The Virtual Librarian: A Tale of Alternative Realities Review

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(More customer reviews)JACKET BLURBS
A delight to read. A fascinating journey where both the scientist and the mystic in us can feel at home. The reader is treated to a rich and colorful portrait of the leading edges of science, alternative realities and virtual internet worlds--territory we have yet to fully traverse.
-- Howard Zimmerman, Past President of the American Society for Psychical Research, former Executive Secretary of the Parapsychological Association and Senior Staffer to the U.S. Surgeon-General (1967-88).
The Virtual Librarian is a page-turner as well as an absorbing introduction to the mysteries of the virtual world that has come into existence thanks to the digital revolution. We follow the adventures of an engineer with a research problem to solve and a memorably crusty boss who demands scientific rigor and original thinking. As our intrepid investigator searches for answers, he winds up detouring into the frontier of mind experiments. The narrative, upheld by references to actual research, reveals that what we assume to be "reality" is not as solid as we might imagine, while what we designate as "virtual" may in fact be far more real--and certainly more influential--than we might expect.
--Gwyneth Cravens, popular novelist and author of Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy.
The Virtual Librarian startles us to see a near future where a digital being named Lib asks a human being, "Did you know that a recent [real-life] survey by the Center for the Digital Future found that 43 percent of net-users valued their virtual friends as much as they did their `solid-world friends?'" Expand your concept of a "real friend" and read Rockwell's astonishing book.
-- Bill Sweet, former President of Spindrift Research, and author of A Journey Into Prayer: Pioneers of Prayer in the Laboratory
In this creative volume, Ted Rockwell has combined the requisite pragmatics of human mastery of advanced information technologies with their relentlessly cascading diversity. This craftily enlivened tale explores the convoluted world of interactive mechanisms, where human ingenuity and imagination must confront the proverbial challenge that "where there is no vision, the people perish."
Robert Lee Chartrand, Senior Specialist in Information Policy & Technology for Congress and the White House, and Editor of Critical Issues in the Information Age
The "Virtual Librarian" presents unusual and startling ideas based on the author's own experience, that will interest all readers and invoke much thought. It reflects a clear understanding of the constantly evolving complex human mind and its ultimate destiny.
--John F. Brinster, Scientist, inventor, entrepreneur. Author of The Abduction and other books on science and religion.

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At forty-five, Keith Robertson finds himself in an exciting new job. As senior engineer on special assignment to InfoPower, he's sent to work at a virtual library. After just one day, he's bought into the buzz: here, you don't see the library ... you experience it.
Keith's success is closely tied to the new woman in his life. Lib, the virtual librarian, is a product of revolutionary software that makes her seem like a real person. As Lib interacts with people, her software evolves.
But as more individuals seek out Lib's help, she begins acting erratically. Keith researches the problem, and he learns that some people claim to be able to influence computers from afar by mental effort alone. He begins to wonder whether psychic saboteurs might be responsible for Lib's behavior.
Keith assembles five widely different professional psychics to test his theory. But the problem eludes them. The distinction between virtual and real blurs as Lib's complex and evolving software becomes inherently unpredictable. Keith struggles to gain control of Lib, fighting also to save his job and marriage. The story's sudden resolution is both surprising and satisfying.

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