New entry for Alliance Second Life Library - New on screen search tool for Second Life residents to search the web and library

Why not try again? We got so much good use of the funding we got from the first contest, it does not hurt to try again. :)Alliance Library System, one of nine multitype library systems in Illinois, located in East Peoria, Illinoiis would like to submit the Alliance Second Life Library's new in-world Second Life search tool for the Talis MashUp Competition. You can read more about our project at http://www.infoisland.org.

Damek Tretiak in Second Life, Patrick Ward in Real Life, has created a special search HUD(heads-up display) which can also reside on the user's screen for Second Life Library. At this time, although Second Life has promised web integration, the searching from Second Life is still quite clunky. This search HUD makes it much easier to search Second Life and also library tools which other search HUDS do not have. We have a kiosk right outside the library users can click on to get their free search HUD for use in Second Life.

Library users can ask a question via Question Point via chat or via email, search world-cat, wikipedia, google, Amazon, Findarticles.com, Second Life itself and view a map of the library. This way even when they are not at the library they can chat with a librarian for help or have access to library search tools anywhere in Second Life. According to Damek, this is only the beginning. When finished searching, the user can minimize the small search screen on their Second Life screen. Users can get one of these free of charge in front of the library in the Second Life Library kiosk. The search is powered by SLquery.com. Our next project under the leadership of Abbey Zenith is to get our items (books, artifacts, etc) into the database so that library users can search our collection using the library search HUD. We are beginning work on that this week.

We are also working with individuals from the last competition who are letting us try chatbots, but that may be for later. For now we are submitting this entry for the competition which makes searching the web, Second Life, and the library, much easier for library users in the virtual world.

Thank you for your consideration and for offering the opportunity for libraries to share innovative things they have done.