On behalf of Nina Simon
It's great to see this whole thread. While I spend most of my time developing exhibits for the International Spy Museum, I'm also involved with the Electric Sheep Company (www.electricsheepcompany.com). They are a fine group of Second Life developers who create all kinds of Second Life builds, experiences, and events for both non-profits and for-profit groups. They built the New Media Consortium campus (which now has both a public and private presence), which includes a library and museum, and have created several private and public builds with an entertainment and education focus. As a museum person, I'm excited to see where museums can go in Second Life. I was surprised that the "museum" in the NMC virtual campus looks and feels like a "standard" art gallery architecturally. The true virtual museum will not look like a museum or a website--it will be something else entirely. There are all kinds of opportunities in virtual space for us to break out of the physical logistics of real-world museums and create content that allows users to naturally interact with each other and with the content in a meaningful way. The Holocaust Museum stands out to me as a museum that physically commands and controls the visitor experience through exemplary design. On the web, it's very challenging to design a 2D site that can evoke the same feelings and reactions as a physical space. Second Life gives us the opportunity to create powerful 3D spaces that are impossible to design in the real world. What does the museum space you've always dreamed of look like? In Second Life, it can be created... As a content developer, I also love the idea of using Second Life as a collaborative tool among museums and partners to share ideas, mock-up real exhibits, and test drive programs. I'd love to be able to go to "science museum world" and see what new kinds of demos educators are doing across the country, whether through streaming video or avatar scripting. To me, the essential question is this: What CAN'T we do in our physical museums--due to space, sensitivity of topics, lack of time, etc.? How can we use Second Life to create new museum experiences? And ultimately, how will those virtual experiences inform the real ones we offer our guests? If there is interest in these topics (and it sounds like there is!), perhaps we could use the Museums in Second Life group to have a meeting sometime in Second Life and discuss our thoughts. Nina Simon nsimon at spymuseum.org -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Beth Kanter Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 5:48 PM To: rjurban at uiuc.edu; 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Are there any real-life museums on Second Life? Thanks Richard! Also, TechSoup is doing an "mixed reality" event - that means the event will take place in the real world at their office as well as inside of Second Life. The two locations will be joined via audio/video/chat. We have some speakers from NPOS lined up to do some presenting and we'll do a little tour if the nonprofit directory. Here's the info: http://upcoming.org/event/88581/ If you want to do the in-world event, RSVP early because they're capping attendance so the place doesn't crash or get too slow. Also, if you're new at this, I'll probably do a newbie orientation sometime next week or on Monday, July 17th. I'll let you all know. Speaking of Museums and Games - there was an interesting panel at the Games for Social Change Conference on that topic as well: http://www.gamesforchange.org/conference/2006/program.asp Beth -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Richard Urban Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 4:44 PM To: 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Are there any real-life museums on Second Life? Hi all, In the spirit of putting heads together I created the "Museums in Second Life" group this spring. I haven't had a chance to do much with it yet, but you can find it by searching the SL groups category. I'm eyeing what Beth & the TechSoup group are doing for examples of how we can do more to interact with each other. I'll also take this opportunity to plug the 2006 MCN conference where I'll be moderating a panel called "Modding the Museum: Accessing Collections through Games" that will feature several panelists who are building game-based museum interactives. Hope to see you in the audience in Pasadena! Richard Urban Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign rjurban at uiuc.edu http://www.inherentvice.net -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Swiader, Larry Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 3:31 PM To: Museum Computer Network Listserv Subject: Re: [MCN-L] Are there any real-life museums on Second Life? Hi Beth, We've been doing some thinking here at the Holocaust Museum on what a presence on Second Life might be like (and mean). My colleague, David Klevan (dklevan at ushmm.org), our Education Manager for Technology and Distance Learning, is at the forefront of that thinking. It'd be nice to put our heads together..... Regards, Larry Lawrence Swiader Deputy Chief Information Officer United States Holocaust Memorial Museum -----Original Message----- From: mcn-l-bounces at mcn.edu [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Beth Kanter Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 11:48 AM To: 'Museum Computer Network Listserv' Subject: [MCN-L] Are there any real-life museums on Second Life? Hi Folks, I've been researching the possibilities for nonprofits on Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com), the virtual world. I'm participating in some "in-world" projects that TechSoup is organizing around nonprofits in SL. There will be an event later this month and we're starting to compile a directory of nonprofits using it. You can see the directory here (http://www.writely.com/View.aspx?docid=aptcrhmkxkv_bcjvrhrc2vgbq) So far, I've seen some "museums" in second life - created by residents, but not any real life museums there - there may be, but haven't run across it. The San Jose Art Museum is building a virtual Island for display of virtual art works being sought from SL http://www.ludica.org.uk/NewWest/ The event will coincide with ZeroOne Festival http://isea2006.sjsu.edu/Grabbed from comments in blog post here: I'm wondering if any of you are investigating the possibilities or doing any projects. There a huge community of educators (320) from universities, some teen education projects, a library project, and embryonic nonprofit presence. I've written up what I learn on my blog here: http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/npsl/index.html Beth _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the listserv of the Museum Computer Network (http://www.mcn.edu) To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l
