Second Life Possibilities

While companies, organizations, and individual users are still analyzing how Second Life can be used, there are some that are finding real world applications which ultimately will mean long term success for Second Life. I think a careful evaluation of how much time/money investment it takes to develop (say a training module) would be essential to knowing if it would have a long term benefit (or an organization could live with the technology becoming obsolete, outdated, or purchased by another entity that changes its emphasis or usability. Here is one interesting use with doctors and virtual patients. http://virtualworldwatch.net/2009/01/27/maria-toro-troconis-imperial-college-london/.

How could we use Second Life to develop a virtual training/quiz of Customer Interaction Statistics to show typical patron interactions followed by how we would enter those stats using our new computerized system?

Or...in teaching about customer service, we could have a virtual avatar played by a seasoned staff member (example: fine dispute or claims return process) and the new staff member has to respond appropriately (So again a virtual world "It's How You Say It").

Much like webinars are becoming commonplace, at what point will virtual lectures become the norm where librarians from around the country (or even the world) could gather together to discuss literacy, outreach, grants, budgeting, or really any topic and put all of our best efforts together for the good of the library profession as a whole?

What if an Open Source ILS were also tied into a "virtual" OCLS where patrons could browse our catalog, download (say from Overdrive/NetLibrary, My LibraryDV) and watch it in Second Life. All this may already be possible, but I think the vendors, companies, technologies that make this as seamless as possible will be the true winners.