We conducted basic research on software agents that can live in virtual environments and which can help users find resource materials from large libraries, such as the UC system library or the Library of Congress. We videotaped and analyzed the interactions between research librarians and students searching for materials, and explored different resources which will facilitate better interviews and more effective use of electronic catalogs.

We analyzed videos of reference librarians assisting research students in order to construct an intelligent librarian avatar for VRML library worlds. Our virtual library contains stacks that can be browsed, and books that can be picked up, and examined. Users have access to library catalogs throughout the world and the job of the virtual librarian is to interactively advise the user on how to find relevant sources.