QuestionPoint: 24/7 reference services

Did you know . . .

. . . that you have recourse to a world of expertise, if your library’s or group’s resources cannot satisfy your patron’s question? As a subscriber to QuestionPoint, your library automatically has the option to participate in the Global Reference Network (GRN).

Originally conceived by the Library of Congress, the GRN has been offered as part of QuestionPoint since 2002. The vision for this cooperative was to facilitate the information fulfillment needs of patrons by sharing resources, expertise, and even time through a network of many library types and geographic locations. When a library does not have the needed resources to satisfy a question it’s received, it could route that question to a more appropriate library for an answer.

For small libraries, the GRN helps to level the playing field. No longer does this library have to say “Sorry” to a patron with an information need of greater depth than the collection. For larger libraries, the GRN can help relieve load by routing to a library with a more specialized collection or a public library with a more generalized collection, rather than spending hours researching an unfamiliar subject area or saying no to an out-of-scope education level. For all library patrons, the message is “We can get an answer for you,” rather than “You will have to call so-and-so or travel to such-and-such a library.”

Librarian selects the GRN

Originally built on a system that matches a question coded by the requesting librarian with a library whose subject strengths, as specified in their QuestionPoint profile, match the coded question, the GRN was intended to largely function as a hands-off matching tool. We soon found, however, that a simple matching algorithm leaves something to be desired until profile volume (and thus the volume of subject strengths, locations, times available, etc.) grows to a critical mass. So we introduced a selection tool to use in tandem with automatic matching: from several matching libraries the requesting librarian selects the most appropriate.

Coding the question

Selecting a matching library

Note that in the illustration above, the weighted, matching score is exactly the same for 8 libraries, so the routing librarian has a quite a choice. In the final column, none of the libraries have had a question routed to them this week. The second number represents what that library profiled itself to commit to answering per week, should they be called on to do so (should questions be routed to them).

Over 3500 questions have been routed through the GRN since 2003. In 2008 alone, close to 100 libraries were involved in routing and/or answering the questions. Remember, as a QuestionPoint library you are eligible to participate in the GRN. Although there are no rules for ratio of questions asked to questions answered, community consideration encourages libraries that route questions to consider profiling themselves for also receiving (answering) questions should the need arise. Commitments can always be changed through profiling.

For more information about the Global Reference Network, go to http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/help/lv/ask/ask_refer_globalinfo.html. To learn how to participate in the GRN as an answering library, go to http://www.questionpoint.org/crs/html/help/lv/profile/pr_gen_profimpr.html. To learn how to route questions, go to http://www.viewletcentral.com/vc/viewlet/706112206/. Member guidelines are available at http://www.questionpoint.org/policies/memberguidelines.html.

ANNOUNCEMENT: QuestionPoint service interruption

Dear QuestionPoint subscribers:
We are currently experiencing technical issues with QuestionPoint that may cause performance slowdown.

Please be advised that at 10:00 GMT, tomorrow, May 6, we will interrupt QuestionPoint service to perform critical maintenance to resolve these issues. We expect to have service restored within 15 minutes (or by 1015 GMT). Please try to end any chat sessions in progress immediately prior to that time, so as to avoid sudden session interruptions.

Once service is restored, please check your “New” questions lists for any interrupted chat sessions or unanswered email questions.  You may consult the blog at http://questionpoint.blogs.com for details.

We regret any inconvenience.

The QuestionPoint Team.

 

Chers utilisateurs de QuestionPoint,

Nous remarquons actuellement des difficultés techniques dans QuestionPoint qui peuvent affecter la performance du service. Nous nous excusons de cette situation et tentons de résoudre le problème.   Veuillez prendre note que le service QuestionPoint ne sera pas disponible de 10hrs 00 TU à 10hrs 15 TU,  le  mardi 6, mai , le temps d’une installation d’urgence.

