AARL

Partnering on virtual reference using QuestionPoint: guidelines for collaboration between academic libraries in Australia/New Zealand and the US

Judith A Truelson
truelson@usc.edu.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address).

Abstract This paper presents guidelines for establishing a QuestionPoint collaborative virtual reference partnership between academic libraries in Australia/New Zealand and the US. These guidelines reflect the practices of the state-of-the-art collaborative QuestionPoint partnership, 'AskASERL' as well as the unofficial standards and guidelines for virtual reference services established by IFLA and NISO. Throughout the paper, the projected benefits of international virtual reference collaboration are weighed against the costs. In conclusion, international collaborative virtual reference partnerships are presumed to be net beneficial and worthy of further study and consideration.

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