Virtual reference services . . . what, why and how? a report on a teleconfernce

Citation

Riggs, C. (2002), "Virtual reference services . . . what, why and how? a report on a teleconfernce", Library Hi Tech News, Vol. 19 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/lhtn.2002.23919dac.002

Virtual reference services . . . what, why and how? a report on a teleconfernce

Colby Riggs

The College of DuPage, Information Technology, Office of Special Services, offered two national satellite tele-conferences on virtual reference services on Friday, February 8, 2002 and Friday, April 19, 2002 from noon to 2:00 p.m. (ET). The two programs were designed to clarify the differences between traditional and virtual reference services and also to analyze the organizational impacts of virtual reference services. The speakers analyzed what worked, pitfalls to be avoided, new skills required and changes needed within the library organization to make virtual reference services work well. The following is a brief summary of the first program in the series that was held on February 8, 2002.

The program gave an overview of the variety of virtual reference services currently available and the future directions of the services. The speakers detailed changes such services have already made in the library community and explored how such creative work can be an effective agent of change.

The distinguished panel of the first session in the series was:

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  Richard M. Dougherty, the series host and past Director of the University of Michigan Library and also the University of California at Berkley Library. Currently, he is on the Board of Trustees of the Ann Arbor Public Library and is President of Dougherty and Associates.

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  Paul J. Constantine, the Head of the Reference Services Division of the Olin-Kroch-Uris Libraries of Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.

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  Anne Grodzins-Lipow, the founder and director of Library Solutions Institute and Press.

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  Steve Coffman, the Manager of Product Development at Library Systems and Services, Germantown, Maryland.

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  Bernie Sloan, the Project Consultant for "Ready for Reference" at the Alliance Library System. He is also the Senior Library Information Systems Consultant at the University Office for Planning & Budgeting at the University of Illinois.

The program opened with a discussion of the changing nature of our patrons' information seeking behaviors and the emergence of digital libraries. The main point stressed that our patrons are increasingly on the Net and are now accustomed to getting what they need when they want it. In addition, although digital libraries have removed the elements of time and space, our users still need help with information resources. When libraries offer a virtual reference service, they are opening a whole new dimension and meaning to the term reference service, by meeting the patrons' information needs when needed in cyberspace.

The panelists clarified the meanings of the terms used to describe this service, digital reference or virtual reference, to avoid misunderstandings. The panelists agreed that the term digital reference should be used to describe the entire world of electronic reference. On the other hand, the term virtual reference should be used to describe a subset of digital reference to depict any service that occurs in real time, such as videoconferencing. The panelists observed that the terms are frequently used interchangeability in the community. The panelists emphasized that we need to avoid using library jargon to illustrate the service; whatever term is used, our patrons need to know immediately what the term means. The main goal is to perform the service as well online as in person, or to perform even better because of the capabilities of the technology.

Paul Constantine gave a brief overview of the short history of digital reference services. The history is considered short since the early adopters of the service started only two years ago. The services first began when librarians started providing e-mail reference to patrons. As a result of the growth of the World Wide Web, librarians next developed more online tutorials to show patrons how to utilize digital resources effectively. The development of customer service software tools, which operated via the Web, further expanded the depth of the services. These customer service tools, which were used generally in e-commerce, expanded the e-mail services by providing real time chat and by pushing Web pages to the client/patron Web browser screen. Constantine gave as a good example the Library of Congress' digital reference project. This project uses the LSSI customer service software over the Web to provide world-wide subject expertise and takes advantage of time differences across the globe. Constantine stated that the next set of tools in the future of digital reference will be video conferencing, providing face to face communication.

Bernie Sloan gave a demonstration of the digital reference software used in the Alliance Library System in Illinois. The LSSI software suite was used to provide digital reference service via the Internet. He walked the audience through a typical reference exchange using a chat window to communicate and the Web browser to display search strategies and results.

After the demonstration, the panelists discussed the reality that reference services in general are driven by the strong core values held by librarians. It is these core values, such as striving to provide quality and accurate information and insuring patron privacy, that help us achieve success in new ventures such as digital reference. Anne Lipow stated that perhaps with digital reference services we could achieve these core values in a better way since the technology protects privacy and offers very personalized services. There was some discussion about the possible negative impacts of digital reference. One such negative impact could be the loss of control over the interview process in a digital reference interview causing the interview process to be lengthier. Another impact was that the digital reference service could undermine the sense of the library as a place on campus since the numbers of patrons coming into the library and the reference desk naturally will decrease.

