Digital Reference virtual reference Digital reference or Ask

數位參考諮詢 • Digital Reference, virtual reference • Digital reference, or "Ask. A", services are Internet-based, human-mediated question/answer and referral services that connect users with experts and subject specialists who can answer questions and give pointers to other sources of information • E-mail、Web Form、FAQ常問問題集 5

Live Virtual Reference • 即時數位參考服務 • Chat reference, real time digital reference, live reference • “Live virtual reference is a virtual reference that uses chat or text-messaging attempt to move to a closer simulation of traditional face-to-face reference for users who are increasingly virtual and not physically present in the physical library” – Meola and Stormont (2002) • Supplement the email service – some patrons need quick and instant information 7

Reasons to Offer Live Virtual Reference • Close the growing gap between users and the library • Make use and take advantage of the new technology in order to satisfy and keep internet savvy library users • Continue providing the best service possible • Serve Users Where They Are Searching • Keep Up With Rising Expectations • Answer Questions With Faster Response Time • Conduct Virtual Reference Interview • Show Instead Of Tell • Serve Distance Learners • Connect With The New Generation • Empower Users With Differing Abilities • Create Excitement and Learn Cutting-edge Skills • Pursue Marketing and Relationship Building 9

Challenges to Offer Live Virtual Reference • Coping with Additional Workload • Generating Initial and Continued Support • Finding Qualified Technical Personnel • Controlling Costs and Getting Funding • Re-envisioning your Library as a Virtual Place • Dispelling Fear of the Unknown • Recognizing Limitations to Textbased Chat • Cranky Library Faculty in the Academic Environment • Trouble-shooting Technical Problems • Understanding Copyright and Renegotiating Licenses 10

聯合數位參考服務 • Cooperative Digital Reference Service (CDRS) • Why CDRS? – Matching of patron queries to the most appropriate expert (region, subject) – Cross-service archives of question and answers – Combine the power of local collections and staff strengths with the diversity and availability of libraries and librarians everywhere, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – Integrate physical and digital information – the numerous Web-based answer services search neither the vast non-digitized collections nor the thousands of library online catalogs 11

聯合數位參考服務 (Cont. ) • Benefits of CDRS – Provide quality reference service – a reliable and authoritative knowledge navigation service, a large searchable archive of authoritative answers, and increased visibility and support for libraries everywhere – Quality support for education research, and the promotion of productivity, commerce, and scientific endeavor – Value-added information 12

Top Ten Reasons to Collaborate • • • Sharing staff Shared marketing and public relations items. Uniform guidelines/quality assurance Shared website Camaraderie and more colleagues to learn from and with Networking/collaborating opportunities Service can operate more hours Share the workload Collective bargaining/buying power may be greater Cost sharing of software expenses 13

Question. Point 系統流程 Member Profile SEND QUESTION Requesting Library NOTIFICATION Patron GET QUESTION REQUEST MANAGER Answering Library NOTIFICATION Librarian SEND ANSWER GET ANSWER EDITED Q&A ILL, Document Delivery Knowledge Base 15 Question. Point 運作流程示意圖 (From OCLC) Traditional and Online Resources: Catalogs, Web Resources, Print Resources, Subject Specialists

他山之石 • LC + OCLC: Question. Point • Ohio. Link • READY FOR REFERENCE: ACADEMIC LIBRARIES OFFER LIVE WEB-BASED REFERENCE – Administrated by Alliance Library System (Illinois) (8 universities) – LSSI’s Virtual Reference Service product • Franklin County Virtual Reference Librarian (South Central Pennsylvania) • Cleveland Consortium (Cleveland Public Library) • Ag. NIC • … 19

Ask. Wisconsin Virtual Reference Consortia • A multi-type library group of over 20 libraries self-funded and self-governed for cooperative virtual reference • Live in January of 2003 • Using the OCLC Question. Point Virtual Reference system to deliver email and chat based reference to their patrons • The shared chat service is open 66 hours per week – Mondays – Thursdays (9 a – 9 p), Fridays (9 a - 5 p), Sundays (5 p - 9 p) • Member representative board – Technical colleges, public libraries, academic libraries 20

Ask. Wisconsin Virtual Reference Consortia (Cont. ) • Which categories of questions is Ask. Wisconsin getting? – – – Ready Reference Homework Help In-Depth Research Living Life Questions Scholarly 21

KANAnswer • A statewide online information service for Kansas • Goal – Test whether a sustainable, statewide consortium for real-time, online reference service via the Internet – To assess the effectiveness of such a service in meeting the informational needs of online patrons. • KANAnswer numbers – 24 Kansas libraries (public, private academic, Regents, and regional library systems). – 97 operators and 1 administrator – 56 hours per week • Choose Live. Person as the Chat software 22

KANAnswer Chat 23

KANAnswer Operational Guideline • operators manual – – • Operational adjustments – – Operator Requirements Operator Guidelines Referral Policy Procedure Additional information 24 Operator login and logoff Canned responses & Web pages Hours of operation Operator Steering Committee

