Monday January 29, 2007

Immersive Learning Environments Librarian

An interesting follow-up to Scott's last two questions ("what are the ramifications for us as librarians in creating learning
spaces, both virtual and real, that will enable focused attention for
learning, not merely disperse it further; and 2) how does one gain
attention for collections in an increasingly (and wonder of wonders
this is not a contradiction) diasporic and dense information space?").

I read on a 'gaming in libraries' listserve this afternoon that McMaster University is now hiring for an "Immersive Learning Environments Librarian" who will, among other things, "steward the creative development, implementation, and evaluation of immersive learning environments for the campus community."  One of the goals of this position is to increase awareness of the library's learning resources. That would be one approach to gaining attention for collections. Its not clear to me whether 'Reference and Instruction Librarians' are some of the other learning resources this new position will try to introduce to faculty and students, though.

Scott, I wonder if immersion in a virtual world makes all these streams of information seem somehow more manageable?