Open AccessEvaluation of a statewide collaborative chat‐based reference service: Approaches and directions
Author(s) -
Pomerantz Jeffrey,
McClure Charles R.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
proceedings of the american society for information science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8390
pISSN - 0044-7870
DOI - 10.1002/meet.1450410112
Subject(s) - service (business) , plan (archaeology) , computer science , world wide web , pilot program , medical education , medicine , economy , archaeology , economics , history
The State Library of North Carolina recently launched an 18‐month pilot of a collaborative statewide chat‐based virtual reference service, for which the authors have been contracted as program evaluators. The primary evaluation question motivating this pilot program is: “Is collaborative virtual reference an effective way to meet the information needs of North Carolinians?” This paper describes the evaluation plan, the methodologies, and the data analyses that will be employed to answer the evaluation question. The paper also describes some preliminary findings from one of the libraries participating in the service and currently offering chat‐based virtual reference service.