno featuring the opening of Spaceport Bravo.

When I arrived at the Museum it was becoming dark and I located a vehicle that would transport me out to the Exhibits. There was an outdoor auditorium or Center that had multiple seating, a stage and two film screens with sound and from there you can view related footage.

I was not bound by conventional hours. I visited the Museum late at night, when a Museum would normally be closed to the public. While I photographed, I was having difficulty because it was dark outside in sl. I quickly discovered the additional advantage of being able to "force the sun" to provide me with noon time light conditions. Also as I was taking photographs and angling for the best views, I found that flying above the exhibits also sometimes gave me the best vantage points.

I was able to “experience” somethings despite or because of the museum being virtual. For example, I sat in a lunar roving vehicle, which might seem to be an impractical activity at an actual museum. Another convenience was being able to take notecards on any items of interest. I also enjoyed the interactivity of the Solar System Simulator. You enter in a date and it provides you with a look at the location of planets on that past or future date. This photo is of the planets on a date of personal significance to me.

As with any Museum there were finding aids, such as the model of the museum shown in the previous screenshot. The Museum has a web presence, solicits for donations and has a calendar of events. I observed on the calendar of upcoming events that there is a NASA space launch on Friday and sl residents are invited to watch Atlantis take off from Cape Canaveral at the Centre Stage at the Museum. One thing that I did miss was any contact with other people during my visit. I did find it a little difficult knowing what to look at and if I was missing something particularly interesting. I might have wanted to have an option of a list of things to be sure to see or someone available for me to ask my questions.

Laurel in SL

As Penny wrote, we are taking a class on virtual worlds and librarianship. Getting to know your way around second life and the experiences in taking a class in second life are so interesting to us, we decided we wanted to journal those experiences.

Taking the class in second life has its own challenges, benefits and limitations. I have done everything from attending the wrong class, getting lost during a class tour to flying into buildings and crashing on the ground when landing. Not your usual educational hazards.

It is easy to get distracted in class when everyone is chatting simultaneously and on the other hand you can read the chat history to catch up with anything you missed in the discussion. It is an advantage that any notecards, landmarks to places and objects given to you in class are automatically added to your inventory. The last class which included discussion on the types of books and some of the computers available in Second Life was especially interesting. The class before which included much discussion about clothing was also interesting, however, I had already spend quite a bit of time exploring that on my own. Afterall having shopping as a hobby is not limited to real life. :)

This weekend I spend some time on Info Island providing reference service. I'll let you know how it goes!

Laurel Zenovka

The World of Second Life: An Intro

Greetings! Welcome to the Orange County Library System's blog on the adventure's of OCLS in Second Life.

Click here if you'd like to learn more about Second Life .

Click here if you'd like to sign up for your own account. (Please don't sign onto SL on OCLS computers because of bandwidth concerns.)

The library community is buzzing about Second Life and its potential uses. We all know that we need broaden our perspective on reference work in the digital age, but Second Life's virtual world ushers in a whole new perspective!

Currently, three staff members from OCLS are taking a class in Second Life through the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . Its one of the first of its kind to be offered, and it introduces a variety of perspectives on Second Life and libraries. The library is centered around Cybrary City, which is the main information hub for libraries in Second Life. This class has a variety of agenda items, from getting started in Second Life, to building, to exhibiting in Second Life, to reference work! In fact, the three of us will each be taking some time to shadow a volunteer librarian at the Information Center on Cybrary City. Check it out if you get a chance.

Additionally, the American Library Association has announced its presence in Second Life. More to come on this later!

We'll be detailing our experiences in Second Life, along with any useful information and articles we find along the way. We range in experience in Second Life, so we'll each be taking our experiences from a slightly different perspective We welcome your comments on Libraries and Second Life.

Thank you for your interest!

SL Name: Penny Theas