Deodatus Janus stood on Middletown Island in a computerized sea as the red moon set, lighting the digital horizon a red hue.
Philip Deloria, assistant archivist for digital projects and University Archives, operates in the world of Second Life as Deodatus Janus, which will exhibit library resources.
Janus, a brown-haired computer figure with a collared shirt, walked through Middletown Island and then lifted his arms to fly through the air, along side a computerized Shafer Tower and above class meeting places.
Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual world that people travel in as online characters.
Deloria said it is not a game with objectives. It is a place where people's characters, known as avatars, may view exhibits, talk to fellow avatars or create buildings.
Arthur Hafner, dean of university libraries, said Second Life users could personalize their characters to look anyway they want.
"It's not just a tool," he said. "There's bit of a mystery, a mystique to it"
The library is in the developmental stages of creating a "university library presence," he said.
"If this turns out to be something," he said, "we will turn out to be one of the early adapters for it."
Deloria said he is unsure of when the exhibits will be operational. Finishing the virtual library development, which was intended for the end of the semester, is still in progress, he said.
"We are moving at a comfortable rate, and it gives us the luxury of spending more time on it and doing it properly," he said.
Hafner said Second Life is new for libraries, and the library wanted to use the program to serve the many students in the alternative reality.
"I am looking to provide library service to [students] who may go to Second Life and find learning opportunities there," he said.
The library isn't paying for the use of the virtual land, he said, which was leased to them by Middletown Studies.
Deloria said the library is working along with Archives & Special Collections and James Connolly, director for the Center for Middletown Studies.
The exhibits used in Second Life will be connected to Middletown Studies in an effort to stimulate research, he said.
Deloria also said if the library is successful, the library will work to provide more services in the future.
Hafner said Second Life allows the library to create structures in the virtual world that simulate a reference desk or allows them to show PowerPoint presentations.
If people can teach language and lab courses using Second Life, he said, the presenting of resources might work for the library.
"If we can help student learn things [and] provide materials that are useful to learning, this will be a big break through," he said.
It is becoming more important to present information online because students are used to electronic instruction, he said.
"Universities are decreasing their print predictions of material because they know students are looking at the [materials] electronically," he said.
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