Virtual reference services: Virtual reference to participatory librarianship: Expanding the conversation

R. David Lankes is an associate professor in Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies and director of the Information Institute of Syracuse. He created and ran the Virtual Reference Desk project, host of the VRD conferences from 1998-2005. He is currently a senior researcher in ALA’s Office for Information Technology Policy. He may be reached by email at rdlankesiis.syrascuse.edu. F ew would question the assertion that a reference interaction is a conversation. Be it online, over the phone or in person, the core of a reference interaction is interpersonal communication. However, the true power of this conversation basis has yet to be fully explored. This article seeks to introduce a series of assertions and questions acknowledging that the foundation of reference is a conversation for learning. Over the past decade an intensive effort has been underway to better understand, and in some cases, reinvent reference in a digital age. Some of that work has focused on systems for reference [1], evaluating reference [2] and on the communication acts in a reference process [3]. This focus on research has been more than matched by development of software and tools in reference. Where a decade earlier several organizations developed their own applications, there is now a market for virtual reference software. These proprietary systems have been joined by a growing use of free, hosted and open source tools including instant messaging and e-mail. While some may say that virtual reference is a fully developed field with little opportunity for research and development, many outstanding issues still need further investigation. The whole question of reference archives remains – the utility of the transcripts of virtual reference interactions. The integration of reference data with the rest of an organization’s information and functions remains unresolved. Certainly the entire business/cost model is still very much an open question. Yet, in all of this work, and even in discussions of future research, one implicit aspect has remained a constant: virtual reference has been seen as a “one-to-one” conversation. Even in the settings of a virtual reference cooperative that uses referral systems, the underlying content-laden process is seen as one librarian and one patron. This view is odd, as the many available definitions do not include this aspect. OCLC [4] defines virtual reference as “using computer and communications technology to provide reference service to patrons anytime and anywhere.” The digital reference research agenda defines it as “the use of human intermediation to answer questions in a digital environment.” [5] This notion of one-to-one conversation is also missing from the Reference User Services Association’s definition [6]: