Abstract:

[Purpose/Significance] With the accelerated convergence of artificial intelligence and the metaverse, smart library information services are undergoing a profound transformation from tool-oriented functional optimization toward holistic cognitive support. Traditional information retrieval and service models increasingly struggle to explain and support complex cognitive activities involving multi-agent collaboration, contextual awareness, and continuous knowledge construction. From the perspective of human-machine-environment collaborative cognition, this study aims to explore the paradigm shift of smart library information services in intelligent digital environments and to establish an integrated theoretical framework that coordinates technological systems, cognitive processes, and contextual factors, thereby providing a systematic theoretical foundation for service model innovation and capability enhancement in smart libraries. [Method/Process] This study first reviews the evolutionary trajectory of information search paradigms - from symbolic computation and semantic understanding to social perception - through systematic literature analysis. We proposed Ecological Search as an emerging paradigm. Drawing on distributed cognition, embodied cognition, and information ecology theories, a human-machine-environment cognitive symbiosis search architecture was constructed, driven by a dual core of social multi-agent communities and contextualized metaverse environments. The architecture operates through an inner-outer dual-loop mechanism consisting of environmental perception and intention emergence, federated retrieval and knowledge fusion, collaborative generation and narrative construction, and cognitive evolution and ecological calibration. Furthermore, an "interaction-knowledge-context" three-dimensional analytical model was developed to decompose key service capabilities and derive differentiated integration pathways under diverse service objectives. [Results/Conclusions] The study proposed three smart library information service models: interaction-enhanced integration, knowledge-reconstructive integration, and context-immersive integration, and clarified how a unified cognitive architecture can be flexibly configured for different user groups and service scenarios. The findings indicate that the ecological search paradigm transcends system-centered instrumental rationality and reconceptualizes information search as a human-machine-environment collaborative process supporting continuous cognitive construction. By integrating multi-agent systems and contextualized environments, this paradigm provides essential mechanisms for smart libraries to move beyond information provision toward advanced cognitive support. The study offers theoretical insights and practical implications for achieving an ecological transformation of smart library information services while balancing technological innovation and human-centered values.

Key words: ecological search, smart library, information service model, multi-agent system, metaverse