Collaborative Virtual Reference Services The TriCollege Libraries Experience

Collaborative Virtual Reference Services: The Tri-College Libraries’ Experience Educause Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference January 17, 2003 Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Copyright © Megan M. Adams and W. Mark Colvson, 2003. This work is the intellectual property of the authors. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the authors. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the authors. Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Background – Long history of collaboration & cooperation – Similar types & sizes of schools – Mellon Foundation grants Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Process • Buy-In – Library Administration – Patrons – Library Staff Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Process • Institutional Differences – Reference cultures – Student cultures – Organizational priorities – Technical differences – Resource differences Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Process • Overhead – Monetary costs – Intangible costs – Staff time costs – Workload Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Benefits/Costs of Collaboration • Benefits – Shared financing – More staff participation – Shared workload – Improves other library services Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Benefits/Costs of Collaboration • Costs – Overextended system administrator – Time commitment for meetings – Supporting users with diverse technical issues – Coordinating & maintaining the service Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we now? • Timeline Spring 2001 Mellon Foundation grant Fall 2001 Initial pilot project Spring 2002 Secondary pilot project, testing Summer 2002 Training, branding Fall 2002 Live with VRL 2. 0, increasing staff involvement Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we now? Fall 2001 1 month Open 20 hrs/week VRL 1. 0 & AIM No statistics kept Spring 2002 4. 5 months Open 20 hours/week VRL 1. 0 Kept stats No email Summer 2002 3 months Open 20 hours/week VRL 1. 0 Kept stats No email Fall 2002 4. 5 months Open 39 hours/week VRL 2. 0 Kept stats Email Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Statistics Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we now? • In the works: – Funding for new server – Compensation for late-night service – Live. Help links ubiquitous on web sites, in OPAC, in Blackboard Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we going? • Marketing! – Integrated into freshman orientation and instruction sessions – Press releases to student publications – Target specific groups (grad students, study abroad students, etc. ) Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we going? • Increasing collaboration – Question. Point? – Oberlin group libraries in other time zones? – Other collaborations • local/state • partner with campus IT help desks Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Where are we going? • Evaluation – Talk to patrons! – Satisfaction, usage, desirability – Will our patrons use Live. Help enough to justify costs? Should we do it anyway? Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Yes, we should! – Shift from print libraries to digital libraries, multiple access points – Collections & services becoming digital – Live. Help is a primary digital library service Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Questions? Megan Adams, Swarthmore College madams 1@swarthmore. edu 610 -328 -8503 Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College mcolvson@brynmawr. edu 610 -526 -7465 http: //www. swarthmore. edu/library/reference/vr. html Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003

Collaborative Virtual Reference Services: The Tri-College Libraries’ Experience http: //www. swarthmore. edu/library/reference/vr. html Megan Adams, madams 1@swarthmore. edu Mark Colvson, mcolvson@brynmawr. edu Educause Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference January 17, 2003 Megan Adams, Swarthmore College Mark Colvson, Bryn Mawr College January 17, 2003