1. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20011 Virtual Reference Service: Our Real-Time Experience Leela Balraj and Tom Klingler Kent State University

2. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20012 Abstract Today's college students are conducting much of their academic research outside the physical confines of the traditional library building, using networked connections in labs, residence halls, apartments, and homes. This convenience has its drawbacks, particularly in terms of obtaining traditional reference assistance. Students anywhere can still benefit from the guidance that reference librarians are able to provide in retrieving relevant, accurate, and authoritative information. One new initiative at Kent State University is to provide virtual reference service to students at remote locations using real-time videoconferencing. This session will discuss the practical as well as the technical aspects of our experiences.

3. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20013 Our setting: Desktop H 323

4. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20014 Shared windows…

5. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20015 More shared windows…

6. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20016 Underway…

7. 7 Background… Student Retention Initiative grant proposal 1. Director, Information Services; Coordinator, Reference Services; Dean, Honors College 2. Promote reference service

8. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20018 Background… Reaching out to off-site users… "Reference work includes the direct, personal aid within a library to persons in search of information for whatever purpose, and also various library activities especially aimed at making information as easily available as possible." -Margaret Hutchins, Introduction to Reference Work (1944) 1. Traditional off-site reference service: Telephone; Email 2. Recent off-site reference service: Chat; Video/Audio real-time conferencing; 24/7

9. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 20019 Background… Pilot target group: Honors College students 1. Good working relationships 2. Attractive environment - library resource room; computer lab; dorms 3. Appropriate networking 4. Meet information needs - individual honors work; senior honors thesis/project

10. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200110 Our service…RefLINK Spring 2001: Introduction of service & staff training 1. Introduce service – Open House 2. 'Name The Service' survey - RefLINK 3. Training - team teaching; observation; group instruction

11. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200111 Our service…RefLINK… Summer 2001: Pilot project with McNair Scholars students 1. Propose support for new service 2. Establish working relationship with students 3. Demonstrate service 4. Get feedback – formal & informal 5. Keep lines of communication open

12. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200112 Our service…RefLINK… Fall 2001: Honors College students 1. 'Food For Thought' lecture series 2. Advertise service - Daily Kent Stater; flyers 3. Promote service - Student reporter

13. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200113 An incoming call…

14. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200114 Would you answer this one?!

15. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200115 Shared whiteboard…

16. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200116 E-boredom…

17. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200117 Two-way whiteboard…

18. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200118 Danger! Video zoom….

19. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200119 Service issues… Training 1. Team teaching 2. Group instruction 3. Observation

20. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200120 Service issues… Staffing 1. Librarians 2. Graduate Reference Assistants (library science students) 3. Library Associates (future)

21. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200121 Service issues… Real-time experiences 1. Types of interactions - in-depth research topics; ready reference; citation verification 2. Problems encountered - technical glitches 3. Lessons learned - learning curve; user acceptance

22. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200122 Service issues… Promotion 1. Daily Kent Stater campus newspaper articles 2. Flyers in Honors College bulletin board and computer lab

23. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200123 Future… 1. Expand to other locations on campus - computer labs; dorms; branch libraries; campus help desk; regional campuses; distance education 2. Expand hours of service - meet needs of students 3. Technology advancements

24. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200124 The technology… 1.Supports high-quality video and audio 2.Can be used with collaboration tools: a.shared whiteboard b.shared browser 3. Point-to-point or multipoint 4. H 323 is the protocol standard for video conferencing-over-IP

25. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200125 Advantages of H 323… 1. No ISDN line charges 2. Informal use by anyone anytime on a desktop PC 3. Less need for expensive special rooms and advance reservations 4. Cheap: a typical PC can be upgraded to a good quality videoconferencing station for $900.00

26. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200126 H 323 v. H 32x 1. H 320 – for ISDN 2. H 321 – for ATM 3. H 322 – for lans with QoS 4. H 323 – for IP

27. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200127 What’s needed… 1. TCP/IP network 2. Switched port is nice 3. High-end PC 4. An H 323 kit 5. MCU gateway for multipoint conferences (and multi-protocol)

28. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200128 What’s in a kit? 1. Software 2. Specialized video card 3. Camera 4. Microphone

29. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200129 Some products… VCON http://www.vcon.com/

30. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200130 Products… Teleportec http://www.teleportec.com/

31. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200131 Products… …another VCON product

32. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200132 Products… …a VCON model for small groups

33. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200133 Products… Metropark Supernova http://www.metropark.com/

34. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200134 Our VCON model Start up…

35. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200135 Some settings…

36. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200136 More settings…

37. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200137 Tricky technical issues… 1. Shared resolution 2. Feedback 3. Application sharing

38. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200138 More Products… 1. Zydacron comCenter Conferencing Room System http://picturephone.com/products/comcenterroomsystem.htm 2. PictureTel 960 & 970 Videoconferencing Systems http://picturephone.com/products/picturetel_960_970.htm 3. Polycom ViewStation H.323 http://picturephone.com/products/polycom_viewstation_h323.htm

39. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200139 Gateways and gatekeepers… 1. Multi-protocol: Between H323 (IP,) H320(ISDN,) H321 (ATM) 2. Multi-point: More than two participants 3. MCU = Multipoint Control/Conferencing Unit

40. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200140 Gateway products… 1. First Virtual http://www.fvc.com/products/vgate.htm 2. Cisco http://www.cisco.com/univercd/cc/td/doc/pcat/vc3500.htm 3. Radvision http://www.radvision.com/f_products/f1_overview.php3?prod=Prod ucts%2BOverview

41. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200141 Basics of H 323 1. University of Illinois at Chicago http://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/newsletter/adn30/techtip.html 2. Synetrix http://www.synetrix.co.uk/technologies/video/video_conferencin g.htm 3. IMTC ( International Multimedia Telecommunications Consortium ) http://www.imtc.org/h323.htm

42. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200142 Bibliography… Broughton, K. M. (2001). Our experiment in online, real-time reference. Computers in Libraries, 21 (4), 26-31. Janes, J., et.al. (1999). Digital reference services in academic libraries. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 39 (2), 145-150. Kasowitz, A., et.al. (2000). Quality standards for digital reference consortia. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 39 (4), 355-363. Kenney, B. J. (2001). Academic libraries test Web-based reference. Library Journal, 126 (12), 25. Lankes, R. D. et. al. (Eds.). (2000). Digital reference service in the new millennium: Planning, management, and evaluation. New York: Neal- Schuman.

43. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200143 Bibliography…continued… Lipow, A. G. (1998). Reference service in a digital age. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 38 (1), 47-48. Meola, M. & Stormont, S. (2000). Real-time reference service for the remote user: From the telephone and electronic mail to Internet chat, instant messaging, and collaborative software. The Reference Librarian, no. 67-68, 29-40. Oder, N. (2001). The shape of e-reference. Library Journal, 126 (2), 46-49. Schneider, K. G. (2000). The distributed librarian: Live, online, real-time reference. American Libraries, 31 (10), 64.

44. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200144 Bibliography…continued… Sloan, B. (2001). Ready for reference: Academic libraries offer live web-based reference: Preliminary report. Retrieved October 15, 2001 on the World Wide Web: http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/ready4ref.htm Tenopir, C. (2001). Virtual reference services in a real world. Library Journal, 126 (12), 38-40. Weissman, S. (2001). Considering a launch? Library Journal, 126 (2), 49. Wolf, L. C. (1999). Multimedia applications in heterogeneous Internet/ATM environments. Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, 9 (1), 49-57.

45. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200145 Contact info… Virtual Reference Service: Our Real-time Experience at Kent State University Leela BalrajTom Klingler Information Services LibrarianAssistant Dean for Systems Reference Dept.Kent State University Kent State University P.O. Box 5190 P.O. Box 5190Kent, OH 44242 Kent, OH 44242Voice: 330-672-1646 Voice: 330-672-1657Fax: 330-672-4811 Fax: 330-672-3964Email: tk@kent.edu Email: lbalraj@lms.kent.edu

46. ALAO Annual, Oct. 26, 200146 Thanks… http://www.library.kent.edu/~tk/h323.ppt