Nous prévoyons que le service sera rétabli à l’intérieur de 15 minutes [ou pour 10hrs 15 TU].   Veuillez essayer de mettre fin à vos sessions de CHAT en cours avant l’interruption afin d’éviter que la communication avec vos utilisateurs ne soit coupée. Lorsque le service sera rétabli, vérifiez dans vos listes de “Nouvelles” questions pour les sessions de CHAT interrompues ou les nouvelles questions par courriel.

Pour plus de détails, prière de consulter le blogue de QuestionPoint.

Bien à vous,
L’équipe de QuestionPoint

QuestionPoint marketing workshop - hosted by OCLC Western

If They Don't Know About it, They Won't Come! Marketing Virtual Reference

It’s likely that members of your own library staff aren’t aware of virtual reference, let alone John and Jane Public. So how can you raise awareness? By marketing, of course; but effective marketing is more than splashy promotions, eye-catching graphics and clever messages. Success is grounded in constant attention, creativity, listening to customers, and being passionate about all that libraries have to offer.

Join OCLC Western libraries and others for this two-hour online workshop presented by Buff Hirko, former Statewide Virtual Reference Coordinator for the Washington State Library and co-author (with Mary Ross) of Virtual Reference Training:  The Complete Guide to Providing Anytime, Anywhere Answers.  Two sessions are being offered, May 13th and June 5th.

This course will introduce concepts and techniques that tempt folks to use your chat service, and keep them coming back. In addition to basic marketing guidelines, we will also discuss examples of creative promotion, cost-effective tools, and design principles and resources. It is a perfect course for chat service providers and managers from academic and public libraries who want to increase their visibility and understanding of virtual reference.

For more information and to register, please visit the workshop page on OCLC Western’s site at  

http://www.oclc.org/western/training/courses/descriptions/W915.htm.

Brief downtime Tuesday morning, March 25

Hello QuestionPoint subscribers:
QuestionPoint will be unavailable for a very brief time Tuesday morning, March 25, at 1000 GMT. We anticipate only a 15-minute outage. This outage is necessary to implement important fixes and upgrades. Please be sure to end any chat sessions in progress before that time and check your NEW folder for any missed or dropped sessions once the system is back up. Also be sure to save drafts of any in-progress answers you are writing in the Ask module.

Among the user-apparent problems that are being fixed or upgrades being implemented are:
FIXES:
Descriptive Codes report incorrect linking to transcripts. Now reporting correctly.
Additional descriptive codes unintentionally ommited in March 2 install.
The Send Message button, on the Ask/Answer page, fixed.
Participant lists, now linked from the My QuestionPoint page, right margin, fixed.
Chat session time-out has been set back to a total of 4 minutes: 3 minutes after a patron has X’ed out of his session browser, the librarian will see the red diamond by the patron’s name; after 1 more minute, the patron-not-connected message appears.

Default email messages again appear in the language indicated in the question form html script. This problem was first noted by a Slovenian and a German library.

Special characters are now passed through the Qwidget transcript as expected.
CHANGES:
A note on the My QuestionPoint/Reports/Sessions reports pages clarifies what is included in the “Our Sessions with Others’ Patrons, BME’s” count.

We regret the inconvenience this brief downtime may cause, and we appreciate your patience.
Paula Rumbaugh
QuestionPoint Team

New QuestionPoint Release coming Sunday

Dear QuestionPoint subscribers: 

We are planning to install an important new release of QuestionPoint this coming Sunday, March 2, in the early morning. 

The system will be brought down at 0800 GMT and is planned to remain down for 60 minutes. As always, the announced duration of downtime is an approximation: the system could be available in less than an hour, or it could extend beyond that. Should we become aware of the need to remain down longer, we will notify this list. 

At the end of this post will be a brief description from the release notes of the new features and changes to existing features. Most of the additions will have little immediate effect on your daily work; they are capabilities that your institution can choose to implement if it wishes. 

Exceptions for some users are the chat patron viewport change from left to right (section 1.1) and the enhancement to queue management (section 1.7). The impact of the feature changes, Section 2 in the attached, is also likely to be minimal to your daily workflow, but you should read about them to be aware of the changes. The attached file will also be posted to the QuestionPoint blog at http://questionpoint.blogs.com. 

