Libraries in Virtual Reality Environments

Editor's Notes

• #2:     Welcome to Libraries in Virtual Reality Environments. I’m Valerie Hill, Director of the Community Virtual Library, and my background includes teaching at all age levels, serving as a school librarian for 20 years and teaching library and information science after earning my PhD at TWU in 2012. For the past 15 years, I have been researching changing literacy and changing librarianship with a focus on virtual environments.
• #3: So let’s think how libraries have changed! I recently led a discussion group about the future of libraries and many people shared memories of libraries from their youth! Storytime- wandering the stacks in awe- meeting friends to study…in the library (a physical space that many found inspirational). In the past, we thought of the library as a place filled with books! I like this definition from the librarianshipstudies website. “A library is a collection of sources of information and similar resources, made accessible to a defined community for reference or borrowing. It provides physical or digital access to material, and may be a physical building or room, or a virtual space, or both”. Think about libraries you have encountered in your past as we envision what the library is today and in the future. The pandemic closed most physical libraries! And today we will think about how libraries are no longer always brick and mortar. Many of you have probably heard of the library as the 3rd place. You need a HOME and a WORKPLACE and then….a hub for sharing stories and ideas! The library has for many years been a community hub.
• #4: Not just books! The Gutenberg Parentheses have closed! If you have not heard that term….think about how the Gutenberg press brought books to the masses around the year 1500 and for 500 years that format (the book!) was king of the information hierarchy. Here is a print from the Gutenberg bible around 1455. Now- centuries later- most content is “born digital” so that period has closed. Professor Lars Sauerberg coined that term- Gutenberg Parentheses. We no longer rely on printed materials and today…many people access the library on digital devices. We carry the library in our pockets! But—is the content in libraries…the information itself…all we really need? Or is the library as a place still relevant? I believe it is essential for us a human beings to come together in a shared space. We don’t learn in isolation (Vygotsky) but in collision with each other’s ideas.
• #5: The Internet changed life in many ways… and I love this quote “The Internet is the world’s largest library. It’s just that all the books are on the floor.” — John Allen Paulos   The information age brings information to our fingertips….we are drowning in it…. We don’t need more information- we need ways to seek wisdom together through collaboration, dialogue and critical thinking.
• #6: Can this be done virtually? Many have struggled during the pandemic. Many online spaces can feel empty and isolated. I have recently been intrigued by Dunbar’s number a theoretical limit to the number of people with whom any individual is able to sustain a stable or meaningful social relationship (usually considered to be roughly 150) (Robin Dunbar) Social media brings people together across the globe- but it creates many problems! We cannot have meaningful relationships with everyone around the globe! Most online learning platforms do not allow us to be in a real place together with a “sense of presence”. In fact, right here on ZOOM, I do not feel I am in a shared space with you! It is a great opportunity to share meaningful content but we are separated and “looking through” the screen windows.
• #7: Virtual Reality has potential for sharing virtual space together. I have been exploring VR for over a decade. Currently there are 2 types: VR headset and VR desktop. You can enter and view the simulated environment either in 1st person view (mouselook) or 3rd person view (where you can see your own avatar). Most VR headset environments are viewed in 1st person. VR Headsets are becoming available for mainstream as the cost comes down and there are many educators exploring them. I have done presentations in VR for the Educators in VR group in AltspaceVR, Virbela and other platforms. VR Desktop environments allow you to enter a virtual world without a headset but still feel fully immersed with the use of an avatar representing yourself. Young people growing up today are familiar with the use of avatars as they create in worlds like Minecraft. One can enter a virtual environment as a gaming character, but my presentation today focuses on using virtual environments as your authentic self- for education and for libraries. I created my avatar in 2006 (Valibrarian) as a professional identity to explore what a virtual library might be in the future. A library can still be a place- a community HUB…as you will hear…
• #8: Currently, the VR headset experiences I am encountering are what I call “disposable experiences”. “oooh look- there is a dolphin swimming above me!!” One can visualize just about anything in VR and then POP the experience is over and you don’t need to come back. VR Desktop (virtual worlds) are persistent placed in which you can build educational simulations that are dynamic and continuing when you return again and again. Anyone can build in virtual worlds like Second Life or Opensim as opposed to most VR worlds where you need to import 3D assets from outside applications such as Unity or Unreal Engine. There is a place for both VR headsets and VR desktop. But let’s get back to the LIBRARY! If the library needs to be a community hub- it must be more than a disposable simulation that “looks beautiful” It should be a place a persistent and dynamic space where we can meet together again and again to collaborate, have a dialogue and think critically.
