RantsAndRaves

I took a look at a totally different kind of library. Unlike other libraries (traditional or virtual), this library did not provide a wealth of knowledge about the world. Instead, this library provided users with a chance to obtain free scripts to run in Second Life. The building is quite small, but has two floors. There is no way in or out of the building as it is completly enclosed.

When you are teleported to the Free Script Library, the first thing that you will see is a giant wall of blocks saying "Free Script" with floating text to indicate what kind of script is offered.

I walked around the building and explored both levels. I discovered something useful: an index that displayed the different kinds of scripts that can be found in the library. The index was quite big, however, and only showed if the script was on the first floor or the second floor.

Instead of using the index, I found something a little more useful. There was an object that pointed to the exact script that you are looking for. The only catch here was that you had to know the exact name of the script that you were looking for. I searched for "Rotating Text" and the object pointed me exactly where I needed to go.

To take the script, one had to right click on the box and select "buy." Of course, since this is a "free" script library, the cost was L$0. Included with the script was a notecard with information about the script.

The library, in all, was very useful, and I very much enjoyed it and think that I will use it in the future. However, I did not think that the library was very lucrative for its creator. There were only a couple ways that the library was able to make any money,

One way was by selling some objects. These objects seemed to be more than simple scripts. Instead, they were already complete and ready to use.

The other way that the library could make money was through donations. Of course, being in Second Life, these donations were made in Lindens. In this respect, the library reminided me of Wikipedia. The donations that are collected are to pay for the land and other costs of keeping up the project. There is a little jar where one can click to donate money. Actually, while looking at this jar, I received a chat message saying that they still need to cover 85% of their anticipated costs for this month and encouraging me to donate.

Based on my findings, I can safely say that the library here is very useful. It is very well organized and easy to use. However, I do not think that the project is very lucrative for its creator because there is not much money to be made. (It is the FREE Script Library, after all) While I am not suggesting that the library make users pay for scripts (I like it being free), that may be in the best interest of the creator IF they were looking to make money. If not, I think the library is perfect the way that it is.