Digital Commons Network^™

What Chat Transcripts Reveal, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

CHAT REFERENCE PROVIDES NEW ways to interact with patrons. Research by Marie L. Radford of Rutgers University (mradford@scils.rutgers.edu) and Lynn Silipigni Connaway of OCLC (connawal@oclc.org), supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, will replace suppositions about how chat conversations progress in ways satisfactory to both patrons and librarians. They are conducting focus group interviews, online surveys, and telephone interviews of virtual reference service (VRS) users and nonusers and VRS librarians. They also plan to examine over 1300 anonymous transcripts from chat services. Rapport-building, deference, and identifiable beginning and closing "rituals" all have a place in virtual reference. And …

Chat’S Positive Side, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

"I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO REGRETS about enhancing our reference services through chat." "It's been a smooth and successful expansion of our existing reference service." "It's so successful we've moved from being a pilot project to an ongoing service." These are the positive voices of virtual reference, the librarians who feel chat reference is now an integral part of their library. After giving time in my column last month to negative views ("Rethinking Virtual Reference," LJ 11/1/04, p. 34), this month I've asked librarians in notable virtual reference services to tell their stories.

Rethinking Virtual Reference, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Virtual reference services seem a natural extension of libraries digital collections and the emphasis on access to the library anytime, anywhere. If patrons use the library from home, it makes sense to provide them with person-to-person online reference. The Library of Congress (LC), OCLC, and several large library systems have developed and promoted virtual reference services, which are now offered by thousands of libraries. Recently, however, some virtual reference pioneers are questioning the cost benefits of online reference and recommending caution. This article shares some negatives and alternatives to online reference chatting.

A Decade Of Digital Reference: 1991-2001., Carol Tenopir, Lisa Ennis

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Four surveys conducted over a decade provide insights about changes that have occurred in academic library reference services due to new and rapidly evolving technologies. Surveys were sent to the academic members of the Association of Research Libraries four times during the past decade: 1991, 1995, 1997, and 2000. The surveys contained both open-ended questions to gather opinions and factual questions to measure what libraries offer. Libraries adopted digital information sources and services at an increasingly accelerated rate in the 1990s due to the availability of the Internet, in particular the World Wide Web. Digital sources have brought about changes …

Virtual Reference Services In A Real World, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

NOW THAT LIBRARIES have substantial digital collections available to users from their homes or offices, it isn't surprising that remote access ("virtual") reference services are the latest trend. LJ recently provided an overview of virtual reference services and reported on local progress and national initiatives to implement online reference help 24 hours a day, seven days a week (see "The Shape of E-Reference," LJ 2/1/01 p. 46ff.).

Recently, I asked the directors of reference in the academic member libraries of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) to describe changes in their reference services over the last three years and how …

The Impact Of Digital Reference On Librarians And Library Users, Carol Tenopir, Lisa Ennis

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

University reference librarians report a variety of effects, both positive and negative, from the rapid and widespread adoption of electronic media during the last decades. Heightened expectations from students and, to a lesser degree, from faculty are noticed by many librarians. Partly because of media hype about the wonders of the Internet and the ubiquity of the World Wide Web, students expect to be able to answer every question and do every research project online. One major impact of electronic services is the growing need for user instruction. Part of the problem is that there are still many students with …

Electronic Reference Options: Tracking The Changes., Carol Tenopir, Ralf Neufang

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

A survey of 96 academic libraries belonging to the Association of Research Libraries reveals that the popularity of the four primary electronic reference mediums - online public access catalogs (OPACs), CD-ROM, end-user online and intermediary online - increased between 1991 and 1994. All the libraries provide CD-ROM access. Ninety-five provide intermediary online searching; 63, end-user online searching; and 71, tape loaded databases through OPACs.

Searching For Books Online, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Online search services that allow reference librarians to search for a comprehensive list of books on a topic are discussed. OCLC's new EPIC service and the advantages it has to offer are discussed.

Reference Services From Oclc, Carol Tenopir

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Presents various reference services and products developed by Online Computer Library Catalog (OCLC) for use in library's reference division. Provision to access several online vendors by intelligent gateway in OCLC LINK; Availability of private file space on the LINK Computer; Announcement of the commercial availability of CD-ROM product; Maintenance of an program of Research and Development of products.