Library celebrating technology next week

The Carson City Library will show how to connect people through technology and entertainment next week as part of National Library Week.

Speakers will talk about the social networking Web site Twitter and the interactive online world Second Life. The library will also show people how to use technology such as the iPhone.

Library Director Sara Jones said technology and entertainment point to what the library can evolve into.

"The whole idea is that we are going to be a place where people can learn about things and talk with one another," she said.

The library should help more people connect through technology and attract young people who are already using that technology, she said.

"We want to get out of just books," she said.

The Friends of the Carson City Library will pay $4,000 to support library week activities.

Kimberly Rufer-Bach, author and software developer, will demonstrate the uses of Second Life on a movie screen Tuesday at Galaxy Theatres.

She said the ability to use characters to interact makes Second Life a great long-distance way to learn. Her clients include schools, nonprofits and government agencies.

"They are certainly not doing it for the entertainment," she said.

One government client uses Second Life to teach English and a medical center client uses it to show how to react to a biological attack, she said.

Second Life is like long-distance phone calls, she said. It's an addition, not a substitution, to face-to-face communication.

"It's not a computer game where you're just sitting there by yourself shooting space aliens," she said.

Schools and businesses are already using Second Life a lot, she said, but she hopes more families and friends will use it in the future to stay connected.

Guy Johnson, a Reno real estate agent, will talk April 16 about how to attract an audience blogging 140 characters or less on Twitter.

He uses it to promote his business, but he said anyone who has something valuable to share should use Twitter.

It can be useful as a tool to break news, drive traffic to a Web site or let people know about skiing conditions, he said.

"As long as it's not nonsense like, 'I'm eating a bowl of Froot Loops,'" he said.

- 6 p.m. Tuesday at Galaxy Theatres. Kimberly Rufer-Bach will demonstrate the many uses of Second Life.

- 5:30 p.m. April 15 at the Carson City Library. The library will demonstrate the iPod, iPhone and iTouch; Wii station games; downloadable audio books and geocaching.

- 6 p.m. April 16 at the Carson City Library. Guy Johnson will talk about how to engage an audience using Twitter.