• #9: The Community Virtual Library is just that! A real library in a virtual world. A place where learners and anyone interested can come ask a librarian for help or meet with others. CVL has been in Second Life since 2006 and has expanded to other virtual spaces. There are tons and tons of virtual environments! How can we choose? The goal of CVL is to help people navigate virtual learning spaces together. We have organized many resources to help librarians, educators and lifelong learners become better digital citizens. Our website is https://communityvirtuallibrary.org/
• #10: CVL continues our main branch in Second Life But let’s see other virtual environments that may impact libraries and education. Using the open source code of SL, other worlds are available such as Kitely, Avacon, and Opensim) and these worlds allow users to build all kinds of simulated places and experiences. One must download the client and a viewer to access the virtual world. Another option is WEB-BASED virtual worlds that require no download or viewer- such as Cybalounge or 3D webworlds. CVL has a space in these worlds, too. Recently, VR Headsets have made it possible for us to meet in 3D spaces both on a headset OR on a desktop. Wow- so many choices! It is difficult to keep up with them! I have found the best way to keep up with virtual environments is together. You cannot be everywhere! But you can be aware of these places and together we can explore best practices.
• #11: So why Second Life for a home base? You may have heard of it years ago and thought it was over! It is still alive and kicking and amazing! In fact, after 15 years of exploring virtual environments, there are none that provide more tools within the interface than you will find in SL (and the vw’s based on SL code). In addition to the ability to build just about anything- from disaster simulations, medical simulations, space travel, art, historical era replications and more- one can host conferences, tours, book discussions and innovative 3D experiences like the symbolic modeling of metaliteracy (a fascinating experience I am working on currently).
• #12: The Community Virtual Library projects in other worlds include a digital citizenship museum, a makerspace and an Antique Pattern Library in Kitely. We have a Hypergrid Resource Library in Kitely and in Avacon which helps people learn how to teleport or GRID HOP across various open source worlds. I might mention that it helps to create an avatar with the same name in any online environment so that you can develop a professional network and find each other in new worlds!
• #13: Every year, CVL participate at the Dickens Project in December with a simulation of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol and life in the Victorian era. While this takes place in Second Life, the research projects from past years are now available in a web-based world: 3dwebworldz.com. Another web-based world is called Cybalounge and CVL has a library there. These web-based worlds can be access on many digital devices and do not require downloading anything. VR on the web is becoming an option. For example FRAMEVR (created by Virbela) allows you to create a VR room on a webpage. Mine is https://framevr.io/valibrarian And I have placed information about changing literacy in digital culture in my VR room. If you come inside, you can interact with voice and text but we need to keep in mind the purpose of all of these environments. Some have limitations and sometimes the content could be better presented in a different format or virtual space.
• #14: The biggest advantage I have found in virtual worlds is the “sense of presence” which goes beyond ZOOM or online learning management platforms such as Canvas or Blackboard. Sure Skype, MS Teams and many other online tools provide great ways to collaborate…but without the sense of actually being together. Once you have become comfortable in a virtual world like Second Life or Kitely, the experiences feel as real as a physical world experience…in a different way than viewing each other on a camera.
• #15: And now for the headset VR! Personally, I can only wear my headset for about 45 minutes – an hour without feeling a bit uneasy. And I love roller coasters so it isn’t a motion sickness feeling! There is something about the headset that gets uncomfortable. CVL has a space in AltspaceVR and I have visited many VR platforms with colleagues. One of the best tools I have tried on a VR headset is Google Tilt Brush…you can actually enter your artwork in 3D. I was “inside” my painting and I set it on fire! https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxGMvD2LohEhTHREUExKMnROZEE/view?usp=sharing&resourcekey=0-oykrA7aPFuBRVsK_qO4EjQ Most of the VR experiences I have tried are the “disposable” ones and what my colleague Bethany Winslow calls “the WOW factor”. For education, I feel we need to be clear about our purpose in VR and more research is needed on what VR does to the human brain, especially the developing brains of young people before putting headsets in classrooms.
