Shared inventory item donation in a virtual universe

A computer program product for managing donations of shared inventory in a virtual universe, the computer program product comprising:

• one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for a computer system to receive a request to make a shared inventory item available for donation, wherein the request to make the shared inventory item available for donation comprises a condition for borrowing the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the request to make the shared inventory item available for donation, to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation, wherein the program instructions to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation generate and store metadata associated with the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, after performing the program instructions to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation, to:
• present a list identifying inventory items to a user, wherein the list identifies donated shared inventory items and inventory items owned by the user;
• receive a request from a first user to borrow the shared inventory item;
• and
• receive a request from a second user to borrow the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the request from the first user, to:
• create one of a copy of a file from an inventory source or a reference to the shared inventory item;
• and
• present an indication of the condition for the borrowing the shared inventory item to the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to present the indication of the condition, to receive an acceptance of the condition from the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the acceptance of the condition from the first user, to lend the shared inventory item to the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system, after performing the program instructions to receive the request from the second user, to lend the shared inventory item to the second user so that the first user and the second user are simultaneously borrowing the shared inventory item;
• and
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, for the computer system to track usage of the shared inventory item by the first and second users.

A computer system for managing donations of shared inventory in a virtual universe, the computer system comprising:

• one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system to receive a request to make a shared inventory item available for donation, wherein the request to make the shared inventory item available for donation comprises a condition for borrowing the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the request to make the shared inventory item available for donation, to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation, wherein the program instructions to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation generate and store metadata associated with the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, after performing the program instructions to mark the shared inventory item as available for donation, to:
• present a list identifying inventory items to a user, wherein the list identifies donated shared inventory items and inventory items owned by the user;
• receive a request from a first user to borrow the shared inventory item;
• and
• receive a request from a second user to borrow the shared inventory item;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the request from the first user, to:
• create one of a copy of a file from an inventory source or a reference to the shared inventory item;
• and
• present an indication of the condition for the borrowing the shared inventory item to the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to present the indication of the condition, to receive an acceptance of the condition from the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, in response to performing the program instructions to receive the acceptance of the condition from the first user, to lend the shared inventory item to the first user;
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system, after performing the program instructions to receive the request from the second user, to lend the shared inventory item to the second user so that the first user and the second user are simultaneously borrowing the shared inventory item;
• and
• program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, for the computer system to track usage of the shared inventory item by the first and second users.