Intelligent libraries have been a hot topic in academia, and scholars have offered many insights into the future development of library intelligence. However, there has been little research on the concept and competency characteristics of intelligent librarians as an important driver of library intelligence, which is viewed as a new profession. Meanwhile, the emergence of metaverse has opened up new ideas and impetus for the development of library intelligence, while demanding the professional competence of intelligent librarians. Based on previous research, this chapter examines the evolution of metaverse, its application in libraries, and its advantages. It also discusses the requirements and training routes for intelligent librarians, as well as the concept of intelligent librarians in the context of metaverse. Intelligent libraries, in effect, create a new need for increased cooperation and collaboration between librarians and users. Each party must be aware of their respective roles, responsibilities, and privileges.
TopIntroduction
At the beginning of the 21st century, the concept of intelligent libraries was proposed by university libraries and initial practical experiments were carried out worldwide. Since then, with the development of smart cities and social informatization, countries have gradually carried out theoretical research and practical exploration of intelligent library construction (Awasthi, Ahuja, & Sharma, 2022). Since 2019, academic terms related to library development transformation and intelligent library construction have been selected as the top ten academic hotspots in the field of graphic archives for three consecutive years (Asemi, Ko, & Nowkarizi, 2021; Kwanya, Stilwell, & Underwood, 2012). In March 2021, the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and Vision 2035 first proposed to develop intelligent libraries and provide intelligent and convenient public services (Sanji, Behzadi, & Gomroki, 2022). Some scholars have called 2021 the year of intelligent libraries (Harisanty, Anna, Putri, Firdaus, & Noor Azizi, 2022). Over the years, librarianship researchers have thought deeply about the key issues surrounding the development of intelligence. While the existing research focus varies, it is generally accepted that intelligent librarians are the driving force behind library development and represent the core elements of intelligent libraries (Duncan, 2021).
The year 2021 is also known as the year of the metaverse. In March 2021, the first metaverse share, Roblox, was listed on the New York Stock Exchange, and the metaverse concept quickly became the focus of public attention (Noh, 2022), and librarianship and related fields began to focus on and study the service transformation and technology applications in the metaverse era (Njoku, Nwakanma, Amaizu, & Kim, 2022). As an emerging concept, metaverse is built on and gradually formed by technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, cloud computing, blockchain, 5G, and digital twin (Kesselman & Esquivel, 2022); it is a comprehensive application scenario formed by a new generation of information technology through different permutations and combinations, ultimately pointing to a virtual platform highly correlated and interoperable with reality (Tait & Pierson, 2022).
In general, metaverse is an emerging scientific concept and there is no clear definition that can clearly explain what metaverse actually means. The current mainstream definition considers the metaverse to be a collection of virtual space-time consisting of a series of virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), extended reality (XR), and the Internet. Through AR, VR, MR, XR, 5G, artificial intelligence and wearable hardware facilities, people can break the dimensional wall and create new universes and civilizations in the metaverse. The current public perception of the metaverse is to use various existing technological means to interconnect and create a new living space with a high degree of interoperability between reality and virtual, and to establish a sound social system. Strictly speaking, metaverse is not a technology but an artificial interactive space beyond the universe, which integrates XR, 3D, 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, blockchain, cloud computing, digital twin and other technologies to fuse reality with reality and integrate all resource platforms. Internet 3.0 era belongs to the era of metaverse, where users can be in the space they need anytime and anywhere, and feel the interaction between reality and virtual through.
At present, metaverse is in its infancy in terms of technology, content supply and user experience, and the research on metaverse is also in its initial stage. However, library services have been developed in the virtual world Second Life, which is the predecessor of metaverse. For example, McMaster University Library opened a space in Information Island in 2006 and established the world's first virtual library, and then the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University, and Harvard University also began to establish branches on the Second Life platform (Tait & Pierson, 2022), which laid the foundation for theoretical research and practical application of library intelligence services into the metaverse era. It lays the foundation for theoretical research and practical application for the library intelligent services to enter the metaverse era.