This study investigates how reference staff at two libraries balance teaching with resource delivery in live chat reference. Analysis of 410 transcripts from one week shows that one library tends to deliver more resources from a wider range of database suggestions, to take more time in chat interactions, and to incorporate more teaching behavior with specific resource links. Two possible reasons for these differences are reference policies and staffing models: one library states that chat is for brief factual questions and monitors chat from a public service point; the other does not state a policy and monitors chat from private offices. Findings are important for staffing responsively, developing effective research guides, and improving teaching in online reference. IntroductionWhen a student asks a librarian for help with a research assignment, will the librarian suggest a place to start looking or deliver a specific resource? Selecting a reference strategy requires balancing priorities:• Save students' time • Engage students in learning • Optimize use of library collections The imperative of teaching in reference service is established in research and professional standards, yet meeting students' immediate information needs is also vital. General approaches to reference include advising students to search the library catalog or a specific database (assuming that students can navigate to them independently) or providing a link to a research guide for the course or subject area. Delivering specific resources can mean linking to a canned search in a recommended database that incorporates the librarian's keywords and date or material type limits or sending a link to a specific journal article, book, encyclopedia article, or Web resource. In a busy chat reference service, especially one staffed at a public desk, both general and specific strategies also risk negative closure: quickly resolving an interaction without confirming whether the student's information need is satisfied.

Academic reference librarians frequently work with students who are not aware of their professional roles. In online interactions, a student might not even realize that the librarian is a person. The ways students initiate conversations reveal their understanding of the mutual roles involved in reference encounters. Conversation analysis of live chat transcripts at two institutions establishes the importance of opening exchanges to shape the potential for teaching. Chats that students open with relational cues (greeting, introduction, courtesy, verbal softeners) last longer than chats without these cues. Longer chats include more expressions of enthusiastic gratitude. The transcripts show evidence of successful strategies by librarians to shift chats from transactional openings to conversations with potential for engaged learning.

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