Last night I stumbled across this machinima when I was looking for German sims in Second Life. I feel in love with Bayerische Stattsbibliothek - The Bavarian State Library instantly. The machinima was 4 years old so I was not sure Bayerische Staatsbibliothek still existed in Second Life. 
I tried to search the slurl (the address of a certain location inside virtual world Second Life) of the library and .... BINGO! I found it. I was amazed that the Bavarian State Library used their virtual representation actively. Here's the library official website with a page about their virtual representation: http://www.bsb-muenchen.de/Virtuelle-Services-in-Second-Life.2264.0.html . 

I have heard that a number of major libraries in the world opened their virtual representation in Second Life but I didn't really spend time to learn about how they used virtual world to expand their library service. I finally got my call to learn about it after washing dishes last night. (Oh well...I do think about serious things sometimes when I do the dishes, not merely about the rising egg price.)

I landed in front of a huge teleport map in front of the virtual Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. The teleport map is especially useful for visitors who are not familiar with the physical library. They can explore the virtual building before the visit the library. 9 major parts  of the library represented in virtual world are more than enough to give first time library user a sense of direction. Those parts are Friedrich von Gärtner saal, Ausstellung, Marmorsaal, Lesesaal, Treppenhaus, Fürstensaal (my favorite room), info center, innenhof 1, and innenhof 2.
I was astonished by the reproduction of the library in Second Life which was almost true to the original. (Except the real building is much more luxurious than the one in SL - See the slideshow) Nevertheless, the virtual library can still serve the purpose that is initiated by the library, which is to provide a place for the library users to interact, communicate, learn, play, and trade knowledge virtually.

I learned that due to copyright issue, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek could not lend their books to users in virtual world. So what is a library without books, right? I am not a fan of copyright. (My publisher friends will give me a mean look when they read this) In the  future when copyright is no longer an issue, a virtual library can function like a real library. Technically it is possible to publish, lend, borrow, and read books in virtual world. For the mean time, I was satisfied with the non copyrighted books, such as historic books which were available at virtual Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. The library brought their historic books collection to virtual world and converted them into 3D book. Some books dated back in the year 1200s.  What a treasure!

I got more excited about the idea of virtual publishing after my virtual visit to this 450 years old library in Munchen. Perhaps, I should contact the librarian and ask him if I my students can display their virtual books there. That will be something. 



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