Evaluating virtual reference from the users' perspective

Reference Librarian

Volumn 46, Issue 1, 2006, Pages 53-79

  Nilsen, Kirsti ^a   Ross, Catherine ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO   (Canada)

Author keywords

Evaluation; Field research; Library user studies; Reference interview; Virtual reference

Indexed keywords

EID: 33845769906     PISSN: 02763877     EISSN: 15411117     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1300/J120v46n95_05     Document Type: Article

References (50)

1. Patricia Dewdney and Catherine Sheldrick Ross, (1994), "Flying a Light Aircraft: Reference Service Evaluation from a User's Viewpoint," RQ 34 (2): 217-30
2. Catherine Sheldrick Ross and Patricia Dewdney, (1994), "Best Practices: An Analysis of the Best (and Worst) in Fifty-two Public Library Reference Transactions," Public Libraries 33 (5): 261-66
3. Catherine Sheldrick Ross and Patricia Dewdney, (1998), "Negative Closure: Strategies and Counter-Strategies in the Reference Transaction," Reference & User Services Quarterly 38, 2: 151-63
4. Catherine Sheldrick Ross and Kirsti Nilsen, (2000), "Has the Internet Changed Anything in Reference? The Library Visit Study Phase 2," Reference and User Services Quarterly 40 (2): 147-155
5. Nilsen, Kirsti (2004). The Library Visit Study: User Experiences at the Virtual Reference Desk. Information Research 9 (2). Paper 171. Retrieved 9 January 2005 from http://InformationR.net/ir/9-2/paper171.html
6. Kirsti Nilsen (2006). "Comparing Users' Perspectives of In-Person and Virtual Reference," New Library World 107 (3/4) forthcoming.
7. Catherine Sheldrick Ross, Kirsti Nilsen and Patricia Dewdney, (2002), Conducting the Reference Interview: A How-To-Do-It Manual for Librarians (New York: Neal Schuman; London: Facet).
8. American Library Association, (2004). "Guidelines for Implementing and Maintaining Virtual Reference Services." 2004. Prepared by the Digital Reference Guidelines Ad Hoc Committee of the Machine-Assisted Reference Section, Reference and User Services Association. Chicago: ALA. Retrieved 22 December 2005 from http://www.ala.org/ala/rusa/rusaprotools/ referenceguide/virtrefguidelines.htm.
9. Bernie Sloan, (2004), "Digital Reference Service Bibliography," Last updated 20 September 2004. Retrieved 224 December 2005 from http://people.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/digiref.html.
10. See for example the "Registry of Real Time Digital Reference Services" which illustrates numbers of services in different types of libraries as of March 2003. Retrieved 22 December, 2005 from http://www.public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/LiveRef.htm. More recently several state and province-wide collaborative virtual reference systems have been established that include public libraries.
11. Bernie Sloan, (2001), "Ready for Reference: Academic Libraries Offer Live Web-Based Reference: Evaluating System Use," Retrieved 22 December 2005 from http://www.lis.uiuc.edu/~b-sloan/r4r.final.htm.
12. Jo Kibbee, David Ward and Wei Ma, (2002), "Virtual Service Real Data: Results of a Pilot Study," Reference Services Review 30 (1): 25-36.
13. Marilyn Domas White, Eileen G. Abels, and Neal Kaske (2003), "Evaluation of Chat Reference Service Quality: Pilot Study," D-Lib Magazine 9 (2), 14 p. Retrieved 22 December 2005 from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/february03/white/02white.html.
14. Joanne Smyth, (2003), "Virtual Reference Transcript Analysis: A Few Models," Searcher 11 (3): 26-30.
15. Sloan, (2001).
16. Donnelyn Curtis and Araby Green, (2004), "A University-Wide Library-Based Chat Service," Reference Services Review 32 (3): 220-233.
