Digital Reference Service

Government Information Quarterly

Volumn 17, Issue 3, 2000, Pages 309-318

  Mon, Lorri ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0000200443     PISSN: 0740624X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S0740-624X(00)00046-0     Document Type: Article

References (33)

1. In April 1999, an Intelliquest survey estimated that 40 percent of the adult U.S. population, or 83 million citizens, were accessing the Internet (see Intelliquest, "Intelliquest Study Shows 83 Million U.S. Internet Users and 56 Million Online Shoppers." Online. Available: http://www.intelliquest.com/press/ release78.asp (4/19/99). Other projections indicated that there would be well over 110 million American Internet users by the end of 1999 (see Computer Industry Almanac, "U.S. Tops 100 Million Internet Users According to Computer Industry Almanac." Online. Available: http://www.c-i-a.com/199911iu.htm (3/15/ 2000).
2. In April 1999, an Intelliquest survey estimated that 40 percent of the adult U.S. population, or 83 million citizens, were accessing the Internet (see Intelliquest, "Intelliquest Study Shows 83 Million U.S. Internet Users and 56 Million Online Shoppers." Online. Available: http://www.intelliquest.com/press/ release78.asp (4/19/99). Other projections indicated that there would be well over 110 million American Internet users by the end of 1999 (see Computer Industry Almanac, "U.S. Tops 100 Million Internet Users According to Computer Industry Almanac." Online. Available: http://www.c-i-a.com/199911iu.htm (3/15/ 2000).
3. For E-FOIA see "The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996," P. L. No. 104-231, 110 Stat. 3048. Online. Available: http://web.missouri.edu/~foiwww/efoia.html (4/4/2000); for E-FOIA Reading Rooms, see 〈http://www.usdoj.gov/foia/other._age.htm〉.
4. U.S. Department of State Consular Bureau 〈http://travel.state.gov/surveyresults.html〉 "During our 1997 customer survey in July, the systems had 1,461,933 users, compared with 327,855 in July 1996. Almost all of the increase was due to the rise in Internet usage. 257 persons completed the survey, and 246 (95%) found our information helpful. As of September 1997, our Website averages about 40,000 hits daily, up from 18,000 one year ago."
5. AskEPA, Public Access, EPA Headquarters Information Resources Center, operated by GCI Information Services, 〈PUBLIC-ACCESS@epamail.epa.gov〉, e-mail in response to inquiry, 2/5/99. "We usually receive between 275 to 400 questions a week through AskEPA. The majority are answered by trained librarians and information technicians, whereas a small part are referred on to other specialists." See also Lucy Park, EPA Library Network Coordinator, e-mail to 〈DIG_REF@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU〉. Online. Available: http://www.vrd.org/Dig_Ref/dig_ref-1/Current/msg01299.html (5/10/99). "We are currently receiving 1400 to 1500 inquiries each month. This number has been going up steadily from the time I started work here about 3 years ago-we got about 700 each month at that time."
6. Pauline Lynch, AskERIC Coordinator, ERIC Clearinghouse on Information & Technology, e-mail to 〈DIG._REF@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU. Online. Available. http://www.vrd.org/Dig._Ref/dig._ref-1/Current/ 1128.html (2/2/99). "At AskERIC, we are currently responding to over 1,000 email reference questions each week! We have seen a 20% increase each year since we started the service in 1992. There are other services that have seen a steady increase in questions also (i.e., IPL, KidsConnect). Earlier this year we conducted a survey and discovered that the majority of our users are college students in education programs, teachers, and librarians. There are thousands of people using digital reference services."
7. Jacquelin Siegel, librarian for the California Home Page, California Research Bureau, California State Library, e-mail to 〈DIG._REF@LISTSERV.SYR.EDU〉. Online. Available: http://www.vrd.org/ Dig._Ref/dig._ref-1/Current/1110.html (1/27/99). "I had been receiving about 150 reference questions a month. After the holiday computer buying frenzy the amount of messages sent in has doubled. We are at over 500 and still counting for January 1999 and of those about 250 are reference."
8. For more on the MOU, see Duncan Aldrich, "Partners on the Net: FDLP Partnering to Coordinate Remote Access to Internet-Based Government Information," Government Information Quarterly, 15 (January 1998): 27-38.
9. For more on DOSFAN, see U.S. Department of State Bureau of Public Affairs, "Fact Sheet: Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN)," U.S. Department of State Dispatch, 5(52) (December 26, 1994).
10. Among the DOSFAN librarians who covered various duties including answering the public's questions, building Web sites, running servers, loading new Web pages, and maintaining listservs and sending out messages were UIC Documents Department Head John Shuler, Assistant University Librarian Nancy John in Library Systems, and government documents librarians Lorri Mon, Paula Contreras, Lin Dou, Susan Neill, and Marjorie Bengtson.
11. Patricia B. Wood, "Reinvention Websites: Tools, Documents, and Services: A Presentation to the 8th Annual Federal Depository Library Conference," Bethesda, MD, April 14, 1999. Online. Available: http://www.npr.gov/library/speeches/depository.html.
12. Voice of America. (VOA) 〈http://www.voa.gov/programs/smith-mundt.html〉 and United States Information Agency (USIA) 〈http://www.usia.gov/abtusia/legal/gc/ht5.txt〉, 22 U.S.C. 1461.
