Virtual Reality and Second Life

    Awhile back, ok, maybe about two years ago I had blogged about the prospect of a new Second Life being built from the ground up and requiring a virtual reality headset, such as the one by Oculus Rift.

https://www.amazon.com/Oculus-Rift-Virtual-Reality-Headset-Pc/dp/B00VF0IXEY

    You're probably asking what is going on with that? Has Second Life been built from the ground up? Good questions! Supposedly, Linden Labs abandoned working on its Oculus Rift viewer for Second Life and has been working on a new project called Project Sansar, which is a 3D world. It pretty much works along the lines that Second Life does. As of now, a few creators, hand picked by Linden Labs, are creating content for Project Sansar, which is supposed to open to the general public sometime this year. Check out this video.

    But...what about the old Second Life? There is no need to worry, the Second Life that we have all enjoyed for years is not going anywhere. At least not yet. It will only keep getting better. With Project Sansar, people will have the option of experiencing Second Life in 3D. As always, leave comments or questions. I need something to take about, don't I?

Happy Belated Holidays Everyone!

 

                                     https://www.google.com/search?q=santa+clause&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP38OtnJfRAhWG34MKHT5FBhsQ_AUICCgB&biw=1536&bih=725#tbm=isch&q=santa+clause+in+a+hurry&imgrc=8pzzn9hn4DI4VM%3A

 

 Phew! I survived the holidays, for which I am extremely grateful. With all the hustle and bustle, I lost myself and forgot to post for nearly a month. Not that I'm complaining. I absolutely love the holidays. It's a time for families to get together and spend time with each other. I hope you took time to do just that.

     What have I been up to? I've been trying my best to procure a library job. In fact, I drove 2 and a half hours for one of my interviews, which was for a work study co-coordinator position at a college. The folks that I interviewed with were lovely people, but I did not get the position. I've got an interview for a circulation coordinator position at a library, which is more or less 45 minutes from where I live. Now, let's switch gears...

    I've been thinking, maybe it's time to jazz things up a bit. Should I migrate to another blogging service, or keep this one going? I have done a bit of work on Weebly, but I'm not sure if I should switch to that or not. Also, I'd like to know what my readers would be interested in reading  about that is library related. Some ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Presidential Election and the American Library Association

Susan Watts/New York Daily News

Greetings all,

    I hope this post finds you alive and well. I know I have not posted in some time; life just gets carried away sometimes. Today I would like to talk a bit about the presidential election and the ALA (American Library Association). As you are probably well aware, President-Elect Donald Trump won the majority of the electoral votes, which has created quite a stir for the Clinton supporters. This has caused protests, riots, name-calling, etc. They are infuriated. Unfortunately, it has seeped into the library world. The ALA basically said that they were ready to work with President Elect Donald Trump, which upset a lot of members in the library community. I weighed in with this message:

Dear ALA,

   Unlike many library professionals/paraprofessionals, I am in agreement with the announcement you released. It shows that you have taken a neutral stand amidst a difficult political climate; you are trying to pick up the pieces the best you can. I know that many folks are not happy with the outcome of the election or with your decision, but, like it or not, Mr. Trump will be our next president, so I understand your position in this situation, that we must work with him and his policies.

     I believe that librarianship means neither leaning to the left or the right, because, if we do, 9 times out of 10, we are going to offend someone, and that’s not librarianship at all. There has been a lot of talk amongst us librarians about creating a safe space. From what? Trump supporters? If that’s the case, I cannot see how it reflects any library’s vision, which should reflect your own, as follows:

 "As an association representing these libraries, librarians and library workers, ALA believes that the struggle against racism, prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination is central to our mission. We will continue to support efforts to abolish intolerance and cultural invisibility, stand up for all the members of the communities we serve, and promote understanding and inclusion through our work."

     To do otherwise would be to fail in your vision. You are responsible for finding the middle ground, which you have done and you have shown great courage in doing so in the midst of political unrest. I encourage you to keep doing good work and would like you to know that I stand with you in these difficult times.

Charity Williams

     As you can see, I did not show my dismay as may other people did. But why? Why didn't I take a stand against it myself? Well, being a library paraprofessional, I believe that I have the duty of being neutral as does the ALA. They cannot afford to be left wing or right wing. They are being professional while attempting to pick up the pieces, and attempting to create a middle ground. To do otherwise is to disregard their own vision. 

    I'm not saying I'm all for Trump. I'm not saying I'm for Clinton either. As a matter of fact, I voted for neither of them because I didn't think either one of them stood up to my standards; I voted third party. Yes, I realize that Trump might have said some things he shouldn't have, but Clinton has her own problems as well. So, can we just all be friends and stop all this fighting and name calling? 

So sorry...I left you in the dust.

 Hi all,
  
    I hope you all have been well. I am so sorry to have kept you all wondering what was happening in my life. First, I want to let you know that I will be graduating on May 14th, 2016, from the University of Maine at Augusta with a BS in Information and Library Services, as well as a minor in History. The very last semester, which is currently wrapping up, included an internship at the Maine State Library in Augusta. I had lots of fun while learning library skills.

    I will miss UMA, but I realize that my time there has come to an end. I can't stay forever, can I? Now it's time to move forward and find a library job. In the meantime, I have plenty of stuff to keep me busy. I have been tweaking my social media profiles, making sure they are up to date. I want to create a website and have all my special projects on it. It will kind of be like a web portfolio, except more exciting.

Courses

    I know, I know, you all must be screaming at me for not posting since July, but I have an excuse. Maybe it's a good excuse, maybe it's not...but anyhow I've just been plain ole busy. I had to take two history courses this semester and take care of my toddler at the same time. This may not seem like much, but history courses require a lot of reading.

    Why not spread it out? Why did I do it the way I did? Although I love college, I've been there far too long. I saw the end in sight, so I decided to go for it. It was hard, but I think I got through it. Now the Fall 2015 semester is over and I am awaiting my final grades. I am confident they won't be bad grades.

    Now I am thinking ahead to 2016 Spring semester. I will be doing another history course and a practicum (internship), which equals to about 25 hours a week. I probably should have been asking around at libraries, but I forgot last week and before that, my mind was on finals.

Too much time has passed

    OMG! Has it really been since June 28th since I last posted? Shame on me! I literally thought it hasn't been that long since I posted. I guess summer is a crazy time of year. I've been traveling a lot (not out of state or out of country) lately. I hope you all had a happy 4th of July.

    Well I seem to have come up empty handed? Why? Because...because...ok I admit it! I've not done any research! Double shame!!! Oh well, I guess I'm about to anyhow, at least later after I've attended something called the "Grand Opening" downtown. It will be good for me to go schmooze with other member of the community, not to mention hit some sales.

   As always, I'm always open to comments. Feel free to say anything you like!

Summer cleaning genealogy

    Well, hello there! Long time no see. It's summer time and I'm sure you all have been as busy as I have been. It's a rainy Sunday morning here in Maine, so I am taking the opportunity to update my blog.  I've recently have been doing some belated "Spring Cleaning". At this point, I think we'll call it summer cleaning. I came across some library related magazines that were at least 5 years old, some even older. Remember when the last installment of Harry Potter was being written? Yup, some were that old! Well, to get on with my story, I had a stack of magazines almost a mile high that I went through, saving some that had articles in it that I want to read later.

Let's see, what else should I talk about? I could talk about genealogy research, but really, is this the right place for it. I will share a little bit of information though. If you don't know this already, there is an app called Family Search-Tree that can be downloaded on Apple devices. You can take a look here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/familysearch-tree/id885982973?mt=8

That's it for now. I hope to see you all sooner than later.