Virtual Chaos: Reference Chat

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Virtual Chaos Reference Chat

• Kelly Broughton
• Carol A. Singer
• Bowling Green State University

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Todays Overview

• Brief History
• Staffing Concerns
• Communication Concerns
• Conclusion
• Questions

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Brief History

• Began May 2000 Human Click
• Link on Ask-A-Librarian web page
• Free
• Chat client only

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Human Click

• Added free (not for long) features
• Pushing web pages
• Scripted messages
• Wanted this and more

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Web-Based Call Center Software

• Received grant in December 2000
• Trained in February 2001
• Went live with LSSIs VRD in March 2001

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Implementation Problems

• Technical Problems
• Hardware
• Software
• Human Problems
• Staffing
• Communication

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Staffing Problems

• Hours
• Scheduling
• People
• Training
• Implications for other services

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Hours

• When should you staff the virtual reference
  service?
• Office hours?
• When the Reference Desk is open?
• After school ?
• After the library is closed?
• 24/7?

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Hours

• How long should the shifts be?
• Most chat reference services have 1 to 4 hour
  shifts
• If the chat reference is busy, the shifts should
  be short to keep librarians from burning out
• Weekday shifts might be a different length from
  nighttime or weekend shifts

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Hours

• Should there be a minimum number of shifts for
  each librarian?
• If youre not very busy you can lose your skills
• Practice makes perfect

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Scheduling

• Who makes the schedule?
• Can librarians specify the hours they want or
  dont want?
• How will you handle vacations, sick days, and
  emergencies?
• Will the librarians be at the reference desk, at
  home, or in the office?

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Staff in Offices Advantages

• Dont have the distraction of telephone and
  in-person library users
• Can concentrate on the chat reference
• More privacy

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Staff in OfficesDisadvantages

• People dropping in to the office may be a
  distraction
• Paper resources may not be nearby
• Creates yet another schedule to make and another
  commitment for the librarian
• Some people dont have offices

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Staff at Home Advantages

• Fewer work distractions
• Allows staffing when the library is closed
• Allows librarians to telecommute
• Convenient for part-time staff
• Might allow a person who is homebound to work

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Staff at Home Disadvantages

• Paper resources arent available
• Staff oversight is more difficult
• There are distractions at home
• Telecommuters may not know the library staff or
  collections adequately for referrals
• Many people dont have a high-speed connection at
  home

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Staff at Reference Desk Advantages

• You dont need a separate schedule
• Paper resources are easily available
• It advertises the chat reference service because
  library users see the librarian answering
  questions online

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Staff at Reference Desk Disadvantages

• Too many distractions
• Can be confusing for the librarian
• May shortchange both in-person and chat library
  users
• Not as appropriate when chat is busy
• Little or no privacy

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People

• Should you staff with librarians,
  paraprofessionals, or students?
• Do you staff the Reference Desk only with
  librarians?
• Do you use paraprofessionals or students at the
  Reference Desk?

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People

• Should participation be voluntary or mandatory?
• If you regard this as an integral part of your
  reference service, it should be mandatory
• If it is only a fringe service, you may make it
  voluntary

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People

• How should you use subject specialists?
• Pricing structure favors generalists (you pay by
  the number of librarians on line at the same
  time)
• Use referrals to specialists
• Specialists may have difficulty maintaining
  technical skills

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Training

• How much training is necessary at the beginning?
• How much continuing training will be necessary?
• Who will conduct the training?
• Will attendance at training be mandatory?

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Implications for Other Services

• Will you need fewer or more librarians at the
  Reference Desk?
• What wont you do that youre currently doing?

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Communications Lessons Learned

• Learning to chat
• Communicating in a new environment
• Does it work for reference?
• Making adjustments

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Learning to Chat

• Started slow
• Summer semester
• Not a lot of advertising
• Learned from patrons student employees

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Learning Their Language

• Capitalization Punctuation
• They dont use it!
• Multiple, brief messages
• O.K. to send incomplete thoughts
• Their comfort levels
• They may be o.k. with some waiting
• Theyll say anything

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Can it Work?

• Does is work for reference?
• Ready reference works great
• Can you teach anything?
• Speech and ears are so much faster than fingers
  and eyes
• Scripted messages help
• Little bits at a time

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Can it Work?

• Is it over?
• Can be extremely difficult to determine
• Invite them back for their next question

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Can it Work?

• Has real potential for those patrons that have
  difficulties communicating orally
• Hearing impaired
• Non-native speakers of English

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Definitely

• Chat teach in small pieces at a time
• Tell them to come back with their next question
• Encourage them to visit in person

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Conclusions

• This isnt a perfect solution
• There are problems that must be resolved
• Chat reference is worthwhile because it provides
  an additional way of helping our students,
  faculty and staff

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Your students are online

• Are you?

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• Kelly Broughton
• Reference Services Coordinator
• kmoore_at_bgnet.bgsu.edu
• Carol A. Singer
• Reference Librarian
• singerc_at_bgnet.bgsu.edu