We will hold two virtual user group meetings the second week of March, to discuss the new features and answer any questions you have. The first meeting is planned for March 12, 1400 - 1530 GMT. The second will be March 13, 2200 - 2330 GMT (March 14 for our Australian and Asian institutions). To register for one of the meetings, please follow the appropriate link: 

March 12, 10 - 11:30 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time (1400 - 1530 GMT) 

https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=103177 

March 13, 6 - 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (2200 - 2330 GMT) 

https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=103179 

We look forward to your reactions to the new features of QuestionPoint. 

Paula Rumbaugh on behalf of the QuestionPoint Team 

1. New Features

1.1 Chat Infrastructure 

The patron chat interface will now more closely resemble what has been available for preview as Chat 2. To meet accessibility requirements, the viewport and chat box/transcript area have switched sides: the viewport for the patron will now appear on the right side of the screen, and the chat box and transcript on the left. Co-browsing will also take place on the right side instead of the left.

In addition, patrons will be able to set preferences, changing font faces and sizes, color combinations, and whether or not they want an audible signal when a new message comes in.

1.2 Forms Manager

The first phase of the QuestionPoint Forms Manager is now available to create email web forms.

Institution Administrators can now have QuestionPoint host all patron email web forms for your library’s QuestionPoint service. Further, the administrator can set up the forms that are e-mailed to the QuestionPoint service exactly as they want them to look. (In the future, they’ll be able to do the same with the chat forms.) Having QuestionPoint staff manage your chat forms for you remains an option until the chat form manager becomes available in future releases. 

Advantages in having QuestionPoint host your forms and managing them yourself are:

· Easy to use and reduces the need for IT staff involvement in your forms. 

· Lets you customize your forms. 

· Provides forms in multiple languages. 

· Supports improved access to data about reference transactions. 

· Provides improved protection against spam.

Complete instructions for form set-up will be available in Administration module Help, as well as at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation . A walkthrough tutorial will also be provided. Forms management is accessible at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager. Administrators will be able to control the logo and colors of the form, the elements for which they want to collect information from the patron, the order of the fields (e.g., Zip Code, status), and whether or not they are required fields

1.3 Widget for Point of Need Communication

With this install, the QuestionPoint team introduces the Qwidget, a Meebo-Me-like chat box that libraries can place anywhere on their website, at the patron’s point of need. Like similar widgets (see below), the Qwidget will enable the library to indicate when a librarian is on duty and when not. You’ll also be able to set the widget up to give the patron the option of redirecting a question through e-mail if chat is not “open.” But unlike the familiar, commercially available widgets, the Qwidget will allow multiple concurrent sessions on the librarian side.

For the librarian, the Qwidget is another entry point into the chat queue they already monitor. The only difference apparent to the librarian is the term “[Widget]” displayed at the beginning of the patron name. The librarian will also see in the Info area that this patron’s connection has no co-browsing capability

Mounting of the Qwidget is a decision each library can make. Only the library’s primary queue will see sessions coming in via the Qwidget. Libraries must be using the Flash-based chat to see Qwidget sessions.

What Is a Widget? A widget is a small application that adds utility or other information from external sources, via html code that you add to your webpage.  For additional information, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_widget. A common widget used by several libraries is the MeeboMe widget (Meebo is a web-based IM service).  Widgets are popular among users:  according to Jupiter Research (Oct. 2007), awareness and use of Widgets among online users, which was less than 5% in early 2007, has now increased: 39% of online users are aware of widgets, and 26% have used them

Institution Administrators will find the Qwidget set-up at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager/ Create Qwidget (Preview). Complete instructions for set-up will be in Administration Help and at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation .

1.4 Branding for the Patron Interface

Group Administrators will now have the ability to brand QuestionPoint’s patron interface. The Administrator can add the logo of the group (or institution, if only one) and change the colors to more closely resemble other group websites and marketing pieces. Links to other group resources can be added as tabs to the top of the pages.