• #16: Librarians can be anywhere! And in virtual environments or online spaces, I encourage you to be authentic and professional. I chose my name Valibrarian to express my purpose and I try to create an avatar that is recognizable in each world. For example, I have a hat made of books! Just a “tip of the hat” to the traditions of libraries in the past! Most VR headset environments allow very little avatar customization. We all know that digital citizenship has become essential to learning and life. So, I believe our online identity is important and should be authentic.
• #17: So- libraries are not always physical today. But how can we navigate all these virtual environments! It seems impossible to keep up! That is because it is! Only together can we learn about all these spaces and CVL provides resources to help develop a professional learning community. Our website shares a Virtual Education Network showing educators, librarians and mentors in various worlds at certain times with “office hours” to help people navigate new worlds.
• #18: We have reference librarians on duty to help at CVL in Second Life at our main branch library, too. We have volunteer “friends of the library” and an event calendar. Our website shares exhibits that can be found in virtual worlds and collaborative new media projects such as a virtual music library and a podcast station.
• #19: The need to help educators learn best practices in virtual environments, especially during the Covid pandemic, led to the Virtual World Education Consortium. CVL hosts quarterly meetings in Second Life to help educators document progress and overcome obstacles teaching and learning (as well as providing library services) in virtual environments. The next meet of the VWEC will be July 7th WED at 9am PST. Information about the VWEC is on our website. We have a virtual world group in SL and a googlegroup called metaverselibraries (which works as an email listserv)
• #20: If you are interested in exploring virtual reality, the Community Virtual Library partners with SJSU School of Information (VCARA-Virtual Center for Archives and Records Administration) with monthly field trips. Each 3rd Friday of the month, we visit a virtual reality platform. We have been to Sansar, SineSpace, VR Chat, Engage, AltspaceVR, Mozilla Hubs and tons more. Librarians are in the forefront of new tech as we have always realized that information can come in numerous formats. We cannot possibly be active in all of these virtual platforms…but together we can be aware of them and match the virtual space to a specific purpose.
• #21: So—I have talked about both VR Headsets and VR Desktop. Which is best for a librarian? Currently, I put it this way… VR Headset spaces are primarily visual. Developers create the simulations and they may be beautiful high quality graphics but they must sacrifice the ability for users to create themselves and to personalize the environment. VR Desktop (virtual worlds like Second Life or 3rd Rock) have collaborative interaction as top priority. The users have all the tools at their fingertips but they must sacrifice the 360 immersion and high end graphics for those interactive tools. (Personally – I feel just as immersed in a virtual world and much more comfortable with the distance between my head and the screen)
• #22: For years I have shared this quote from T Scott Plutchak. He was talking about how the library and the librarian are not the same thing! The library can be a space- physical or virtual And the librarian can be anywhere! The librarian…as a person who is needed to help navigate information environments and resources… can be embedded anywhere. “It may be that the great age of libraries is waning, but I am here to tell you that the great age of librarians is just beginning. It’s up to you to decide if you want to be a part of it.” Note from way back in 2007- Plutchak, T. S. (2007). The Librarian: Fantastic Adventures in the Digital World. Serials, 20(2), 87-91.
• #23: My recent book “Metamodernism and Changing Literacy” gives more research on virtual environments for libraries and literacy With emphasis on “metaliteracy”- a term that focuses on our personal responsibility to become good digital citizens. While postmodernism tore down grand narratives, brought a plethora of dystopian fiction and gave us a lot of irony and cynicism…it has ended! What we call our current philosophical era is yet to be decided by consensus. Some say post-postmodernism… some suggest hypermodernism. I am among those who prefer the term metamodernism More on that topic another day- But I hope you all agree that libraries and literacy have changed! Librarians are needed everywhere- in virtual spaces across the metaverse.
• #24: My references share more on metaliteracy (Mackey and Jacobson) which is the term now adopted by the ALA Framework for Information Literacy. More information about metamodernism is found in my book and the work of Van Den Akker and colleagues. You can find me in virtual environments as Valibrarian. https://communityvirtuallibrary.org/ https://framevr.io/valibrarian http://valibrarian.net/ https://about.me/valibrarian