1. Electronic Reference Matt Marsteller July 17, 2000 Carnegie Mellon University http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm./erefcv/classvis.html

2. Electronic Reference – a definition Utilization of computerized tools to augment or assist traditional reference services in a library. E-mail HTML Forms Paging software Chat software Wearable computers Smart rooms

3. Avoiding the Techno-glitz Software, hardware, etc. are tools Tools are not a panacea Find the right tool for a task Thought provoking recent article by Walt Crawford

4. Crawford’s “Principled Library” “Technology doesn’t define today’s library, and it won’t define good libraries in the future. Technology provides tools; librarians use those tools. Technology will keep changing. Effective librarians will use changing technology without letting the tools take over.”

5. When tools take over…a story of e-mail Special library environment Physical visits to the library frowned upon Voice-mail deeply entrenched A LAN arrived … … along with very friendly e-mail software We started doing e-mail reference without realizing what hit us!

6. But Wait…it gets worse The politics of the situation Ask-A-Scientist-and-A-Librarian http://www.fetc.doe.gov/coolscience/res_archive/q&a_31.html Thoughts about policy A good topic for WVLA http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/erefwvla.htmlWVLA http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/erefwvla.html

7. E-mail Reference observations Negatives Lack of visual cues Difficult reference interview Time delays Eileen Abels’ article Taxonomy of e-mail reference approach The winner – the systematic approach Systematic approach  HTML Forms

8. Some thoughts from before… Beyond E-mail Beyond E-mail http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/page5.html Web Forms Web Forms http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/page6.html QBQB http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/page7.html TalkBackTalkBack http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/page8.html

9. “Something Like Chat” – Why Not Chat Matt? University Libraries at CMU is beginning work with LivePerson (http://www.liveperson.com/)LivePerson Chat software geared to customer service and real time interaction with the customer Supposed to include ability to ‘push’ web sites to the customer Already beginning to be used in library settings

10. LivePerson Resides on LivePerson’s Server Requires no hardware, no software, no java, no plug-ins Just a standard browser  Netscape 3.0 to 4.6  Internet Explorer 3.0 to 5.0 Firewalls shouldn’t be a problem

11. The 24/7 Reference Service Needed? Privacy Concerns Needed or not – here it comes Collaborative Digital Reference Service  http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/digiref/cdrshome.html http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/digiref/cdrshome.html Real-Time Reference for Undergraduate Students in Science, Mathematics and Engineering

12. Wearable Computers for Electronic Reference A few of us out there calling for exploration My views deal with support of electronic reference  Memory Augmentation  Ease the use of print materials for electronic reference

13. General approach CMU known for research in wearable computers Learn more of their research Open dialogue/make suggestions for possible usage of wearable computers in a library setting

14. Bibliography Abels, Eileen G. “The E-mail Reference Interview,” RQ, vol. 35, no. 3, (Spring 1996), pp 345-58. Crawford, Walt. “Principled libraries: finding stability in changing times,” Online, vol. 24 no. 2 (Mar./Apr. 2000), pp 48-53. Eichler, Linda and Michael Halperin. “LivePerson: Keeping Reference Alive and Clicking”, Econtent, (June 2000) http://www.ecmag.net/awards/award13.html http://www.ecmag.net/awards/award13.html

15. Bibliography (cont) Haines, Annette and Alison Grodzinski. “Web forms: improving, expanding, and promoting remote reference services,” C&RL News, vol. 60, no. 4, (April 1999), pp 271-272,291. Kresh, Diane Nester. “Offering High Quality Reference Service on the Web: The Collaborative Digital Reference Service (CDRS),” D-Lib Magazine, vol. 6, no. 6, (June 2000), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june00/kresh/06kresh.html http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june00/kresh/06kresh.html Ma, Wei and Joyce Wright. “QB Online,” C&RL News, vol. 59, no. 10, (November 1998), pp 772-774. Mizrachi, Diane. “Info-Fashions for the New Millenium,” Online, vol. 24, no. 1, (Jan./Feb. 2000), pp 82-4

16. Bibliography (Cont) Mizrachi, Diane. “Info-Fashions for the New Millenium,” Online, vol. 24, no. 1, (Jan./Feb. 2000), pp 82-4