Virtual referencing :alive and clicking? Friday 16 May 2003

Review of the Seminar by Jane O'Donnell (Information Studies Student University of SA)

A light hearted, educational beginning to this seminar was established with Jeanie Sirona's impersonation of the fire drill's Beeps and Whoops, her decisive directions, housekeeping and Occupational Health and Safety tips.

Mary Broadbent (Information and Research Services of the State Library of South Australia) then spoke of the 10 months planning which preceded the low-key launch of the 'Ask Now,' service on the 26 August 2002.'Ask Now,' a twelve-month pilot project using 'Twenty Four Seven' software with live chat capabilities, allows direct enquiries to, one of three reference librarians at any one time, a service which runs from 9 am to 7 pm Monday to Friday Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). In excess of 3000 queries were answered in the first three months of operation. Publicity at the official launch in January 2003 increased this number of enquiries to more than 14 000 in the following four and a half months. Therefore, publicity does work and there is a need for this service. By allowing the client to see the screen, which is split to show the reference interview dialogue as well as the search, methodology and terminology process being employed to answer their query, the service also educates users.

When Vicki Bates (Systems Librarian, Southbank Institute of TAFE Queensland) attempted to hook up via video link, technical gremlins stepped in however the technical staff and Vicki's forethought of sending a copy of her PowerPoint presentation to the venue thwarted these. We were able to hear Vicki as she walked us through her presentation. Using 'Human Link' software, this TAFE library is supplying a service of live chat and interactive referencing to their TAFE students. Though similar to the 'Ask Now' service above, this is a smaller operation and the librarian on duty for this service, is alerted to an enquiry by a 'Ding-Dong' sound from the computer, allowing other work to continue between enquiries. Integrating a "Can I help you" button in to the Catalogue and Database screens is under consideration for the future.

The immediacy of these services and the ability to refine the enquiry is a definite advantage over e-mail queries, which can be misconstrued. Some patrons, unused to these chat room style services employ a Hit and Run approach when they 'Hit' the button to activate the service and 'Run' off in fright when a librarian replies on the screen.

Stephen Barnett and Jeanie Sirona then informed us of two other TAFE Institutes Holmesglen, Victoria and Batchelor, Northern Territory which are also trialling live help software packages. Further information on publicising these services can be found at the 'PR for VR' online marketing conference held in Jan 2003 and available at http://www.altarama.com.au/prforvr.htm.

After lunch, we were informed of the advantages of 'Question Point', a software package from Elpedia Pte Ltd. Chew Leng Beh, CEO of the company extolled the benefits that this "add-on", to existing systems could achieve in productivity and cost effectiveness. The package aids in the co-operation and collaboration of libraries worldwide, employing local knowledge to answer local reference questions and has global access. Built by librarians, for librarians, this program has been available since July 2002.

A panel of four librarians then followed describing a variety of experiences with referencing technology.

1. Janetta Mascilongo, Disability, Information and Resource Centre (DIRC) spoke of three commercial companies and two government agencies, which have their own Interactive Reference Centres (IRC).

2. Tea Tree Gully Library's Abbey Dickson encouraged interactive learning and internet training for patrons empowering them to help themselves. This library holds training sessions monthly for patrons.

3. 'Ask EDNA's' virtual reference desk handles more than 70 e-queries per month according to Nelly Ivanova. This is a free service, which refers clients to other free services when necessary.

4. Christine Cother of the Flexible Delivery Centre, UNISA completed the panel. Their 'Ask a Librarian' service operates from 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday and is open to all staff and students.

The overall message of the day is: technical capabilities are here, and the demand is increasing for these services.

The day ended on a light note with an empowering message as Eleanor Whelan (Freelance Information Management Specialist) rounded off the day showing a slide of a tiger and asked "Why is a librarian like a Tiger?". Like the tiger, we must be proactive, fast, and powerful continually seeking to produce quality, timely, relevant information or like the extinct 'Siberian Tiger' we will be preserved and put on display in a museum.

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