Chat Reference

Chat Reference

Author: Jana Ronan

Publisher: Libraries Unlimited

Published: 2003-07-30

Total Pages: 268

ISBN-13:

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Functioning as a blueprint, this guide leads the reader through the many decisions and considerations involved in setting up a real-time reference service. Ronan introduces both basic and advanced real-time reference software, offers practical information about features, advantages, and disadvantages, and discusses human and organizational issues. How does one start a virtual reference service? What types of software are available? This comprehensive guide to live virtual services answers these and other questions. Intended as a blueprint, the book is designed to lead the reader through the many decisions and considerations involved in setting up a real-time reference service. Acclaimed expert Jana Smith Ronan introduces both basic and advanced real-time reference software, offers practical information about features, advantages, and disadvantages, and discusses human and organizational issues, such as staffing, training, and administration. Complete with five case studies from successful real-time reference services, this guide provides readers with a better understanding of real-time reference and an ability to make educated decisions on what's best for their library and their patrons.


Virtual Reference Services

Virtual Reference Services

Author: Stacey Kimmel

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2003-09-10

Total Pages: 214

ISBN-13: 9780789020451

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A state-of-the-art guide to virtual reference services! This essential book provides a snapshot of virtual reference (VR) services in all kinds of library settings and discusses the issues, trends, and practices involved in offering this kind of service. The chapters go beyond descriptions of services to offer practical advice and suggestions for product selection, policy setting, technical support, collaborative efforts, staffing, training, marketing, budgeting, evaluation, and administration. Case studies, relevant Web sites, and vendor information are included. An ample selection of tables, figures, and illustrations makes important information easy to access and understand. From the editors: “The purpose of this book is to describe the state of the art in virtual reference services, by which we mean real-time, interactive reference service with a librarian, offered online via chat or videoconferencing. Significant players in virtual reference services have prepared chapters for this book. Some of these address virtual reference as a service trend. Others describe services in a variety of settings, including public, academic, and special libraries. Some focus on one aspect of virtual reference, such as statistics/evaluation, policy setting, or the reference interaction. Our intent is to provide an opportunity for reflection on the impact of virtual reference services on librarians, clients, and libraries, as well as to offer a glimpse of the future.” Virtual Reference Services: Issues and Trends addresses topics that will help institutions and VR professionals provide more effective services. Chapters focus on: the principles and concepts of continuous quality improvement (CQI) for virtual reference, such as the Kano Model of user satisfaction—and how it can help libraries improve their VR services a case study of the adoption of VR service at the Suffolk Cooperative Library System in New York, with emphasis on the benefits of maintaining a user-centered perspective to help inform decisions about procedures and services staff selection, structuring the work environment, scheduling, and other VR issues at a large university library collaborative VR services in the state of New Jersey and the development of the “Q and A NJ” initiative and the experiences of two participating public libraries the development and testing of innnovative software developed through a partnership with a high tech company statewide and regional VR collaboration in Florida, with a comprehensive and detailed overview of that state's VR initiatives post-implementation issues such as high call volume, difficult users, training and quality assessment, and service improvement a report from a medical/dental library participating in a multitype library collaborative VR service—with insights on budgeting, training, administration/coordination, morale, marketing, user reaction, and how a health sciences library contributes to (and benefits from) this kind of initiative VR services at The Boeing Corporation a model and framework for collecting and making use of statistical data in a VR service, with AskERIC's implementation as an example the nature of the user-librarian VR interaction, with an insightful analysis of chat transcripts from Carnegie Mellon University how users interact with various services offered on library Web pages, with an illuminating comparison of the use of the library Web site search tool at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale vs. the use of the VR service available on that site