The following illustrations show the set-up page and the page as it will appear to your users. Complete instructions for set-up will be in Administration Help and at http://questionpoint.org/support/documentation .

1.5 CAPTCHA Spam Filtering

Institution Administrators will have three options to help control spam coming into your QuestionPoint service:

1. Have QuestionPoint host the library’s patron intake forms. Although not 100% guarded against spam, the OCLC firewall has proven quite reliable for the 24/7 Cooperative hosted chat forms, and similar results are expected for the newly available hosted webforms.

2. Select the option for QuestionPoint to validate the referrer page before accepting the form information into the system. You may enter more than one URL, to cover all those pages on which you have a form. Since many spam bots are using a cached or a local version of your web form, their submitted forms will not match the referring URL(s) you list. Any form data coming from any site other than those you indicated will be ignored.

3. Use the Captcha tool to force the user to enter the characters they see in the randomly generated graphic. This kind of recognition still requires the human eye, so bots cannot pass the test.

Administrators will find the second two options at Administration/Institution/Forms/Spam Filter. The first option is automatic when you choose to “publish” a form through forms set-up at Administration/Institution/Forms/Forms Manager.

1.6 Offline Reports for Service History

Institution, Group, and Ask Administrators can now produce reports for the institution’s older transcripts and transactions in Service History.

1.7 Queue Management

The first phase of “queue management” to be implemented will make it easier for librarians to claim their own patrons from the chat queue before they are picked up by librarians in the next level queue, e.g., by a Cooperative librarian.

Session requests will first appear only in the home library’s primary queue for 40 seconds. If the patron has not been picked up in that time, the session will roll to the next level queue (e.g., the Cooperative queue), where any monitoring librarian can claim the session. For the Cooperative, as always, only after two minutes of waiting will the patron be picked up by a Back-up librarian.

Important note: There will no longer be an asterisk to let librarians know the home library of a waiting patron is monitoring. Once a session appears in a librarian’s monitor, that session may be picked up by that librarian. No further waiting is necessary.

2. Feature Changes

2.1 Reports Simplification

As QuestionPoint developed and grew, different reporting needs were identified and added to the existing interface. These additions and enhancements eventually resulted in three locations within QuestionPoint from which to retrieve statistics on your usage. Adding to the complexity was the fact that access to reports is based on permissions level. So not only were users sometimes not sure where to go to get which statistics, some librarians could see institution statistics and some could not.

The March 2008 release brings all QuestionPoint statistics together into one module, accessible from the My QuestionPoint page.

Behind the Reports tab, all users will see report links, based on the permissions level of their login number.

All librarians, regardless of permissions level, will be able to see statistics of their own usage and statistics for their institution-wide usage. The next illustration shows that users with institution administrator authorization will see more reports, including those for each librarian of the institution. They will also see a link for suggesting new reports.

Librarians without the administrator permissions will not see those links. But everyone will have access to the system-wide statistics and QP Usage.

Institution and Group Administrators will find that all reports previously available in the Administration module, now appear here, under the Reports tab on My QuestionPoint. All Administrators: Four reports previously available in the Ask module were also moved to the new location.

Old Location	New Location in My QuestionPoint Reports
Administration Module
History Tab	Activity Statistics
Current Tab	Counts of Current Data
Ask Module
Reports Tab
General	No change*
Sessions	Counts of Current Data
Sessions by Authorization	Counts of Current Data
Descriptive Codes	Counts of Current Data
Resolution Codes	Counts of Current Data
Form Fields	No change
Offline Reports	No change

*The location has not changed, but the tab that previously read Reports now reads

Review Transcripts.

2.2 Review Transcripts (previously, Ask/Reports)

Administrators: In the illustration below, you see that Review Transcripts has replaced the old Reports tab. In addition, note that several of the reports that just gave statistics no longer appear as links in this area. Instead, only those features that truly allow you to review transcripts, rather than numbers, appear here.

