Should Chat Reference Be Staffed by Librarians? An Assessment of Chat Reference at an Academic Library Using LibStats

Bravender, Patricia; Lyon, Colleen; Molaro, Anthony

doi:10.1080/10875301.2011.595255

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Several studies have argued that relying on professional librarians alone to staff a reference desk or chat service is cost-ineffective (Bracke et al, 2007;Bravender, Lyon, & Molaro, 2011;Ryan, 2008). Case studies have also reported a high proportion of simple directional or technology questions at the reference desk, suggesting that many transactions do not require the skills of a librarian (Bishop & Bartlett, 2013;Ryan, 2008;Stevens, 2013).…”

Section: Appropriateness and Effectiveness Of Student Staffingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there are conflicting findings about the most common question types on chat. Bravender et al (2011) and Cabaniss (2015) reported that reference questions accounted for 17.7% and 23.3% of chats on their respective services, leading them to recommend staffing models in which graduate students or reference assistants handle the majority of chats. However, other researchers have reported that complex research or reference questions occur in 40%-66% of chats, supporting staffing by professional librarians (Coté et al, 2016;Fuller & Dryden, 2015;Morais & Sampson, 2010).…”

Section: Appropriateness and Effectiveness Of Student Staffingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Local Users, Consortial Providers: Seeking Points of Dissatisfaction with a Collaborative Virtual Reference Service

Barrett¹,

Pagotto²

2019

EBLIP

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Abstract Objective – Researchers at an academic library consortium examined whether the service model, staffing choices, and policies of its chat reference service were associated with user dissatisfaction, aiming to identify areas where the collaboration is successful and areas which could be improved. Methods – The researchers examined transcripts, metadata, and survey results from 473 chat interactions originating from 13 universities between June and December 2016. Transcripts were coded for user, operator, and question type; mismatches between the chat operator and user’s institutions, and reveals of such a mismatch; how busy the shift was; proximity to the end of a shift or service closure; and reveals of such aspects of scheduling. Chi-square tests and a binary logistic regression were performed to compare variables to user dissatisfaction. Results – There were no significant relationships between user dissatisfaction and user type, question type, institutional mismatch, busy shifts, chats initiated near the end of a shift or service closure time, or reveals about aspects of scheduling. However, revealing an institutional mismatch was correlated with user dissatisfaction. Operator type was also a significant variable; users expressed less dissatisfaction with graduate student staff hired by the consortium. Conclusions – The study largely reaffirmed the consortium’s service model, staffing practices, and policies. Users are not dissatisfied with the service received from chat operators at partner institutions, or by service provided by non-librarians. Current policies for scheduling, handling shift changes, and service closure are appropriate, but best practices related to disclosing institutional mismatches may need to be changed. This exercise demonstrates that institutions can trust the consortium with their local users’ needs, and underscores the need for periodic service review.

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Section: Appropriateness and Effectiveness Of Student Staffingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Appropriateness and Effectiveness Of Student Staffingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local Users, Consortial Providers: Seeking Points of Dissatisfaction with a Collaborative Virtual Reference Service

Barrett¹,

Pagotto²

2019

EBLIP

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“…Some studies, such as the one performed by Bravender et al (2011), indicate that student workers are capable of exhibiting high levels of accuracy as well as effectiveness. The researchers' study analyzed a sample of over 1,500 chat reference questions at Grand Valley State University, using the library statistics program LibStats.…”

Section: Bl 283mentioning

confidence: 99%

Library savings through student labor

Cottrell

Bell

2015

The Bottom Line

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2015),"Succession planning and staff development -a winning combination", The Bottom Line, Vol. 28 Iss 3 pp. 95-98 http://dx.Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emeraldsrm:264987 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this article is to briefly present current research and insight into the subject of student labor as a sharp cost-saving measure in the management of today's library personnel budgets. Design/methodology/approach -Drawing from a recent empirical study on the subject, this article adds commentary from other researchers on the pitfalls and benefits of student library labor versus paraprofessionals and librarians. Findings -Although library student workers are commonly not seen as "ideal" employees, their demonstrated performance on many library tasks is compelling enough to consider hiring more of them in place of existing staff. Originality/value -This subject can be provocative for managers to simply mention to their staff or professional colleagues. There is little research in this area, and this article helps to broach the subject in a candid manor to spark more discussion among library staff looking to improve their bottom line.

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“…Bravender, Lyon, and Molaro did a cost analysis of the virtual reference service at a medium-sized liberal arts university with a small percentage of graduate students and concluded that with less than a quarter of questions requiring a librarian to answer, having librarians staff the service was not cost effective. 16 However, other studies suggest that professional librarians' skills are well suited to offering virtual reference service. In their systematic review, Matteson, Salamon, and Brewster assert that "Providing library service via chat technology requires competencies in both communication skills as well as reference skills" and this statement could be interpreted as an endorsement for such a service model.…”

Section: Research Questions Research Sub-questionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do You Want to Chat? Reevaluating Organization of Virtual Reference Service at an Academic Library

Côté¹,

Kochkina²,

Mawhinney³

2016

RUSQ

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Since their inception, virtual reference services have evolved considerably and are now a significant component of library services in many types of library environments. The current paper reports on a study undertaken at a research-intensive academic library that analyzed and evaluated a decade-old virtual reference service. The main goal of the study was to obtain a broad and comprehensive picture of the current service, grounded in the actual day-to-day provision, usage, and organization of the service. The group of librarians involved in the study developed a feasible, efficient, and adaptable methodology for assessing and evaluating a virtual reference service. The developed methodology that combines qualitative and quantitative methods can be used and applied for a similar evaluation of the service in any type of library environment.

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Should Chat Reference Be Staffed by Librarians? An Assessment of Chat Reference at an Academic Library Using LibStats

Cited by 17 publications

References 9 publications

Local Users, Consortial Providers: Seeking Points of Dissatisfaction with a Collaborative Virtual Reference Service

Local Users, Consortial Providers: Seeking Points of Dissatisfaction with a Collaborative Virtual Reference Service

Library savings through student labor

Do You Want to Chat? Reevaluating Organization of Virtual Reference Service at an Academic Library

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