Can a library be „next-gen”? Considerations on content provision and Library 4.0: virtual and augmented reality

Abstract

Technological changes in the 21st century do not avoid libraries or content provider services either. However, the current areas of content provision and traditional service areas are not using modern technology adequately yet. As the number of digital natives increases in libraries – both as users and as employees – the need for new types of services is growing. Mobile devices, virtual and augmented reality may provide an adequate alternative to meet this demand. They bring about not only quantitative but also qualitative changes to library services. The article seeks to demonstrate – at a theoretical level – the usefulness and importance of these technologies, and the potential inherent in them in several professional areas. Our goal is to start a dialogue on future libraries and content services, in which every participant in the digital world is getting increasingly involved.