A second change is for the table on the General Reviews page. A new column, called Chat Librarian, appears. Together with the Librarian column, administrators can see who picked up a chat session originally, as well as who the most recent librarian to have handled the session or transaction is.

 

2.3 OCLC Logo Change

If your institution or group has not substituted your own logo on the QuestionPoint interface, you will note the new logo in the upper right of every page. This represents OCLC’s new, global look!

2.4 Additional Descriptive Codes

Additional Descriptive Codes have been added to more accurately describe transactions. The new codes are:

• e-learning
• Email
• Excel
• Network
• Passwords
• Powerpoint
• Printing
• Settings
• Software
• Word

3. Fixes

3.1 Chat Librarian in Session Reports and Transcript Review (previously, Ask/Reports)

Administrators: Prior to this install, only the most recent librarian to have touched a transcript/transaction was reported in the reports available in Ask (now renamed My QuestionPoint/Reports and Ask/Review Transcripts). This sometimes caused unexpected results when looking at the Sessions reports, especially in reporting how many patrons from other libraries your librarians helped.

After the March install, QuestionPoint will be able to report chat librarians. Thus, the counts and linked transcripts you see for Sessions and Sessions by Authorization should deliver the expected results for transcripts created from the time of the install forward.

3.2 No Status Limit in Transcript Review (previously, Ask/Reports)

Institution and Ask Administrators: Since April 2007 the General report default search had a limit set, Status = All (Not deleted). The Status field has been set to All, or no limit. This should fix the problem in which administrators were unable to see certain transcripts their librarians participated in unless they changed the Status limit.

3.3 Librarian chat not appearing. Back end changes to the system were made to improve method by which librarian chat is recorded and stored. This should resolve the intermittent (and rarely seen) phenomenon of librarian chat not appearing in chat history or transcripts.

QuestionPoint Install Tuesday Jan 15, 2008

QuestionPoint Users:

Over the past 3 days, various QuestionPoint e-mail clients have been under a spam attack by a “bot” whose e-mail message includes an automated script that hijacks the user’s browser when the question is viewed in the Ask module. The effect of this script is to incapacitate the user by forcing their web browser to load the targeted site in the script. This makes it impossible to either delete the sessions or skip it to view other incoming questions, transcripts, or sessions. The libraries that are affected are not related to each other in any way, and the message sent is one of the typical advertising spam schemes, in no way related to the business of either library. This problem has cropped up in the past, but very rarely, and was previously confined to single libraries, with the hijack script actually physically sent by a real person, (usually unwittingly).  The current attack is far more insidious, being automated and consisting of multiple messages over a short period of time.  We have concluded that left untreated, this vulnerability might permeate to other clients' accounts, as the “bot” gets smarter.  We are therefore implementing the following change to QuestionPoint, effective Tuesday Jan 15 at 6AM EST (11:00 GMT):

Incoming email messages will be parsed by the server, and any instance of the use of the “<” character will be translated to “&lt” in order to incapacitate any automated scripting.

When viewed from within your QuestionPoint account, the "<" will display correctly, but if the transcript is emailed out to another person or sent in a reply, the "<" character will be replaced by "&lt", to avoid further unwitting propagation of the potentially nefarious script.

The install on Tuesday January 15th, will result in the QuestionPoint service being unavailable for approximately 15 minutes between 6:00AM and 6:15 AM EST (11:00 GMT to 11:15 GMT). As always, please check your question lists after the server bounce, to see if any sessions were truncated or missed.

Please note that this fix will not stop incoming spam e-mail messages. It will however, keep those messages from doing harm to the system overall. 

We are continuing to develop other spam-fighting techniques with an eye to deployment over the next two months. Stay tuned!

Spam Update

The QuestionPoint development team has developed some techniques to reduce the amount of form-based Spam sent through your email reference form.

SPAM and email reference forms

Please note that these techniques are designed to limit Spam on email reference forms that you host on your library’s web site.

