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Reference Service in Computer Age

Reference Service in Computer Age. Dr. Muhammad Sajid Mirza IIUI. Virtual Reference Service: An Overview. Diana Chan The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library. 2005 Library Conference: Balancing the External and Traditional Libraries at Tamkang University, Taiwan

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Reference Service in Computer Age

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  1. Reference Service in Computer Age Dr. Muhammad Sajid Mirza IIUI

  2. Virtual Reference Service: An Overview Diana Chan The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Library 2005 Library Conference: Balancing the External and Traditional Libraries at Tamkang University, Taiwan Online Information and Education Conference, Thailand Library and Online Resources Technologies – 2005 Xiamen Conference At Xiamen University, PRC

  3. 1. Trends in Reference Service Anne Lipow- “Early signposts pointing the wrong way” • Decreased circulation statistics • Fewer walk-in users • Staff can’t keep up • Reference desk eliminated • Outsourcing on the rise • Reduced Reference service hours • Search engines: automated reference librarian • Need for large building and staff not clear Anne Grodzins Lipow, “Thinking out loud: Who will give reference service in the digital environment?” RQ37(2) (Winter 1999), pp. 125-9.

  4. 2. Impact of the Internet • In 2002: • 73% of college students said they use the Internet more than the library • Only 9% said they use the library more than the Internet for information searching. The Pew Internet & American Life Project. (September 15, 2002). http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/OCT02_Issue/article03.html (accessed September 8, 2005)

  5. 2. Impact of Internet • “In the digital age, the biggest change is increased user expectations. Increasingly, user expect to be able to find everything online, full-text.” (1998) • “Now both reference staff and patrons believe that an answer to almost every question can be found if the right combination of resources and search strategies is chosen from the multitude of Web resources and online services accessible.” (2002) • Carol Tenopir and Lisa Ennis

  6. 3. What is Virtual Reference Service (VRS)? • Internet-based Reference Service • Asking a question online • Live online reference service • Virtual, digital, live, interactive, real time, web-based, synchronous • “Using computer and communications technology to provide reference service to patrons anytime and anywhere” - OCLC’s Question Point (QP)

  7. Pros Immediate assistance for remote users Real time VRS is better than email for conducting reference interview Remains anonymous Awareness of the library among the user community Cons Additional staff Less flexible schedule Lack subject expertise Less interactive Typing is slow Some logoff before you finish answering Slow communications Pros and Cons of VRS

  8. 4. Developments in VRS Asynchronous digital reference • Patron submits a question and the librarian responds at a later time Example: Email, Web Form. Synchronous digital reference • Patron and librarian communicate in real time. Example: Chat, Voice over IP, Video Conferencing, SMS, IM.

  9. More VRS Developments • Email & Web Form • Reference Kiosks • Instant Messaging & Short Message Service • Video Conferencing • Voice over IP • Online Chat • Collaborative Reference Services • Commercial Services

  10. a. Email and Web Form • Describe the services offered • Types of questions it handles, or does not handle • Frequency the mailbox is checked • Response time • Confidentiality • Priorities • How statistics are kept and how service is evaluated

  11. b. Reference Kiosks National Library Board, Singapore Place Cybrarian Kiosks in the library so that users can ask librarians wherever they are in the library

  12. c. Instant Messaging (IM) • Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time • Popular IM services: • MSN Messenger • AOL Instant Messenger • Yahoo! Messenger • Google Talk, • .NET Messenger Service • ICQ • IM Clients supporting many protocols: • Gaim • Trillian • Jabber

  13. DukeRef Temple University

  14. c. Short Message Service (SMS) • A service available on most digital mobile phones • Permits people to send short messages between • Mobile phones • Other handheld devices • Landline telephones

  15. Curtin University’s SMS

  16. Curtin University’s SMS Users Curtin students and staff with a text-enabled mobile phone Scope 1 SMS equals 160 characters Cost 25 cents (Aus$) per message to Curtin Library service (standard rate for SMS sent to anyone) Report on findings: • 200+ queries in 6 months • 87% received during library opening hours • 71% were explanatory type of reference questions • Patron feedback: • Easy to use (4.2 out of 5) • 100% of clients did not have any problems • 92% claimed they would use it again.

