SCLA Part 2 - The New StudySC Website

This session came just in time for what could have been a dull Homeschool program next Friday.  This exciting new site, StudySC,  (up "just in time" - AKA, Just A Bit Late - for the third graders studying the regions of our state) has links to information on South Carolina based point by point on the state's curriculum standards, the best information being chosen and evaluated by teachers.  Well, dang!
The site is organized by elementary, middle school, and high school levels, so that each group has access to age-appropriate materials.  Within the age levels, the sections are thematic and time-period based.  The site is still in beta (and the section on Government is not up yet), but they thought it best to put out what they have and add to it.  It was very exciting to see.  South Carolina patrons can access this at home - unless, perhaps, they have AOL, which make the site think you live in Virginia and then, of course, you can always drop by your local library.
All of the current material is existing, stable sources, such as museums, ETV, and college sites.  There may be a small amount of advertising content.   They hope to add their own content at a later date, such as lesson plans, the ability to search the site by the curriculum standards, and maybe a glossary.
Also on the site is a link to information about the current and past SC Book Award winners - some of them with related activities!
I can't say how helpful this is going to be.  The first day after the assignment, all our South Carolina social studies materials were checked out except the older reference book.  They all needed pictures and information about the regions - and here it was all the time!  This is another example of your State Library doing great things!  Full marks, y'all!

Society Hill Storefront!

Yes, just down the street from the South Carolina State Library is the SecondLife Society Hill Library! What a cozy little place with both a Bible and a cover on display from the Dawkins book The God Delusion. Talk about fair and balanced! On-line reference materials line the walls behind me. There's a small conference room and Yohan's office. Visit and leave him a message! Note the flags at half staff; they don't miss a thing! And they have some nice Canadians for neighbors across the street!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/46/187/24

"Why Aren't We in SecondLife?" I Hear You Ask

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who wondered about that. Other libraries are putting up shingles and have storefront presences. And I was not necessarily thinking about our own library. We are in enough places, perhaps, on Flickr and MySpace, and we have a blog. There's no reason for our library to be as scattered on 2.0 as I am. But, shouldn't someone from South Carolina be there?
Well, they are. I met an avatar today who made some off-hand remark about South Carolina and I perked up. "Who's from SC? I'm from SC!" - except I don't have italics in SL chat. We chatted a bit. He invited me to join a Palmetto Librarians group (!!!). After lunch I ran into him again and he asked if I'd seen their library in Cybrary City. As soon as I agreed, he vanished in a puff of stardust (as one does here). I waited a little bit and then he sent me a tp to join him. And this is what he showed me:

The South Carolina State Library in SecondLife, Cybrary City.
Interior of the State Library. Lludmila thinks, "Today SC, tomorrow, The World!"

They are looking for input in this area. Why didn't I know about this? Are they waiting until SCLA to make a big announcement? I must plumb the depths of this conundrum. In the meantime, he has something else to show me! Lead on, Macduff!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cybrary%20City/41/37/23