We have two options available for blocking Spam. You may use both methods at the same time.

The first technique uses a QuestionPoint-hosted Spam blocker. To use this technique please do the following:

1. Click on the Support form link when you are logged into QuestionPoint.
2. Fill out the form - In the Question box including the following:
   • Your institution ID
   • The URL for EVERY instance of your email reference web form.

You will receive an email within 1-2 business days confirming that your library has been added to the tool.

If you have email reference forms submitting from  a variety of locations into a single QuestionPoint account, the tool will need to know every possible location where form submission may occur.

Once you receive this email, please contact OCLC Customer Support via email at support@oclc.org if your volume of Spam does not decrease or you receive complaints from your patrons related to form submission.  When possible, be sure to note the specific problem URLs.

The second technique involves making changes on your self-hosted form. Please have your webmaster contact OCLC Customer Support at support@oclc.org with your library name and Institution ID to receive the directions.

SPAM and chat forms

For chat forms, if you currently host your own chat intake form and would like to limit any potential spam, we strongly recommend that you convert to our OCLC hosted chat form model.  This is only available for libraries that have fully transitioned to the librarian “Flash Chat” interface.  Please contact Carol Bonnefil of the QuestionPoint team (bonnefic@oclc.org) to discuss options.

If your chat form is hosted by QuestionPoint, we will be implementing these modifications for you automatically.

Research on Virtual Reference Services

Hello QuestionPoint users:
We're forwarding to you a message from Jocelyn DeAngelis, of Rutgers University. Jocelyn is the project manager for a research study currently underway by Marie Radford and Lynn Silipigni Connaway. Their study is an evaluation of chat services from several perspectives.

Jocelyn's message describes the study and the intended survey with end users in the U.S. We hope you will consider implementing their suggested message to your chat patrons as a custom message in the transcript that is e-mailed at the close of every session.

QuestionPoint administrators can set this up in the Administration module at Administration/Institution/Settings/Custom Messages/Chat Transcript. (We will be happy to answer any questions you might have about how to do this.)

Since the call for participants is for a limited time only--currently estimated to end in October--the nearer the beginning of the e-mail you place the message, the more likely it is to be seen. Or perhaps you can think of other ways to highlight it.

On behalf of the Seeking Synchronicity research team, thank you for your consideration.
Susan McGlamery
Paula Rumbaugh
----------------------------------------------------------
We are seeking your help in recruiting participants for an important web survey. We need participants who are not librarians, library science students or faculty. We are looking for individuals who have chatted or IMed with a librarian as a user of a virtual reference service for our grant-funded research project, "Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives." The survey will take approximately 30 minutes and participants will be paid $25. We also may offer them the opportunity to take part in a live telephone interview for $30.

This study will evaluate the sustainability and relevance of library virtual reference services. It is funded by a US federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Rutgers University, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. The principal investigators of the project are Marie L. Radford (Associate Professor, Rutgers University) and Lynn Silipigni Connaway (Consulting Research Scientist III, OCLC). One way that may be possible for you to help is to include the following line in your closing script to users or as a line in the emailed transcript they receive following the session: "If you are interested in participating in a PAID research study about virtual reference similar to our 'insert service name', please email vrsgrant@rci.rutgers.edu for more information."

Another way is for you to forward our email address to potential participants, vrsgrant@rci.rutgers.edu, asking if they would be interested in participating in a PAID research study about chat reference services similar to your own.

Please contact me via email if you have any questions.
Thank you,
Jo

Virtual Reference researchers need your help

We're forwarding to you a message from Jocelyn DeAngelis, of Rutgers University.  Jocelyn is the project manager for a research study currently underway by Marie Radford and Lynn Silipigni Connaway.  Their study is an evaluation of chat services from several perspectives.

Jocelyn's message describes the study and the intended survey with end users in the U.S.  We hope you will consider implementing their suggested message to your chat patrons as a custom message in the transcript that is e-mailed at the close of every session.   

