The future is here - Library 3D
The 3D virtual world provides an online society in which users can create their own avatar, socialise and explore. It engages the users and enables interaction through the use of various multimedia communication tools. It simulates reality and presents a sense of social presence.
Library 3D is a new direction for library services. Library 3D allows the librarian and the user to meet and interact in a virtual world, a world of virtual digital information. The library service can reach out to users, enabling real-time collaboration and synchronous communication. Library 3D enables distance education, encourages creativity, knowledge creation, networking, and interaction. The librarian can answer queries and guide users through the maze of resources available and engage in co-browsing with users. The librarian can also cooperate with other librarians to support each other’s client base. Deep knowledge and information can be shared and transferred to their users. The meeting point for this is virtual.
It does not matter where the physical location is of both the librarian and the client, the meeting point is the Library 3D place.
Librarian Josephine Laogun is a researcher in information science at Loughborough University in the UK.
Image courtesy of Virtual Library of Birmingham courtesy of OiMax via Flickr.