Virtual Worlds Interest Group

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Charge: An opportunity for academic librarians with virtual world interests and responsibilities to have a place in ACRL to network, share information, ask questions, and work on special projects and programs relevant to academic libraries.
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  • 1.  Changing group name to include VIRTUAL REALITY? What say you?

    Posted Feb 02, 2021 01:30 PM
    Our ACRL Virtual World Interest is considering a name change to reflect the growing interest in VR.  We believe virtual worlds ARE part of virtual reality-- simply on a desktop rather than a headset.  Our group explores both headset VR and desktop VR as well as augmented reality.

    Potential Names for our interest group:

    ACRL Virtual Reality Interest Group (ACRL VRIG) - This would include all immersive virtual environments whether desktop, mobile or headset.

    ACRL Extended Reality Interest Group (ACRL XRIG) - The term XR is gaining in usage and includes AR (augmented reality), VR, as well as mixed reality.  

    We welcome your feedback on this name change!  Will people be familiar enough with the term XR? Or is VR a better "umbrella term" for multiple realities?

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    Valerie Hill
    Director
    Community Virtual Library
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  • 2.  RE: Changing group name to include VIRTUAL REALITY? What say you?

    Posted Feb 02, 2021 05:01 PM
    Edited by System Sep 01, 2022 03:10 PM
    I vote for VRIG.

    • Reason 1: VR is more widely known than XR. XR also has multiple meanings and could get confusing: Cross Reality, Extended Reality, and X Reality (in which X is just a variable encompassing Virtual, Mixed, Augmented, etc.)

    • Reason 2: VRIG is already bordering on too broad. XRIG would make that worse. The risk is acceptable with VRIG because it will make us easier to find, bringing in more participation and exposing more folks to virtual worlds while also expanding our knowledge and understanding of how educators/librarians are using VR outside of virtual worlds. XRIG may make us harder to find, which defeats the purpose of changing our name and only adds to the issue of over-broadening our goals.
      • By renaming the group to VRIG, we invite the issue of "VR as classroom" (distance learning using virtual spaces as the classroom) vs. "VR in classroom" (purchasing headsets for a class and taking virtual fields trips/doing virtual activities while together in the same physical classroom), which are polar philosophies on how VR should be used in education. It is uncommon for an educator/librarian to be interested in both uses. By changing the name to VRIG, we are welcoming a whole new group of librarians/educators who hold different views and goals.
      • Unfortunately, XRIG would split the group even further, which would take more resources from our main goal as virtual world librarians and educators (using VR as classroom).

    • Reason 3: Virtual worlds primarily exist in VR environments. Virtual world communities can use AR and MR as a tool the same as we can use Google docs or Zoom. But the communities do not exist in AR or MR the same way they exist in desktop and headset virtual reality environments. 
      • Our Current Charge: The Virtual Worlds Interest Group provides an opportunity for academic librarians with virtual world interests and responsibilities to have a place in ACRL to network, share information, ask questions, and work on special projects and programs relevant to academic libraries. The Interest Group also works to promote the various uses of virtual environments to potential and current academic librarians and to improve information literacy specifically in virtual worlds. The ACRL VWIG sponsors events, programs and meetings held mainly within the virtual world of Second Life and explores other developing Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality environments. 

    • Reason 4: Our current Charge statement states that we explore developing Augmented Reality environments, but I'm not sure that's true. You can't really explore an AR environment because Reality (the physical world) is the environment, and augmented reality only augments your physical environment in some way. So you can have an AR exhibit that students can interact with (museum pieces appearing as if they're on a shelf in your dorm room), but they can't build a virtual community and host meetings (you can't use it as a virtual world; not yet anyway--maybe someday!!)

    • Reason 5: AR, MR, etc. are not as available to educators and librarians yet. MR is still in its infancy, and AR is being used primarily for mobile gaming and one-off exhibits. More advanced deployments for education in AR and MR are more rare than VR headsets (and that's saying something!).

    • Reason 6: We can be called the VRIG and still take interest in AR, MR, etc. But I don't think they should be our primary interests. And if they're not our main focus, we don't need to fret about including them in the name.

    • Reason 7: If we purposely include AR, MR, and anything else that might fit under the umbrella of XR, we'll need folks interested in exploring, conducting research on, and hosting programs in those media. The current interest group leaders do not have the resources to do this. Our primary focus is virtual worlds, and we keep this group going (which is hard work!) primarily to maintain a connection between ALA/ACRL and virtual worlds. It may be easier to find someone interested in maintaining a separate discussion group for XR, which takes much less commitment.

    Considering all of the above, I propose we create a discussion group on the topic of AR and MR separate from the VRIG. (The VRIG can definitely participate in or even run that group though to help us keep up to speed and decide how new advancements will impact our interest group.) Based on Val's rework of the charge to include VR, the new Charge might look something like:
    • Charge: The Virtual Reality Interest Group (VRIG) provides an opportunity for academic librarians with interests in social virtual environments (such as virtual worlds) to have a place in ACRL to network, share information, ask questions, and work on special projects and programs relevant to academic libraries and education. The Interest Group works to promote uses of headset and desktop VR to potential and current academic librarians and to improve information literacy specifically in virtual spaces. The ACRL VRIG sponsors events, programs, field trips, meetings and workshops held mainly within the virtual world of Second Life. We also consider VR-adjacent tools including mixed reality (MR) and augmented reality (AR). For a broader discussion on XR (Extended Reality, including AR and MR), join our discussion group (XRDG).
    • Alternative: If we don't create a separate discussion group, we could just lop off that last line. Or if we cannot plug the discussion group in the charge, we'll just leave it off and advertise it elsewhere.

    ------------------------------
    Alyse Dunavant-Jones
    Assistant Director
    Community Virtual Library
    She/Her/Hers
    ------------------------------

    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Changing group name to include VIRTUAL REALITY? What say you?

    Posted Feb 02, 2021 09:13 PM
    Hi, Val, et al! 
       I'm probably an exception, but I've never heard of "Extended Reality," so to me, "Virtual Reality" sounds better. Maybe others disagree, though.
        Esther

    Esther Grassian, MLS
    Lecturer (UCLA, Information Studies Dept.)
    Adjunct Librarian (Pierce College)
    Information Literacy Consultant & Lecturer
    Distinguished Librarian (UCLA), Emerita
    estherg@ucla.edu
    esthergrassian@gmail.com 



    Original Message