For this thing, I watched the video tour of Second Life, read the article "Eight Myths about Video Games Debunked," read the FAQ on the Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Public Library's Teen Second Life presence, and listened to YALSA's podcast interview. I also went to Info Island Blog and skimmed that.
While I would like to try Second Life (the book discussions and the masked ball sounded really fun), I decided I just don't have the time right now. Perhaps next summer. I don't even know that I want to spend that much time in a virtual world. I like seeing and talking to people face-to-face.
I spend a lot of time talking to my young adult sons and nephews about what's out there on the Internet and have become convinced that it's like anything else: some good sense and self-control go a long way toward making it a safe place to be. In defense of MMOPRGS, one son has had a subscription to an MMOPRB called EVE for about 4 years now. I have come to believe that it has broadened, rather than narrowed, his horizons. He talks to and interacts with people from all over the world and I would guess has a better handle on how other people see Americans than many of us do. They also have some pretty good discussions on all kinds of mundane things like child rearing and using credit cards!
I think that there is a role for libraries in many places on the Net. It's probably not part of the mission for my little k-12 library, but I'd like to think that it's out there for those of my students who spend a lot of time on the Internet outside of school hours.
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