The subject of the traditional reference desk was discussed next. The panelists agreed that the model of the traditional reference desk was not a good method for providing reference service. It was stated that the model is too passive since the librarian generally waits for a patron to approach the reference desk to ask a question. It was also observed that when a question is asked the question might not be appropriate for the level of expertise of the librarian, therefore making the transaction more costly since the question could be answered without an expert's knowledge. Although they agreed that the model of a librarian at a reference desk was not the most efficient, it must be recognized that we still have a lot of paper material and that the reference desk model will remain in the near future.

There were some interesting questions from the audience. The audience members were librarians in the studio and participants calling an 800-telephone number to submit questions. The following are some of the highlights of the questions and answers:

1. 1.

   What is the relationship of digital reference service to paper materials in the collection?

2. 2.

   Steve Coffman described a library that installed scanners next to the workstation at the reference desk so the librarian could scan and send the relevant information to the patron.

3. 3.

   What about the broader definition of reference? Reference is not only giving answers to questions but also is about teaching patrons strategies to find information.

4. 4.

   Reference and teaching are not mutually exclusive. Most of the software used in digital reference services has the capability of co-browsing. This feature allows the librarian to co-browse with the patron by pushing pages to the patron's browser with the explanations in the chat window. Some of the software suites have meeting functions so the librarian can instruct any number of patrons at once.

Paul Constantine spoke about the issues to consider before embarking on the implementation of the digital reference service. Some of the administrative issues include:

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  Staffing. Defining the appropriate level of staff to provide the service. Should all the reference staff participate or just subject specialists?

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  Physical layout of service. Is there a need to be close to the printed reference collection? Will the service be located at the reference desk or at a separate virtual reference location? Is a high-speed connection needed? What are the hardware requirements? Will the staff be able to provide the service from home and will the library provide the workstation?

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  Service hours. When will you provide the service? Will you start with limited hours? Is providing the service on a 24/7 basis a viable reality?

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  Staff training. How will the staff negotiate a question when there are no visual queues? Since the service relies on chats, is the staff fast and accurate at keyboarding?

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  Evaluation. Will evaluation include unobtrusive testing and regular review of transaction logs?

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  Legal issues. How will you reassure your patrons that their privacy is insured? What are the copyright and licensing issues to provide the service to remote users?

Steve Coffman addressed the issues of funding and supporting a digital reference service. He has observed that libraries generally do not calculate the true cost of reference. He stated that there would be a great increase in the workload when a digital reference service is truly utilized. He suggested the audience look at a helpful tool for calculating the true cost of implementing a digital reference service that he created on the LSSI Web site at: http://www.lssi.com/

With the increase in the workload to accommodate the staffing of a digital reference desk, Coffman indicated that we need to explore better and more efficient modes of operation. He suggested that we could build knowledge bases that allow the patron to find the answers to their questions on their own. Another work process we might adjust would be to shorten the length of time spent in answering the questions. He emphasized that we need to find ways to better use our existing staff and we must rethink the reference model.

Anne Lipow spoke about managing change and how the implementation of a digital reference service might affect individual staff members. Lipow said that a new mind set is needed to provide digital reference and the staff who would do best are those who are comfortable with ambiguity. She observed that librarianship is one of the few professions in which the name is tied to a building and that this might be limiting us in our thinking. She explored what it really means to be a librarian. She questioned the value of the MLS in the world of e-books and the role of the library when online vendors can lend chapters of e-books. She stated that librarians need to change their way of thinking in relation to what is remote; instead of thinking of the patron as remote, we need to think of the librararians' services as remote. We need to move out to the patron instead of following our traditional, passive model of the reference desk. We need to be an "in your face" service.

The distinguished panelists provided an excellent overview of virtual reference services, the implications for our libraries and the future directions of the service.

This reporter will have a summary of the continuation of this series in an upcoming issue. A full listing of the satellite teleconferences is located at http://www.cod.edu/teleconf/

Colby Riggs(cmriggs@uci.edu) is a Systems Librarian at the University of California, Irvine Libraries and co-editor of Library Hi Tech News