Needs and Results in Virtual Reference Transactions: A Longitudinal Study

McKewan, Jaclyn; Richmond, Scott

doi:10.1080/02763877.2016.1233086

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Although results vary, several studies have shown that reference interactions account for about half the questions asked via virtual reference services (Barrett et al , 2020; Dempsey, 2016, 2017; Hervieux and Tummon, 2018). The remaining interactions typically include questions about circulation, library accounts, policies, and issues with electronic resources (Armann-Keown et al , 2015; Côté et al , 2016; Matteson et al , 2011; McKewan and Richmond, 2017). Studies of this nature allow librarians to better understand the needs of their users and improve virtual reference services.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In keeping with these results, Gerlich and Berard (2010) argued that most interactions that take place at physical service points are defined by READ levels of 1, 2, and 3, which require minimum effort. It is interesting to note that although not all studies have used the READ scale, several articles have reported that the level of complexity of questions received via chat has steadily increased (Maloney and Kemp, 2015; McKewan and Richmond, 2017).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is the library open? How the pandemic has changed the provision of virtual reference services

Hervieux

2021

RSR

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the pandemic on the questions received via chat reference at a Canadian university library.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative analysis using coding of chat transcripts and a quantitative analysis of the length of chat interactions were used in this study.FindingsThe author determined that the types of questions received changed slightly during the pandemic due to the new library services offered. The complexity level of questions did not change significantly nor did the presence of instruction. The length of individual chat interactions and the total amount of time spent on chat increased, most likely due to the extended hours of the service and the number of patron questions present in one interaction.Originality/valueThis is the first study to investigate the potential impact of the pandemic on virtual reference services at a university library. The findings could lead to practical implications for libraries who need to close their in-person reference desk or need to respond to building closures.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is the library open? How the pandemic has changed the provision of virtual reference services

Hervieux

2021

RSR

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“…17 McKewan and Richmond also found an increase in question complexity when longitudinally comparing transcripts from a VRS live chat service. 18 Therefore, librarians must be aware of user motivations and expectations when using a particular service, since they will impact what types of questions elicit high-quality answers.…”

Section: Vrs Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

“I’ve Already Googled It, and I Can’t Understand It”: User’s Perceptions of Virtual Reference and Social Question-Answering Sites

Kitzie¹,

Connaway²,

Radford³

2021

RUSQ

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For librarians to continually demonstrate superior and high-quality service, they must meet the needs of current and potential users. One way that librarians have met the needs of users is by expanding their service offerings online via virtual reference services (VRS). This expansion is particularly critical in the current time of COVID-19. To provide high-quality VRS service, librarians can learn from social question-answering (SQA) sites, whose popularity reflect changing user expectations, motivations, use, and assessment of information. Informed by interviews with 51 users and potential users of both platforms this research examines how strengths from SQA can be leveraged in VRS, and what can be learned from SQA practices to reach potential library users. This study represents one of the few comparisons between VRS and SQA that exist in the literature.

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“…Articles reporting the results of research on digital reference including chat have been published since the 1990s (Matteson et al , 2011). Topics covered in the last few years of literature have ranged from teaching or instruction in chat (Dempsey, 2016, 2017; Hervieux and Tummon, 2018; Jacoby et al , 2016; Schiller, 2016), the types of questions asked in a chat service (Bourgeois and Bealer, 2020; Brown, 2017; Chen and Wang, 2019; Mavodza, 2019; McKewan and Richmond, 2017; Ozeran and Martin, 2019; Stieve and Wallace, 2018), staffing hours or needs, patron satisfaction with the service (Brown, 2017; Mungin, 2017), the role of cobrowsing (Wan et al , 2009) and communication issues (Westbrook, 2007). Probably the largest and most prolific area has involved service quality.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

Wilkinson

Denneler

Nay

et al. 2021

RSR

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PurposeUsing chat transcripts from Indiana University Libraries, the authors examined a subset of transcripts involving citations. From this analysis, they propose improvements for citation assistance as a holistic service.Design/methodology/approachTwo years of chat transcripts were examined and questions containing citation-related keywords were segregated for further examination. The authors used a test data set to create a coding scheme for the questions and responses. This scheme was then applied to all the citation-related transcripts.Findings390 of 11,553 transcripts included interactions about citations. In 42% of the transcripts, no specific citation style was mentioned. American Psychological Association and Modern Language Association were the most frequently mentioned citation styles by chat users. Business reports (company data and market research), periodicals (journal, newspaper or magazine articles), websites and government documents were the most often asked about formats, but there was a wide variety of other unusual formats. Questions about EndNote were more common than other types of citation management software. Chat staff utilized a variety of responses including guiding the student by example, directing to an online resource for more information (85% of the responses) or referring to a citation management expert. An unexpected amount of hedging words in the responses indicates the presence of anxiety on the part of chat staff in responding to these types of questions.Originality/valueThis paper goes beyond most existing studies of chat transcripts by using chat transcripts as data to guide service improvements for a commonly asked but not typically discussed set of questions.

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Needs and Results in Virtual Reference Transactions: A Longitudinal Study

Cited by 9 publications

References 4 publications

Is the library open? How the pandemic has changed the provision of virtual reference services

Is the library open? How the pandemic has changed the provision of virtual reference services

“I’ve Already Googled It, and I Can’t Understand It”: User’s Perceptions of Virtual Reference and Social Question-Answering Sites

Constructing citations: reviewing chat transcripts to improve citation assistance as a service

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