Reaching Diverse Audiences with Virtual Reference and Instruction

Reaching Diverse Audiences with Virtual Reference and Instruction

Author: Meredith Powers

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2019-04-15

Total Pages: 97

ISBN-13: 1538116901

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Reaching Diverse Audiences with Virtual Reference and Instruction: A Practical Guide for Librarians is designed to help new and experienced librarians with practical advice for teaching and serving diverse audiences using a mix of new technologies and old-school librarianship. Just as today’s library users come from different backgrounds and experiences, and range from the tech-averse to internet-savvy, there’s no one-size-fits all method for effectively teaching information literacy or providing reference and research assistance! The guidebook aims to provide a range of options that can be adapted for your community’s needs, and includes advice for reaching many kinds of learners with virtual technologies for reference and instruction. Topics covered include how to: Identify and assess the needs of diverse communities Make the most of online reference services Implement and incorporate online teaching tools into your practice Develop and evaluate goals, objectives, and outcomes for teaching & services Though this book is predominantly aimed at the academic librarian, other sections on identifying and assessing community needs, managing virtual reference, and evaluating the effectiveness of library services are applicable for librarians in public, school, academic, and all types of libraries! In short, this is a one-stop shop for librarians who are seriously considering how to leverage new technologies to meet their community’s needs—this guide walks through planning, implementing, managing, and evaluating teaching and reference services, and teaches the skills required to meet the needs of a diverse range of library users.


Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners

Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners

Author: Rita Pellen

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-19

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1317824938

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Make separate library services for distance learners a thing of the past Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners takes a comprehensive look at efforts by librarians and information specialists to provide distance learners with effective services that match those already available on campus. With the development of the World Wide Web and the evolution of Web-based services, reference librarians are adding a human element to the virtual library, blurring the difference between distance learners and traditional users. This unique book examines how they deal with a wide range of related topics, including standards and guidelines, copyright issues, streaming media, and chat and digital references, and presents a historical overview of how reference and instructional services have been delivered to distance users—before and after the creation of the Internet. Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners reveals that librarians do not make a sharp distinction between reference and instruction within the context of distance learning, and that there is no clear boundary between “true” distance learners and more traditional students who might use services designed for nontraditional users. Online capabilities have allowed reference librarians to approximate services advocated by published guidelines and standards, including the ACRL Distance Learning Section’s Guidelines for Distance Learning Library Services, to provide a framework for librarians to plan services for off-campus students. Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners provides practical information on: how librarians can “keep IT simple” when designing methods to access reference support why library Web sites are vital sources of communication between the distance learning student and the reference-based instructional component how to set up a university chat service, including software selection, staff training and assessment how to provide students services beyond traditional provision of resources, including advising, enrollment, and payment of fees how to create an online assistance site that incorporates online versions of traditional print handouts, FAQs, subject guides, course-specific guides, learning modules, and instructional videos in one central location how to work with faculty to create online support for students in Blackboard courses the pros and cons of using open-source software how to create an online library assistance site how to create online information literacy course to teach independent research skills to remote students how to avoid copyright infringement and how to educate library personnel about copyright law how to use Camtasia Studio, a screen capture program to create audio and video for online presentations Internet Reference Support for Distance Learners is an invaluable resource for librarians working in academic, school, special, and public settings, and for library science faculty and students.


Digital versus Non-Digital Reference

Digital versus Non-Digital Reference

Author: Linda S Katz

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-05-13

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1136423249

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Compare and contrast library reference models and more consumer-oriented models! Digital versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask A Librarian Online and Offline analyzes the quality of commercial Ask A Librarian (AskA) and tutorial services and how they compare to traditional library services. Edited by Jessamyn West—proprietor of librarian.net and the “hippest ex-librarian on the Web” according to Wired magazine—the book looks at library models and more consumer-oriented models, examining a variety of services that range from Ask Jeeves® and Google Answers™ to your own reference desk and Web e-mail reference forms. Academic librarians and information specialists share their experiences—good and bad—in starting, assessing, or ending AskA services and in working with collaborative reference tools and outsourcing reference services, and discuss the highs and lows of dealing with individual online services. Digital versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask A Librarian Online and Offline chronicles the experiences and interactions of librarians with digital reference, including case studies, how-to guides, and philosophical essays. The book’s contributors discuss their concerns about using the Internet as not only a reference tool but as a reference medium that most libraries find inevitable to some degree. Topics include the political ramifications of offsite or outsourced reference, the truth behind the assertion that “it’s all available online,” cultural and/or language barriers to text-based reference services, and patrons’ experiences with reference tools, from a librarian’s perspective. Digital versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask A Librarian Online and Offline addresses: policy, staffing and technology for telephone reference services e-mail reference in public libraries the University of Michigan’s Internet Public Library archivists and remote users in the digital age success and failure with commercial AskA programs the history of Q and A NJ, New Jersey’s virtual reference service multilingual chat reference systems the ongoing debate over the value of digital reference the case for nonintrusive reference Digital versus Non-Digital Reference: Ask A Librarian Online and Offline is an invaluable resource for practitioners and academics on the appropriate assessment, technologies, and methods for successfully creating and operating human-mediated, Internet-based information services.