17. Marie Ruppel and Jody Condit Fagan, (2002), "Instant Messaging Reference: Users' Evaluation of Library Chat," Reference Services Review 30 (3): 183-197.
18. Marianne Foley, (2002), "Instant Messaging Reference in an Academic Library: A Case Study," College and Research Libraries 63 (1), 36-45.
19. Matt Marsteller and Paul Neuhaus, (2001), "The Chat Reference Experience at Carnegie Mellon University," Presentation at the American Library Association Annual Conference, 2001. Retrieved 22 December 2005 from http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~matthewm/ALA_2001_chat.html.
20. Kibbee, Ward and Ma, (2002), p. 34.
21. Corey Johnson (2004), "Online Chat Reference: Survey Results from Affiliates of Two Universities," Reference and User Services Quarterly 43 (3): 237-247.
22. Ruppel and Fagan, (2002), p. 190.
23. For example, see Foley, (2002), p. 144.
24. Kibbee, Ward and Ma, (2002), p. 34.
25. Marsteller and Neuhaus, (2001).
26. Saskatchewan Libraries. (2003). "Saskatchewan Libraries: Ask Us! Pilot Project Evaluation." Retrieved 24 January 2004 from http://www.lib.sk.ca/staff/virtref/askusreport.html.
27. Peter Hernon and Charles R. McClure, (1986), "Unobtrusive Reference Testing: The 55 Percent Rule," Library Journal 111 (April 15): 37-41
28. Kenneth D. Crews, (1988), "The Accuracy of Reference Service: Variables for Research and Implementation," Library and Information Science Research 10, no. 3 (July): 331-355.
29. Neal Kaske and Julie Arnold, (2002), "An Unobtrusive Evaluation of Online Real Time Library Reference Services," Library Research Round Table, American Library Association, Annual Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, June 15, 2002. Retrieved 24 January 2004 from http://www.lib.umd.edu/groups/digref/LRRT.html.
30. White, Marilyn Domas, Eileen G. Abels, and Jennifer Agresta, (2004), "Relationship between Interaction Characteristics and Answer Quality in Chat Reference Service," 6th Annual Virtual Reference Desk Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio, [PowerPoint presentation], Retrieved 22 December 2005 from http://www.vrd2004.org/proceedings/presentation.cfm?PID=376.
31. White, Abels, and Agresta, slide 21.
32. Bencivengo, Glen, (2004), "A Lawyer's View of Privacy, Surveillance, and the USA Patriot Act," Chapter 12 in David Lankes et al., (eds.), The Virtual Reference Experience: Integrating Theory and Practice, 235-257 (New York: Neal Schuman), 251.
33. Joan C. Durrance, (1989), "Reference Success: Does the 55% Rule Tell the Whole Story?" Library Journal 114 (April 15): 31-36.
34. Marie L. Radford, (1999), The Reference Encounter: Interpersonal Communication in the Academic Library (Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries).
35. Dewdney and Ross, (1994)
36. Ross and Dewdney, (1994), (1998)
37. Ross and Nilsen, (2000).
38. Dewdney and Ross, (1994)
39. Ross and Dewdney, (1994), (1998)
40. Ross and Nilsen, (2000)
41. Ross, Nilsen and Dewdney (2002)
42. Nilsen (2004)
43. Nilsen (2006).
44. Ralph Gers, and Lillie J. Seward, (1985). "Improving Reference Performance: Results of a Statewide Study," Library Journal 110 (8), 32-35.
45. See Ross and Nilsen, (2000).
46. Ross, Nilsen and Dewdney, 2002.
47. Joseph Janes, (2003), Introduction to Reference Work in the Digital Age (New York: Neal-Schuman), p. 56.
48. Ross, Nilsen, and Dewdney, (2002).
49. Janes, (2003), p. 60.
50. Marie L. Radford, (2003), "In Synch? Evaluating Chat Reference Transcripts," Virtual Reference Desk Conference 2003, San Antonio, Texas. Retrieved 24 January 2004 from http://www.vrd2003.org/proceedings/ presentations.cfm?PID=231.