[13981] in Public-Access_Computer_Systems_Forum
Re: The Future of Digital Reference Services?? (Revisited)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Millard Johnson)
Mon Jun 4 20:20:02 2001
Date: Mon, 04 Jun 2001 10:18:38 -0500
From: Millard Johnson <zendog@INCOLSA.NET>
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To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Reply-to: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum <PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU>
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INCOLSA and OCLC are developing a networked wide virtual reference service.
Alpha testing of a plain vanilla Email system is in progress now. We expect
to be in wide scale beta testing around 1 July, with full statewide
(Indiana) operation available to our 600+ member libraries by January 2002.
This system improves typical stand alone virtual reference by allowing
questions to be switched to buddy libraries or sent up to reference resource
centers - presumably to CDRS or equivalent, in some future time. The system
includes a knowledge base archive of previously answered questions.
We have designed the basic Email system with a hook for "question
negotiation" which is not well addressed in standard Email virtual
reference. Recently we were introduced to a software www.conveysystems.com
which seems to be very well designed for this task. It defaults to chat-box
communication, but depending on the bandwidth of the user, it can handle
voice-over-IP or online voice/video. It also allows the reference center to
push web pages to the user. The reference librarian can even (if permission
is allowed) take over the requesters PC and demonstrate techniques. We
thought it was surprisingly mature - so much so that we have purchased a
trial of the software. If it is successful in our tests, we may use it as
the technology for question negotiation.
We are excited about networked virtual reference because (as Steve Coffman
and others have pointed out) reference librarians are often unavailable to
serve patrons because they are away looking up answers, and part of their
time waiting for the next question. Networked reference has the potential
of bringing down costs, extending hours of service, and linking questions to
expert resources. We can't all have a chemistry reference librarian on duty
until 2:00am, but one such person could serve the needs dozens of libraries.
We are also concerned that about more than half of reference questions from
our 8 reference centers now require a document delivery complete the
reference transaction. Anyone with a magic bullet to kill this problem?
***************************************************************
Millard F. Johnson zendog@incolsa.net
INCOLSA (317) 298-6570
"I would rather risk failure than achieve it without risk."
***************************************************************
-----Original Message-----
From: Public-Access Computer Systems Forum [mailto:PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU]
On Behalf Of Freidenrich, Leah
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2001 11:47 AM
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Subject: Re: The Future of Digital Reference Services?? (Revisited)
Bernie, I love your mind. What great questions you have posed!
I am anxiously awaiting the responses of more tech-savey librarians.
Leah Freidenrich
Library Chair, Santiago Canyon College
-----Original Message-----
From: Sloan, Bernie [mailto:bernies@UILLINOIS.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 2:18 PM
To: PACS-L@LISTSERV.UH.EDU
Subject: The Future of Digital Reference Services?? (Revisited)
It looks like there will be a number of sessions at ALA in San Francisco
that deal with digital reference services. As people prepare for these
sessions, it might be a good time to reflect on the future of such services.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a note asking about the future of digital
reference services. I didn't get a whole lot of responses, and someone
suggested that might be because my note may have been too cluttered with
info on the history of digital reference. So, I am sending another note
that's pared down to the basic questions I had, plus one or two additional
questions.
What might be waiting on the horizon to steal the thunder away from
chat-based services? What's the next technology that will impact digital
reference services? Will videoconferencing make a comeback as cameras become
more commonplace and bandwidth is increased? Will voice-over-IP applications
lessen the need for typed chat sessions in Web call center software as
microphones become more common as computer peripherals?
Will digital reference services become more automated? For example, the OPAL
Project at the UK's Open University will attempt, in part, to use
agent-based architecture to create a generic "artificial librarian", capable
of answering complex questions about library resources. (See
http://oulib1.open.ac.uk/wh/research/opal/intro.html).
Will we see more "hybrid" services (e.g., chat to conduct a quick reference
interview, and e-mail to deliver the answers)?
How will collaborative services (e.g., LC's CDRS or the Alliance Library
System's "Ready for Reference" project) impact local digital reference
services?
Will e-mail continue to be the default medium for digital reference services
as we experiment with other technologies?
I'm sure others can think of additional questions!
Bernie Sloan
Senior Library Information Systems Consultant
University of Illinois Office for Planning and Budgeting
338 Henry Administration Building
506 S. Wright Street
Urbana, IL 61801
Phone: (217) 333-4895
Fax: (217) 265-0454
E-mail: bernies@uillinois.edu
