Open AccessDo You Want to Chat? Reevaluating Organization of Virtual Reference Service at an Academic Library
Author(s) -
Maryvon Côté,
Svetlana Kochkina,
Tara Mawhinney
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
reference and user services quarterly/reference and user services quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.443
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 2163-5242
pISSN - 1094-9054
DOI - 10.5860/rusq.56n1.36
Subject(s) - service (business) , computer science , service model , service design , academic library , world wide web , component (thermodynamics) , process management , knowledge management , engineering management , service delivery framework , library science , engineering , business , marketing , physics , thermodynamics
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.