The Virtual World

The Virtual World is here to stay and therefore libraries have to become apart of that world in order to continue serving their patrons in an efficient manner. The virtual world allow libraries to reach their patrons on a larger scale. Technology has made it easier to communicate with persons half way across the world with the just the click of a mouse. This capability alone will expand the range of communities libraries serve. Libraries and librarians alike should not fear to enter into the virtual  world. The innovative nature of the library itself inhabits what defines technology. Libraries can use its tools to expand and improve the services they provide to their community. Libraries and technology are not at opposite ends of the spectrum as some might think, rather they go hand in hand. Technology can only make libraries better institutions if used correctly. According to Tom Peters, author of "Dispatches from the Field: Embracing Virtual Worlds, " Virtual worlds have the capacity and the promise to put the ecstatic knowledge experience that we all know and love through books back into a three-dimensional virtual environment." (Peters, 2008) In other words, libraries should jump into this  increasing technological world. The capabilities of technology can only aid librarians. Technology can reintroduce patrons to the excitement they first felt when walking into library. Librarians now have the ability to redesign the function and usability of the library for its patrons. 

Peters, T. (2008). Dispatches from the Field: Embracing Virtual Worlds. American Libraries, 39(11), 33-33. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.queens.ezproxy.cuny.edu:2048/stable/25650155