13. IPL's original reference staff, Joseph Janes, David Carter (currently director of the IPL), Annette Lagace, Schelle Simcox, and Sara Ryan, developed digital reference guidelines and provided the early training opportunities for many librarians who later served key roles in digital reference services such as AskERIC and DOSFAN.
14. 53ee the Internet Public Library FARQ section, 〈http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/FARQ/〉, and the IPL's question desk at 〈http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/〉 Among articles and books written about the Internet Public Library, see Nettie Lagace "The Internet Public Library's 'Ask a Question Worldwide Reference Service,' Art Documentation, 17, (1998); and Joseph Janes ed., The Internet Public Library Handbook, New York (Neal Schuman, 1999).
15. 53ee the Internet Public Library FARQ section, 〈http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/FARQ/〉, and the IPL's question desk at 〈http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/〉 Among articles and books written about the Internet Public Library, see Nettie Lagace "The Internet Public Library's 'Ask a Question Worldwide Reference Service,' Art Documentation, 17, (1998); and Joseph Janes ed., The Internet Public Library Handbook, New York (Neal Schuman, 1999).
16. Internet Public Library, "IPL Reference Center Total Inbox Statistics," internal statistics provided by IPL Reference Coordinator Patricia Memmott (3/22/00).
17. KidsConnect, 〈http://www.ala.org/ICONN/AskKC.html〉 includes volunteer staffing from librarians of the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) through the American Library Association.
18. Robin Summers, "Meeting Education Information Needs through Digital Reference," Art Documentation, 17 (1998): 4.
19. Joann Wasik, An untitled report on results of 1997 survey of AskA Services. Online. Available: http://www.vrd.org/AskA/capacity.htm (11/19/97). For an overview of digital reference services, see AskA+ Locator Service, 〈http://www.vrd.org/locator/index.html〉 and Pitsco's Ask an Expert 〈http:// www.askanexpert.com/askanexpert/cat/index.html〉.
20. Joann Wasik, "Digital Reference Services in Libraries: Current Statistics," Virtual Reference Desk, Online. Available: http://www.vrd.org/AskA/libstats.html (July 1998).
21. See, for example, R. David Lankes et al., "An Open Letter to Leonard Kniffel and the Editors of American Libraries," 〈http://www.vrd.org/Dig._Ref/dig._ref-1/Current/msg01338.html〉, posted to DIG-REF list-serv on May 28, 1999, regarding David Tyckoson's "What's Right with Reference," American Libraries (May 1999), pp. 57-63.
22. See, for example, R. David Lankes et al., "An Open Letter to Leonard Kniffel and the Editors of American Libraries," 〈http://www.vrd.org/Dig._Ref/dig._ref-1/Current/msg01338.html〉, posted to DIG-REF list- serv on May 28, 1999, regarding David Tyckoson's "What's Right with Reference," American Libraries (May 1999), pp. 57-63.
23. See, for example, Duke University's library page 〈http://www.lib.duke.edu/ias/eac/form.htm〉. "If you are not affiliated with Duke, please contact your local public library or use the Internet Public Library;" Georgetown University's library page 〈http://www.library.georgetown.edu/forms/ask-ref/〉. "If you are not affiliated with Georgetown University, please consider consulting your local public library or another service like the Internet Public Library or Ask An Expert;" and the Ohio University Library page 〈http://www.library.ohiou.edu/forms/aldenref.html〉, "This service is available only to Ohio University students, staff, and faculty. Others should work with their local public or academic library, or try the Internet Public Library's Ask a Reference Question page. The IPL specializes in serving the entire Internet community" (accessed 4/2/2000).
24. Tyckoson, "What's Right with Reference," p. 57.
25. Bernie Sloan, "Service Perspectives for the Digital Library," Library Trends, 47 (Summer 1998), p. 135.
26. U.S. Geological Survey. Online. Available, http://walrus.wr.usgs.gov/docs/ask-a-ge.html (4/4/2000). E-mail: Ask-A-Geologist@usgs.gov. When previously accessed on 5/8/99, the site had read: "We are currently answering about 50% of your questions."
27. Internet Public Library. Online. Available. http://www.ipl.org/ref/QUE/.
28. This ability of QRC software to provide easy 24-hour access to the questions for all reference administrators and librarian volunteers is also reflected in IPL's Reference Service motto: "The day begins at midnight."
29. Paivi Jokitalo, e-mail to DIG. REF listserv about Finland's national library service. Online. Available: http://www.vrd.org/Dig.Ref/dig.ref-1/Current/msg01920.html (3/17/2000), with more information at 〈http://www.publiclibraries.fi/services.htm〉; see also Project EARL in the UK, 〈http://www.earl.org.uk/ ask/index.html〉 (accessed 4/2/2000).
30. See Library of Congress, "Collaborative Digital Reference Service," Available: 〈http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/ digiref/cdrshome.html〉 (accessed 4/5/2000). Some of the "Ask A" services involved in the Virtual Reference Desk (VRD) and the Morris County Library are also involved in the CDRS planning effort.
31. For more on the VRD project, see the White Paper by R. David Lankes, "The Virtual Reference Desk: Building a Network of Expertise for America's Schools," ERIC Document, (ED 41728) (1998) and the Virtual Reference Desk online at 〈http://www.vrd.org/〉.
32. Digital reference efforts at the innovative Morris County Library, 〈http://www.gti.net/mocolibl/ MCL.html〉, a New Jersey public library that accepts all questions whether local, national, or international, have been championed by MCL librarian Sara Weissman.
33. GPO/Library Program Service Staff, e-mail to GOVDOC-L. Online. Available: http://www.lib.umich.edu/ libhome/Documents.center/elecdep.html (12/1/95).