Introduction

Second Life (SL) is arguably the most popular and well known of what are known as multi-user-virtual-environments (MUVEs). While awareness and knowledge of MUVEs is growing there are still many who have only a vague idea of what they are and how they relate to the future of libraries and higher education. In 2008 Educause added a section on SL to its ‘7 things you should know about …’ series, which provides a useful framework for this discussion.

The costs of a Second Life

One question that arises early in any discussion of SL is that of cost. It is possible to participate in SL without any expenditure of money. There is no cost for the SL program download, nor for the avatar and its use. While some areas of SL are blocked from entry by their owners, most areas are open to the public at no cost. Additionally, many interest groups have been organized. You can join multiple groups at no cost and receive notification of their activities. Most of these activities – poetry readings, plays, dances, classes, discussion groups – are also available at no cost. And there are locations called ‘sandboxes’ on which you can build and script objects to store, at no cost, in your inventory. ‘Sandboxes’ are regularly cleaned of the objects created there. You must own, be given owner privileges or rent property in SL in order to permanently place objects. Owning land costs money.