  17. d. Video Conferencing UC Irvine Science Library (1997): • Provided the service to medical students who are working in a computer lab, one hour a day, mostly on Medline searching • Apple VideoPhone Kit (software, camera, microphone, color conferencing capability, Internet, Timbuktu Program) • Audio, video, chat window, whiteboard • Students’ comments : • Excited about this high-tech • Wanted document delivery of full-text articles

  18. Video Conferencing Software A combination of chat software, audio and video applications 2 kinds of software • Software for writing classes • Software for businesses to hold conferences Examples: • Daedalus • GroupWise • Web Publisher • Norton Connect Net • Microsoft NetShow • Microsoft NetMeeting • Reilly WebBoard

  19. Microsoft NetMeeting

  20. e. Voice over IP Since 2003 IM services have voice components • MSN Messenger, AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger Provides free or low-cost talk on internet Negative - call other Internet users using the same software program Positive - make calls to land and cellular-based phones for a modest fee New programs • Skype, Google Talk

  21. Skype • Allows people to talk and IM for free using PC-to-PC connections • Connections require someone else to have Skype software. • Users are identified through names instead of numbers • Skypers use headsets and microphones attached to the computers • Soon to offer video and other communication services

  22. Google Talk

  23. f. Online Chat Web contact center software and web collaboration software: • Page pushing • Co-browsing • Escorting to various sites • Question queuing and routing • Transcripts of each session • An archive of Q&As

  24. Chat Service Agents and Vendors Multiple online agents • Cisco • Lucent • eGain • Netagent • LivePerson • HumanClick • WebAgent • Webline • Software vendors • 24/7 Reference • DOCUTEK Information Systems Inc. • Questionpoint • LivePerson • LSSI Library Systems & Services

  25. Prairie Area Library System Librarian Live Thomas Ford Memorial Library

  26. g. Collaborative Reference Service • Extend hours of coverage of participants to 24/7 • Cooperation and collaboration, informal or network arrangement

  27. Examples of Collaborative Reference Service • LC/OCLC QuestionPoint (QP) • People’s Network • LSSI VRD • 24/7 Reference • Convey Systems • Docutek • Calis Distributed Collaborative Virtual Reference System (CVRS) - China

  28. NCknows: the State Library of North Carolina's Virtual Reference project staffed by librarians from throughout N Carolina

  29. Number of Collaborative Reference Services In North America: • 1,730 libraries in 62 collaborative services (as of Jan 2004) • 3,000 - 4,000 libraries using chat software

  30. h. Commercial Service • Information Please • Know’Post • Experts Exchange • Inforstry • Webhelp.com • Questia • Ask.yahoo.com/ask/most • LC’s Ask a Librarian • Virtual Reference Desk • Search engine • AskJeeves • Ask yahoo • Expert systems: • Allexperts.com • Google answers • AskMeNow

  31. Google Answer • Beta version, Apr 2002 • 500 freelance researchers • Costs US$0.5 to list a Q • $2-200 for an answer • 1 day turnaround • User may rate the answer • User may reject the answer and request a full refund • 25% of the fee to Google • The service provides an FAQ, a database of Q&A.

  32. AskMeNow • A commercial VRS • 100 answer agents • Free for basic Qs, • US$0.49 for AskAnything • Beta test with 10,000 users • Sign-up with cell phone (N. American wireless carrier) • Call AskMeNow phone number with the cell phone • Ask the Q • Answer is text-messaged to your cell phone within minutes

  33. Quote about VRS “Be brave, be bold, be thoughtful and if you build it, they will come.” - Diane Kresh, Library of Congress

  34. References 1. Academic Library Statistics (2004). Association of College and Research Libraries, available at http:www.ala.org/ala/acrlbucket/staticticssummaries/2004abcde/B17.pdf (accessed September 1, 2005.) 2. ARL Statistics 2003-04. (2005). Association of Research Libraries, available at http://www.arl.org/stats/arlstat/graphs/2004/pubser04.pdf (accessed August 25, 2005.) 3. Broughton. Kelly M. (2002/03) “Usage and user analysis of a real-time digital reference service.” The Reference Librarian, No.79/80, pp. 183-200 4. Coffman, Steve. (2004) “To chat or not to chat – taking yet another look at virtual reference, Part 1. Infotoday, Vol. 12 No. 7, July/August, available at http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/jul04/arret_coffman.shml (accessed June 17, 2004) 5. Coffman, Steve. (2004) “To chat or not to chat – taking yet another look at virtual reference, Part 2 . Infotoday, Vol. 12 No. 8, September, available at http://www.infotoday.com/searcher/sep04/arret_coffman.shml (accessed June 17, 2004) 6. Foley, Marianne. (2002) “Instant messaging reference in an academic library: a case study” College & Research Libraries, pp.36-45. 7. Giles, Nicola and Grey-Smith, Sue. (2005) “TXTing librarians @ Curtin” Information Online 2005, available at http://conferences.alia.org.au/online2005/papers/a12.pdf (accessed September 2, 2005.) 8. Guidelines for Implementing and Maintaining Virtual Reference Services. (2005). American Library Association, available athttp://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/referenceguide/virtrefguidelines.htm (accessed September 2, 2005) 9. Hyman, Karen and Brombert, Peter. (2003) "I'm just ecstatic about the whole darn thing!: Customer feedback and lessons learned at QandA NJ, New Jersey's 24/7 Live Virtual Reference Service.“ available at http://www.vrd2003.org/proceedings/index.cfm#Evaluation (accessed September 10, 2005.)

  35. References 10. Internet Usage statistics, the big picture. (2005) Miniwatts International, Ltd., available at http://internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (accessed August 25, 2005.) 11. Katz, Bill. (2002/03) “Digital Reference: an overview” The Reference Librarian, No.79/80, pp. 1-17 12. Kennney, Anne R. et.al. (2003) "Google meets eBay: what academic librarians can learn from alternative information providers" D-Lib Magazine June Vol.9 No.6 pp.1-16 13. Kresh, Diane. (2002/03) "Virtually yours: thoughts on where we have been and where we are going with virtual reference services in libraries" The Reference Librarian No.79/80, pp.19-34. 14. Kyrillidou, Martha. (2000) “Research Library Trends: ARL Statistics” Journal of Academic Librarianship Vol. 26, November pp. 427-36 15. Lessick, Susan. Kjaer, Kathryn and Clancy, Steve. (1997) “Interactive Reference Service at UC Irvine: expanding reference service beyond the reference desk” available at http:www.ala.org/acrlbucket/nashville1997pap/lessickkjaer.htm (accessed September 2, 2005.) 16. Lipow, Ann G.(1999) “Thinking out loud: Who will give reference service in the digital environment?” RQ Vol. 37 No.2 Winter, pp. 125-9. 17. Meola, Marc and Stormont, Sam. (1999)"Real-time reference service for the remote user" The Reference Librarian, No. 67/78, pp.29-40 18. Moeller, Sherry E. (2003) “Ask-a-librarian: an analysis of an email reference service at a large academic library” Internet Reference Services Quarterly Vol. 8 No.3, pp. 47-61

  36. References 19. Schmidt, Aaron and Stephens, Aaron. (2005) "IM me" Library Journal April 1, pp.34-35 20. Stephens, Brad. (2004) “Is the voice over IP finally ready to be the next big thing?” Library Administrator’s Digest. September, Vol. 39 No. 7, p. 51. 21. Stoffel, Bruce and Tucher, Toni. (2004)“Email and chat reference: assessing patron satisfaction” Reference Services Review Vol.32 No.2, pp. 120-140 22. Tenopir, Carol. and Ennis, Lisa. (2002). “A decade of digital reference 1991-2001” Reference & User Services Quarterly. September Vol. 41 No.3, pp. 264-273 23. White, Marilyn D (2001). “Diffusion of an innovation: digital reference service in Carnegie Foundation Master’s Academic Institution Libraries.” The Journal of Academic Librarianship, Vol. 27 No. 3, May, pp. 173-187

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