The Reference Interview Today

The Reference Interview Today

Author: Dave Harmeyer

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2014-02-07

Total Pages: 173

ISBN-13: 0810888165

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More an art than a science, the reference interview requires not only knowing a specific set of skills, but also how to apply those skills in an ever-changing world. Good reference interviews accomplish three goals: establishing contact with the user, determining what the user’s information need actually is, and checking to make sure that the answer actually meets that need completely. Built around timeless service principles including Ranganathan’s Five Laws, The Reference Interview Today: Negotiating and Answering Questions Face to Face, on the Phone, and Virtually is a practical field guide to conducting reference interviews in every modality: face-to-face, phone, chat, text, virtual world such as Second Life, and even mashup reference interviews where multiple modalities are used to answer the question. Following a concise presentation of reference interview basics, the heart of the book is 12 different reference interview scenarios set in different modes and demonstrating a specific principle. Each of these twelve follows a similar construction: a general overview of the principle (for example, save the time of the reader), a script of the reference interview, and then learning questions designed to demonstrate the principle(s) as illustrated in the script. Examples range from assisting faculty members with scholarly resources to helping a high school student with a paper to assisting a hairdresser with a reference question. One scenario is based in the year 2025 to emphasize the timeless nature of reference service. Seamlessly combining both time-honored principles and multiple technologies, this practical book demonstrates how librarians can be as relevant and necessary in the digital age as in the print world. Appropriate for both novice and experienced librarians as well as for LIS students, this concise handbook speaks to those working in or preparing for careers in public, school, academic, and special libraries..


The Reference Interview Today

The Reference Interview Today

Author: Susan Knoer

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-06-02

Total Pages: 154

ISBN-13: 1598848232

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Learn and perfect the skills needed to conduct satisfying reference interviews in the modern technological environment with this easy-to-use guide. In today's technology-driven world, reference librarians must serve users who come into the building as well as remote users who ask via various digital means. With virtual reference and social networking tools now commonplace, reference questions have become more complex and interdisciplinary. The Reference Interview Today will help reference librarians decide which tools and strategies will best serve their diverse group of patrons—in person and in cyberspace. This text covers the skills needed for traditional face-to-face reference and how they can be applied in 2.0 media. Best practices for culturally diverse, disabled, and "difficult" patrons; strategies for public and academic libraries; and virtual technologies like Twitter and Second Life are described. Written by a practicing reference librarian, this invaluable book makes it easy to train paraprofessionals and serves as a guide for experienced librarians to hone their skills in new delivery methods.


Distributed Learning and Virtual Librarianship

Distributed Learning and Virtual Librarianship

Author: Sharon G. Almquist

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2011-09-12

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 159158907X

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Brought to you by a team of experienced practitioners in the field, this book examines the vast topic of library support for distributed learning, providing both historical and contemporary viewpoints. What is the best way to deliver research resources to students who live "off campus"—as in, "way off campus," in a rural area without a high-speed Internet connection? And where does one find a complete (and accurate) synopsis of copyright guidelines that will prevent well-intentioned librarians from being labeled as the "copyright police"? The answers to these two questions regarding distributed learning—and many more—are contained in Distributed Learning and Virtual Librarianship. Written by practitioners in their field of expertise, this book documents the history of distributed learning and discusses current issues in distributed learning librarianship, with a special focus on the role of technology. Topics covered include virtual libraries, reference assistance, E-reserves and document delivery, administrative and marketing issues, and copyright concerns. This text is valuable to librarians working in public, school, and academic libraries.