Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi‐user Virtual Environments

Citation

Stuart, D. (2010), "Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi‐user Virtual Environments", Library Hi Tech, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 174-175. https://doi.org/10.1108/07378831011026760

Increased internet speeds and computing processing power have led to the adoption of increasingly complex multi‐user virtual environments (MUVEs) – simulated 3‐D environments where multiple users can communicate and interact. The potential of these virtual environments for the provision of library and education services has been recognised by many librarians and educators, and Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi‐user Virtual Environments is an attempt to share the experiences of some of those providing services in MUVEs.

Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi‐user Virtual Environments consists of 21 chapters, written by 26 contributors, and split into three parts: Virtual Worlds and Libraries, Alliance Virtual Library Project, Virtual Worlds and Education. The first part provides an overview of some of the different MUVEs available, and some of the opportunities and hurdles that affect the provision of library services in them. The second part focuses on the Alliance Virtual Library Project, a collection of smaller projects that explore and provide library services in the MUVE Second Life. This is the largest part of the book and covers many of the different collections that have been established in Second Life and the scope a MUVE provides for building and presenting collections in ways that would not be possible in the “real” world. The third part focuses on the potential of MUVEs for the provision of educational support and services.

One of the recurrent topics in the book is the predominantly voluntary nature of a librarian's activities in MUVEs such as Second Life, and this book is unlikely to do much to professionalise the activity. Virtual Worlds, Real Libraries: Librarians and Educators in Second Life and Other Multi‐user Virtual Environments is the story and opinions of those involved in the MUVEs, rather than a work of research on the topic. As one author notes on the Alliance Virtual Library Project, “We have discussed using surveys and other methods of gathering information but have not to date attempted to carry out research on our patrons.” If the publication of a book on the subject does not initiate the carrying out of more thorough research, one wonders what will.

Anyone looking for high standards of scholarship will be disappointed by the varying attitude to referencing by the different authors, and the tendency to throw in statements with little justification. Nonetheless, the topic is an important one, and those library professionals who have little experience of MUVEs will be interested in how others in the profession are making use of them.