Building Effective Reference Services Roy Tennant

Outline Classic Methods : –In-person –Telephone – Moving Reference to the Web –Why? –Visions from Early Days –Technologies and Techniques Winning Strategies

In-Person Reference Considered essential by most libraries Benefits: –Personal, highly interactive –Can share collection –No technology needed Drawbacks: –Users increasingly remote and/or online –Requires coming to the library

Telephone Reference Also considered essential by most libraries Benefits: –Personal, highly interactive –Usually considered part of a staffed reference desk Drawbacks: –Cannot share collection or databases –Remote/online users cannot always call (may be using the phone line to be on the Internet)

Reference

Reference Issues Benefits: –Easy to offer (put up a form…) Drawbacks: –Time delay, cannot help at the point of need (major user’s concern) –Difficulty in conducting a reference interview (major librarian’s concern) –Cannot share collection very effectively

Moving Reference to the Web

The Problem Most catalogs and search systems are difficult to understand and use Users need help at the moment they get stuck — is inadequate Unless assistance is obvious and convenient, the user will remain stuck Other, readily available information sources can be convenient but inadequate (e.g., Google) We must be “in their face” [Anne Lipow]

Visions from Early Days

Virtual Reference Technologies Chat Form sharing Co-browsing File transfer Whiteboard Highlighting Voice over IP

Current Software Options OCLC’s QuestionPoint (recently purchased the 24/7 product) Tutor.com (recently purchased LSSI’s product) Docutek’s VRLPlus

Virtual Reference Librarian Plus (VRLPlus) from Docuteck Full disclosure: I’m on the Docutek’s Advisory Board

Virtual Reference Issues No visual cues Not everyone is articulate (or fast) at a keyboard It is difficult to say “look at this” for print materials Software issues (database authentication, usability, etc.)

How to Fail Under commit Over expect (e.g., immediate, dramatic success) Deploy poorly

Winning Strategies Establish protocols (what to answer, when and how to refer, etc.) Create a common digital “ready reference” collection for digital reference librarians Provide multiple and/or large monitors Consider new staffing models Train all participants Solve the “where’s the bathroom” problem

Winning Strategies Create a directory of reference network member library web sites and catalogs Create cheat sheets for searching catalog systems of member sites, common databases, etc. Set up librarian workstations to scan and share pages from print materials Perform effective triage

Winning Strategies Support –Administration –Staffing Promote Integrate

Promotion

Questions to Ask How can we provide the best reference service for our users? Where will our time/money/effort do the most good? Are we overlooking new ways of doing things that may be more effective?

Recap Modern reference service offers a suite of techniques — use each technique as appropriate for your audience/purpose to create holistic reference services No one said it was easy, since you are basically building the airplane while flying it