Permission granted by McFarland

1
(No Transcript)
2
Permission granted by McFarland Company
3
Forms of Digital Reference
E-mail - user sends the library an e-mail with a
reference query, supplying whatever information
he or she feels is necessary. The library may
reply by e-mail, phone, fax, letter, etc.
Web forms - User fills out an online form on the
library's web site. The form asks the user to
answer clarifying questions that will help the
reference librarian responding to the query. The
user sends the completed form to the library by
clicking a button on the page labeled "send" or
"submit.The library may reply by e-mail,
phone, fax, letter, etc.
4
Chat Reference
User logs onto chat software linked to on the
library's web site. User types in opening query
or greeting to get the attention of the librarian
staffing the chat reference service. The user
and librarian may exchange a series of short
messages to get to the heart of the user's
request. This exchange of messages is live (it
takes place in real time) and allows for
negotiation of the user's query.
5
Web Contact Centers / Virtual Reference
Borrowing technology from online customer
service, web call center devised programs not
only provide chat software that allows the user
to interact in a live setting with the librarian,
but they also offer software giving the librarian
power to control the user's browser.
6
With Virtual Reference Software based on Web
Center Technologies
A librarian can actually make the user's browser
display a recommended web page, such as a
database (with a sample query already entered) or
the main page for the library's online catalog.
As the librarian pushes pages onto the user's
browser, the chat window
can also appear on both user and librarian's
screen, allowing the patron to be escorted by the
library to online resources while simultaneously
maintaining a typed conversation (reference
interview) about the materials and research
strategies being sent to the user.
7
Many of these software centered packages allow
the librarian to

• see what IP address the user is coming from
• see what browser the user has
• send a floating icon across the user's screen
  inviting them to chat
• push web pages that will open up a new browser
  window on the user's screen (including pages from
  proprietary databases if users are given remote
  access)
• send an online form to obtain more information
• transfer user to another librarian (perhaps one
  at a member library in a consortium, or a subject
  specialist

8
Some concerns that the software can help
librarians with are
Keeping an eye on the queue of user's waiting for
online assistance and the amount of time they
have been waiting (depending on your email client
you use for email ref this can be a
problem) Maintaining logs of transactions that
can be analyzed later to improve service (FAQs)
9
Key Decisions that go into building a virtual
reference service include

• Deciding on the software
• Developing an efficient staffing schedule
• Offering a tiered versus non-tiered service
• Setting up a system for keeping usage statistics

10
Other necessary steps include

• Establishing protocols (what to answer, when and
  how to refer, etc.)
• Creating a common ready reference collection
  for virtual reference librarians
• Creating back up plans and support
• Training all participants and offering
  cross-training
• Depending on your size and situation creating
  subject-based reference networks or collaborating
  with other services.

11
Pros of Virtual Reference

• 1. Provides immediate assistance for remote
  users.
• 2. Good for distance education students.
• 3. Since the patron is already online, he or
  she can attempt to implement the librarians
  instructions right away.
• 4. Better than email for conducting a
  reference interview.
• 5. Allows anonymity.
• 6. Many software packages defaults to email
  when a librarian is not available.
• 7. Raises awareness of the library among user
  community.

12
Frequently Heard Cons of Virtual Reference

• 1.Staffing the chat service without hiring
  additional personnel places greater demands upon
  already busy librarians. Staffing an additional
  service point /setting often encountering
  resistance.
• 2. Schedules for librarians become less
  flexible.
• 3. Different type of interactivity than
  in-person or phone reference (if patron has more
  than one telephone line).
• 4.Typing takes time.
• 5.Some patrons log off before librarian
  finishes answering the query.

13
Overall culture shift in reference

• What is different in the library and reference
• and what should that tell us? Cultural changes
  in the way users approach reference??
• New technologies are changing the services
• that libraries provide, for example
  online instruction desktop
  document delivery user-initiated
  library loan direct borrowing and
  self-checkout
• and yes perhaps online
  reference

14
Are we looking at the McDonaldization Reference?

• At least one librarian, Brian Quinn, used the
  arguments of George Ritzer to examine the shift
  to user-initiated library services as analogous
  to fast food, a cheapening or devaluing of what
  libraries provide, hence the phrase "the
  McDonaldization of libraries."
• Brian Quinn, The McDonalidization of
  Academic Libraries, College Research Libraries
  May 2000 V 61 No. 3 248-261

15
Or are we facing a situation of Evolution or
Entropy

• Myoung C. Wilson Evolution or Entropy?
  Changing Reference/ User Culture and the Future
  of Reference Librarians Reference and User
  Services Quarterly, Summer 2000 Vol 39, No 4
  387-390.

Largely depend on how we work with each other in
our libraries and reference teams to change and
or experiment with the way we look at the
possibilities of reference interview settings
16
Many thanks to Will Manley and McFarland
Company for their permission to use these
cartoons from The Truth About Reference
Librarians, 1996.
17
http//library.csun.edu/llampert/internetlib.html