Maya Island virtual museum: A virtual learning environment, museum, and library exhibit

This short paper describes a collaborative virtual museum and library exhibit tour in the virtual world of Second Life. Colleagues from the University of Washington's Certificate in Virtual World course created Maya Island, a simulated environment which represents aspects of the ancient Mayan civilization. Through collaboration with librarians across the globe, the virtual museum was exhibited at the Community Virtual Library and live tours were provided for avatar visitors. This collaborative project demonstrates potential for virtual museums in libraries and education along with predictions for future virtual museum and library projects and environments.