When a patron is unable or unwilling to trek all the way out to their nearest library, virtual reference gives them a means to contact a reference librarian without leaving his or her chair. Some libraries provide online chat services for their patrons, where they may converse with a reference librarian in real time. Recently, many libraries have also begun to experiment with three-dimensional virtual environments, such as Second Life or Yoville. These virtual worlds can help to restore the nonverbal cues that are often “lost in translation” by simulating a physical component to the reference interview. Online avatars can wave, smile, or even point to objects in the virtual world. Younger patrons might even respond more positively to a librarian avatar than to a real person, since these patrons are more used to interacting with others on multiplayer video games.
Source: C&RL News
This entry was posted
on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 and is filed under Libraries and Librarianship.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.