Virtual Reference

Virtual reference services have become a staple in many libraries, but these services reached a new level of importance when in-person reference shut down in response to COVID-19. This descriptive study aims to discover how health sciences librarians utilized virtual reference services in response to the pandemic. A survey was developed and distributed to health sciences librarians. The survey addressed the status of virtual reference services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as any changes that are seen as libraries reopen. Virtual reference shifted heavily to video conferencing during the pandemic both for librarians at home and those remaining onsite.

The article is devoted to the new form of reference service, so-called “the virtual reference service”. Its purpose is to provide the personalized information support to the remote users, without dependence on their site. Virtual reference service is constructed on a combination of opportunities of the automated search toolkit and professional skills of a bibliographer. Abroad the first virtual reference services have appeared in the middle of 1990th and now many foreign and Russian libraries have the specialized sections on the web-sites. In the Russian State Library the virtual reference desk has opened on April, 17, 2007. In spite of the fact that virtual help service of the Russian State Library has a small operational experience, it can be an example for successful realization of reference service on the basis of Internet technologies. It provides to the remote user efficiency, completeness and high quality of the information.

Objective - To investigate the types of questions students ask and the language they use in virtual reference. It is hoped that this examination will provide understanding of students’ needs and thus improve/enhance library services. Methods - Over 600 virtual reference transcripts were reviewed, analysed and categorised. This work was focused on three levels of analysis: broad categories based on the general type of question being asked, subcategories based on the specific question and the language that students used to ask their questions. Results - Students are primarily using the library’s virtual reference service for higher-level research assistance rather than using the tool to obtain quick answers to simple questions. The two most common types of questions involved staff providing detailed information or instruction on a topic. More specifically, the most frequently occurring type of question was related to finding journal articles on a given topic. Our analysis of the words students use to ask their questions confirmed that students and librarians often do not speak the same language. Conclusion - The results of our analysis of students’ needs and language can help us understand our users. This study demonstrated that our library can enhance services in five areas: online services, collections, relationships, staff skills, and the library as place.

The Internet is fast becoming the world's largest public li brary. Reference librarians are using Web resources rather than print to an swer many reference queries. This article provides an overview of topics relating to virtual reference services: search engines, subject directories, virtual reference desks, the invisible Web, electronic journal publishing, virtual reference services, and reference librarian skills.

Libraries endeavor to provide the same services to distance learners as they do on campus to students but they are challenged by not being able to show students how to maneuver in the virtual environment. Indiana State University used Adobe Connect software for three years to provide synchronous, virtual reference services that included screen-sharing capability to demonstrate search techniques. Assessments included analysis of attendance, types of questions, and student comments. Reminder e-mails sent directly to students positively affected attendance. Feedback was positive but technical problems were sometimes significant.

SUMMARY Electronic reference facilitates analyses not possible in face-to-face and telephone transactions. Texts of e-mail and chat reference sessions disambiguate issues of accuracy, interview discourse, and, to a lesser extent, patron satisfaction. Authentic transcripts are here advanced as superior instruments for study of AskA services, with significant applications also in better understanding other modes of reference. Clandestine questioning by colleagues, MLIS students, and researchers afflicts online reference services; it is argued here that unobtrusive study techniques useful in traditional settings are inappropriate for online reference, generating dubious data while undermining service quality. This paper examines how research affects the work of virtual reference librarians, and suggests appropriate means of assessing virtual reference services for scholarly as well as library management purposes.

Hundreds of librarians from around the world are exploring and volunteering their time in Second Life, evaluating the possibilities of offering a reference service in this environment. This article places virtual world reference service within the reference continuum and explores how a reference service could be offered by an academic institution in a virtual world, what additional skills are required for such a service, and whether there is a need for a virtual reference service.

This article provides an overview of the evolution of virtual reference services at the College of Charleston. E-mail reference has been in use since the mid-1990s. Chat using QuestionPoint began in 2003, and the college joined the 24/7 Chat Reference Academic Cooperative in 2005. Instant messaging reference started the following year, and text messaging reference commenced in 2007. In 2008, the library decided to end participation in the 24/7 Chat Reference Academic Cooperative and to cease using QuestionPoint's e-mail function. Emerging technologies will impact the ways and means of providing virtual reference in the future. This article will examine the rationale driving each development and the library's experiences providing service with the various platforms in the context of the greater world of virtual reference services.

This study seeks to explore and report international business students’ perceptions and expectations of electronic library services at the University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign. A total of 143 international business students on campus volunteered to fill out a survey. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics as well as inferential statistics such as t‐tests and correlation. A significant portion of international business students has no prior experience with electronic library services in their home countries. Moreover, about a half of international business students go to libraries other than the Business and Economics Library, partly because they provide better environment for study. Although electronic resources are available without the constraint of location, providing reference services for those who do not use the Business and Economics Library becomes a challenge. Virtual reference is an excellent tool, but most international business students do not see it as an important library service. Based on the results, implications for information literacy and virtual reference service are discussed.

One of the valuable offerings of librarians in the digital age is the human intermediation of information needs. In physical libraries, these reference questions are answered, and few artifacts remain from the transaction; therefore, the knowledge created through the work of the librarian leaves with the patron. Due to the medium of communication, digital reference transactions capture the knowledge of information professionals. There are hundreds of digital reference services generating knowledge every day; however, the lack of a schema for archiving reference transactions from multiple services makes it difficult to create a fielded, searchable knowledge base. The development of such a schema would allow researchers to develop tools that practitioners can employ. In turn, this would create a collaborative environment for digital reference evaluation. The goal of this work is to outline the steps needed to develop this schema, present the results of a survey of digital reference services, explore some of the pitfalls in the process, and envision the future uses of this Digital Reference Electronic Warehouse. The future, and some might even say the present, for the library professional is the digital library Instead of waiting for the user to come to their information containers in a physical collection, librarians select high-quality materials for users to access through the Internet. It is relatively easy to put a collection of static files online, however, the library is more than just a collection of documents. A crucial part of a library is the human intermediary--the librarian. This intermediary connects the users to the information needed and can assist with advice about using the information retrieval systems and working with information. However, many users turn to Web search tools for their information retrieval needs. While these tools provide the user with Web pages that match a word on the topic, the quality of the results is questionable. Most Web search tools are for-profit companies and bombard users with advertising. In addition, search-engine optimizers work to place commercial sites at the top of lists; this has resulted in many searches leading to page after page of commercial results. This commercial information is appropriate for some informationseeking needs, and this is an area where the Web search tools excel. However, the search for noncommercial information can be frustrating. This is an opportunity for libraries. There clearly is a need for intermediation with the location of material online. Users have turned to question-based search tools such as Ask.com with the hopes of finding such assistance; however, these tools perform no better than a general search tool. There is another type of Web search tool that can take a user's question and match it to a set of results that are likely to be on topic with little advertising and no direct charge--a digital reference service. In fact, those teaching about Web search tools should always take the opportunity to present a digital reference service as a Web search tool with built-in intelligence. Many libraries have started services where they allow users to submit questions via e-mail or Web forms. Librarians research the question and provide an answer and related documents to the user. Some libraries offer this service using a live-chat model, where the user is interacting with a librarian with little time elapsing between question and response. These services are usually free, although the user base may be limited to users who are affiliated with the library offering the services. Yahoo! has also entered this domain with Yahoo! Answers, which is a community-based reference service. Users earn points for good answers. Google ran a reference service for a few years called Google Answers, in which those asking questions set a payment for an answer, but Google shut this service down in 2006. Some digital reference services, commonly known as AskA services, connect the user directly to an expert in the field instead of to a librarian. …

From Being Cool to a Global Reference Network – Going Live: Starting and Running a Virtual Reference Service

The Relationship Between Cultural Diversity and User Needs in Virtual Reference Services

Introduction. Little is known about the quality of health information in social contexts or how socio-emotional factors impact users' evaluations of quality. We explored how librarians, nurses and users assessed the quality of health answers posted on Yahoo! Answers, focusing on socio-emotional reactions displayed, advice given to users and relationships between socio-emotional support, advice and evaluation criteria. Method. Forty evaluators from each of three groups (librarians, nurses and Yahoo! Answers users) evaluated ten health answers using an online tool. Participants answered open-ended questions asking for overall impressions, suggestions and advice for users and any other comments. Analysis. Responses were analysed qualitatively using an inductive open coding approach. Emergent codes were developed for evaluation criteria, emotional reactions and advice themes. Results. Criteria matched with previous research, but greater consideration was given to style, sources and subjectivity by participants in this research. Users value social and emotional support and are accepting of the subjectivity of social questioning-and-answering Websites, but librarians and nurses are less accepting. Conclusion. Both objective and subjective strategies have a place in the seeking, sharing and evaluation of information from social questioning-and-answering sites. Implications exist for design; virtual reference and other library services; and user, patron and patient education.

The research examines the effectiveness and adequacy of digital reference services provided by librarians in selected federal university libraries in Northern Nigeria. A descriptive survey design was adopted. The population comprised 394 librarians in the twenty (20) selected federal university libraries. The entire population was used as the number of librarians was small and manageable. The questionnaire was used for data collection. A total of 394 copies of the questionnaire were distributed, of which 305 were returned, representing a response rate of 77.4%. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The findings revealed that e-mail reference services were most widely provided for digital reference services, representing 195 (63.9%), with an overall effectiveness score of 3.17; that the most widely used ICT tool to interact with the users was WhatsApp groups, representing 178(58.4%), while the adequacy of the services was found with an overall mean of 3.07. The study concluded that although librarians in university libraries provide a variety of digital reference services as well as information and communication tools, the effectiveness and adequacy were confirmed by the analysis of the study, showing a generally favourable opinion of their effectiveness and impact. It was recommended that the management of the federal university libraries should provide more technological infrastructure for effective digital reference services to the users. Also, adequate information and communication technology platforms should be created for effective and efficient digital reference services.

The Virtual Reference Library (VRL) is a web‐based reference and research library produced by the Toronto Public Library, in the province of Ontario, Canada and is primarily aimed at people living in the province. The VRL has been created with funding support from the Ontario and Canadian governments, and partners and sponsors in the private sector. Production began in April 1998 and the first phase went live in May 1999. The focus of this paper is a description of the development and maintenance of the VRL.