QuestionPoint administrators can set this up in the Administration module at Administration/Institution/Settings/Custom Messages/Chat Transcript.  (We will be happy to answer any questions you might have about how to do this.) 

Since the call for participants is for a limited time only--currently estimated to end August 31--the nearer the beginning of the e-mail you place the message, the more likely it is to be seen.  Or perhaps you can think of other ways to highlight it.

On behalf of the Seeking Synchronicity research team, thank you for your consideration.

Susan McGlamery
Paula Rumbaugh

---

We are seeking your help in recruiting participants for an important web survey. We need participants who are not librarians, library science students or faculty. We are looking for individuals who have chatted or IMed with a librarian as a user of a virtual reference service for our grant-funded research project, "Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives." The survey will take approximately 30 minutes and participants will be paid $25. We also may offer them the opportunity to take part in a live telephone interview for $30. This study will evaluate the sustainability and relevance of library virtual reference services. It is funded by a US federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Rutgers University, and OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. The principal investigators of the project are Marie L. Radford (Associate Professor, Rutgers University) and Lynn Silipigni Connaway (Consulting Research Scientist III, OCLC). One way that may be possible for you to help is to include the following line in your closing script to users or as a line in the emailed transcript they receive following the session: "If you are interested in participating in a PAID research study about virtual reference similar to our 'insert service name', please email vrsgrant@rci.rutgers.edu for more information." Another way is for you to forward our email address to potential participants, vrsgrant@rci.rutgers.edu, asking if they would be interested in participating in a PAID research study about chat reference services similar to your own. Please contact me via email if you have any questions. Thank you, Jo

Program of interest at ALA Annual: "See it, Hear it, Touch it: How do Communication and Learning Styles Affect Virtual Reference?"

Hello,

On Monday, June 25 at 10:30 a.m. there will a program at the ALA
Annual Conference in Washington, DC that many of you who provide
QuestionPoint chat will be interested: "See it, Hear it, Touch it: How
do Communication and Learning Styles Affect Virtual Reference?"

We have three dynamic expert speaker/panelists who will be responding
to a series of questions as well as questions from the audience based
on their recent research.  They are Eileen Abels, Marie Radford, and
Lynn Westbrook.  Each will be sharing useful information relevant to
how we offer our virtual reference services and train staff to provide
them.

Looking forward to seeing many of you there!

-Joe Thompson, Co-chair RUSA RSS/MARS Virtual Reference Committee

TITLE:

See it, Hear it, Touch it: How do Communication and Learning Styles
Affect Virtual Reference?

TIME/LOCATION:

Monday, June 25, 2007
10:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Grand Hyatt, Constitution A-B
1000 H Street NW, between 10th & 11th Streets Washington, DC

DESCRIPTION:

Our increasingly tech savvy virtual reference users have radically
different communication and learning preferences.  Some are most comfortable with
e-mail, others prefer chat.  Some crave the streamlined IM environment, others
prefer to text message on their cell phones.  Some like detailed instructions,
others like a packaged answer.  Librarians and information professionals need
to offer services that meet a broad range of information needs and communication
preferences.  Educators increasingly need to incorporate new
technologies in innovative ways to meet a variety of learning styles in both physical
and virtual service points to meet the needs of their users.  A lively panel
of experts will explore the options, present recent research findings, and
recommend approaches relevant to all types of libraries.

SPEAKER/PANELISTS:

Eileen G. Abels
Associate Professor
iSchool at Drexel
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Marie Radford
Associate Professor & Library Consultant
School of Communication
Information & Library Studies
Rutgers University

Lynn Westbrook
Assistant Professor
School of Information
The University of Texas at Austin

FACILITATOR:

Joe Thompson
Project Coordinator: Maryland AskUsNow!
Co-chair, RSS/MARS Virtual Reference Committee

PROGRAM SPONSORS:

RUSA RSS/MARS Virtual Reference Committee,
RUSA RSS Cooperative Reference Committee,
and
ACRL Instruction Section