SCU Digital Reference • Santa Clara University (SCU) goals for digital reference – Integrate digital reference with existing e-mail and in-person reference services – Offer digital reference 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – Have questions answered by academic librarians most of the time – Maintain high quality reference standards – Keep cost within budget • Use 24/7 (http: //www. 247 ref. org/) – 18, then 34, now 78 libraries – Type: State universities, private institutions, community colleges – Location: California, Florida, New York, Mississippi, Massachusetts, Utah, Maryland, Canada 25

SCU Digital Reference (Cont. ) • Description – – Started in October 2002 Answer questions 5 hours a week for the academic cooperative Answer questions an additional 10 hours for SCU patrons only Staffed by 9 librarians (1 to 3 hours/week per librarian) • Statistics and Surveys – Steady growth in usage • 260 questions asked by our users • 133 questions answered by SCU librarians – Satisfied Users: • 84% of our patrons are satisfied with answers received and would use the service again 26

SCU Digital Reference Issues • General problems – Technical problems – Adjustment to online environment for reference staff – Issues of privacy Database authentication and licensing agreements • Biggest concerns – No control over the management and growth of the consortium – Communication problems • Quality of service – Concerns about the level of service we can provide – Concerns about the quality of service our patrons receive – Inadequate knowledge of other libraries’ databases and resources – Quality and level of service in direct relation to the size of the consortium • More problems – No way to ensure that a SCU patron is helped by a SCU librarian (when online) – Difficulty in determining when SCU patrons are most likely to use the service 27

Internet VS. Libraries • Internet – Located everywhere and anywhere – Disorganized, unstructured, and flat – Unverifiable – Digital only – Doubling in growth each year • Libraries – Are physical locations, although people also use them remotely – Are organized and structured – Maintain collections that are evaluated via collection guidelines – Experience continued growth – Are comprehensive – Employ skilled, trained subject and language and navigation experts – Provide analogue and digital catalogs, indexes, and bibliographies – Offer controlled vocabularies and other collocating and standard tools 29

The Future of DR and CDRS • A mix of synchronous and asynchronous • Ready reference – quick, factual answers to specific questions – will have a diminishing part of librarianship • Play to our strength: – Concerns about evaluation and quality of information sources, sophisticated tools and techniques for searching – Understanding the nature of users, their communities, their needs and situations – Compiling and organizing and packaging information resources for their use – Helping them to understand how to help themselves and how to use and evaluate information • Step by step 31

References • • 盛美雲，「服務不打烊：淺談數位化參考服務」，國立中央圖書館臺灣分館館刊， 7: 4，民 90. 12，頁44 -55。 鍾雪珍，「E-Reference--參考服務新趨勢：從美國及上海的聯合數位參考服務談 起」，國家圖書館館訊，90: 4(第 90期)，民 90. 11，頁5 -9。 吳英美，「圖書館事業發展三年計畫」，國家圖書館館訊，91: 2(第 92期)，民 91. 5， 頁15 -18。 簡玉菱、柯皓仁，「網際網路時代的參考諮詢服務--線上合作參考諮詢服務」，國 家圖書館館訊，91: 3(第 93期)，民 91. 8，頁7 -13。 Adelaide, Joyce. “Live Virtual Reference. ” http: //www. consal. org. sg/webupload/resource/brief/attachments/%7 B 4 EC 07544 D 1 E 4 -4 A 2 C-9 B 91 -BC 0 CC 71 FA 453%7 D. pdf Beatty, Mark. 2003. “A Grant-less Multi-type Virtual Reference Consortia. ” Virtual Reference Desk Conference 2003. http: //www. vrd 2003. org/proceedings/presentation. cfm? PID=147. Hansen, Eric. 2003. “KANAnswer: A Kansas Collaborative for Virtual Reference. ” Virtual Reference Desk Conference 2003. http: //www. vrd 2003. org/proceedings/presentation. cfm? PID=157. 32

References • • • Kresh, Diane, and Arret, Linda. 2000. “Collaborative Digital Reference Service: Update on LC Initiative. ” Digital Reference Service in the New Millennium – Planning, Management, and Evaluation (Edited by R. D. Lankes, J. W. Collins III, and A. S. Kasowitz), Published by Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. , pp. 61 -67. Lafrance, Helene, and Smith, Monica. 2003. “The Ups and Downs of Virtual Reference in a Collaborative Environment. ” Virtual Reference Desk Conference 2003. http: //www. vrd 2003. org/proceedings/presentation. cfm? PID=191. Lindbloom, Mary-Carol. 2001. “Ready for Reference: Managing a 24/7 Live Reference Service. ” Virtual Reference Desk Conference 2001. http: //www. vrd. org/conferences/VRD 2001/proceedings/lindbloom. shtml. Meola, Marc and Stormont, Sam. 2002. “Starting and Operating Live Virtual Reference Services”. Published by Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc. Virtual Reference Desk. “About VRD. ” http: //www. vrd. org/about. shtml 33