Why is the sky blue Implementing a collaborative
Why is the sky blue? Implementing a collaborative virtual reference desk project Linda Frederiksen Nicole Campbell Kitty Mackey Roxanne Dimyan WSU Vancouver Library Cannell Library, Clark College
Outline l l l Introduction & Grant Information Technical Information Assignments Lessons Learned Conclusions / Q & A
LSTA Demonstration Grant l l Background 7 grants - $30, 000 23 participating libraries 6 other projects
Virtual Reference in Washington Skagit Valley College Jefferson County Library Sno-Isle Regional Library University of Washington Seattle Public Library City University King County Law Library Grays Harbor College Washington State Library Ellensburg Public Timberland Regional Library Pend Oreille County Library Stevens County Library Spokane Falls CC Spokane CC Whitman County Library Washington State University WSU-Vancouver Clark College Information provided by the Statewide Virtual Reference Project, Washington State Library
WSU Vancouver – Clark College Project l Why we did it – – l l l Geographic proximity 2+2 model Grant proposal Grant period Grant requirements
Ask A Librarian l Formalizing collaboration – – l Interagency agreements Budgets and accounting 24/7 software
Where we are now l l Status of Washington State Library and LSTA funds in the state Current number of transactions Where we hope to be by the end of the grant How will we evaluate virtual reference service
Initial Setup l l Setup and servers Library Websites – – Branding Scripts
Training l l l Initial training by 24/7 Test Q’s Practice practice
Policies l Determining user population – – l l Students, staff & faculty Community Hours & Scheduling Authentication Communication Confidentiality
Troubleshooting l Technical: – – l Dropped patrons Clearing cache Staff: – – Are you monitoring? Test and preview pages
Assignments If you give an assignment, they will go online!
Assignments: WHY? l Nothing was happening “online” l Needed to practice l Wanted a “control” group for feedback
The Process l Met with faculty, designed assignment l Met with classes, described assignment l Emailed details to Virtual Reference list l Students turned in transcripts to instructor l Met classes, students completed evaluations
How We Picked Courses l Instructor interest l Assignment met course outcomes l Different skill levels Web experience Library experience
HDev 116: College Success l One specific question: Please tell me where to find information on … (fill in career of their choice). l One specific answer: Librarians “escorted” students to specific source (CIS and WOIS). l Created scripts for repetitive instructions.
CSA 185: Intro to Using the Internet l Seven questions, they choose one. (7 th was “your choice”) l Several answers, but specific sources -- periodicals databases. l Student reactions led to evaluations.
Evaluation Questions 1. What type of connection? (gave us a clue…) 2. What kind of service did you expect to receive? 3. How did your experience compare with your expectations? 4. Additional comments
What Type of Connection? l Dial-up: 22 l Cable/DSL: 15 l On-campus: 8
Students’ Expectations Sorted into three “types” l Instructional: “Someone who could help me find my way around” l Q&A: “A question answer service” l “Drive-Thru”: “Reliable, fast service!”
Evaluation Tallies Expectations? Instruct: 10 Q&A: 13 Drive-thru: 9 Neutral: 12 Experience? Positive: 30 Negative: 10 Neutral: 4 Comments? Positive: 17 Negative: 9 Neutral: 3
Student Responses - Negative
Student Responses - Negative Connection: ? AOL Expectation: “I wasn’t sure. ” Experience: “It sucked because it messed up. (twice)” Comments: “Too slow!”
Student Responses - Negative Connection: Cable Expectation: “Reliable, fast information” Experience: “Below my expectations. ” Comments: “Because there were several technical problems during my session, the librarian couldn’t guide me to the web page [she/he] found. And the transcripts … were incomplete. Only showed my question. ”
Student Responses - Positive
Student Responses - Positive Connection: Cable Expectation: “Reliable, fast service” Experience: “It was better than I thought. I mean, it had some problems, like glitches here and there, but I got my information. ” Comments: “Still need to work on the program, figure out the problems, but otherwise good program. ”
Student Responses - Positive Connection: DSL Expectation: “I had no expectations. I thought it would just be busy work, but it was more helpful. ” Experience: “Librarian was patient and more than helpful – especially since I had never been in a chat room. I got email of sites visited, which was helpful. ” Comments: (Couldn’t get on 2 nd time, called reference desk at Clark. )
Student Responses - Positive Connection: DSL Expectation: “…basically good service, sending me directly where I wanted to go. ” Experience: “…librarian not familiar with assignment, but tried…followed up next day w/o being asked, sent me more info. I was very impressed with his service…” Comments: “More hours of operation”
Student Responses - Positive Connection: Modem Expectation: “… exactly the type of service I received. Ask a question and get an answer that is both helpful and interesting. ” Experience: “… excellent service and the person that I spoke to was very informative, and to boot was very courteous. Don’t find that too much with automated information systems. ” Comments: “… should be made a permanent feature. ”
Student Responses - Positive Connection: HP thru AOL Expectation: “Pretty general service. ” Experience: “It was great. They asked good questions and led me to very specific websites for information. ” Comments: “They responded quickly & when they were busy, asked if I wanted to wait. ”
Student Responses - Positive Connection: DSL Expectation: “I was kind of unsure about what to expect. I figured it was some kind of search engine but was surprised it was an actual librarian. ” Experience: “BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER! KABOOM!!! ” Comments: THANKS
Conclusions
Assignments - Conclusions l Keep assignments simple. l Build scripts to match assignments. l Do pre-and post evaluations. l Students should get credit for assignments.
Lessons Learned l l l l Statistics Marketing Staffing Service hours Policies and procedures The virtual reference librarian Online help guides User populations
Lessons Learned http: //www. vancouver. wsu. edu/fac/campbell/onlinenw 2003/
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