Virtual reference service myrna

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VIRTUAL REFERENCE SERVICE Prepared by: MYRNA P. MACAPIA, RL

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virtual reference service

Transcript of Virtual reference service myrna

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VIRTUAL REFERENCE SERVICEPrepared by:MYRNA P. MACAPIA, RL

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VIRTUAL REFERENCE SERVICES

Trends in Reference Service

Anne Lipow- “Early signposts pointing the wrong way”

• Decreased circulation statistics• Fewer walk-in users• Staff can’t keep up• Reference desk eliminated• Outsourcing on the rise• Reduced Reference service hours• Search engines: automated reference

librarian• Need for large building and staff not

clear

Anne Grodzins Lipow, “Thinking out loud: Who will give reference service in the digital environment?” RQ 37(2) (Winter 1999), pp. 125-9.

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Impact of the Internet

In 2002:

73% of college students said they use the Internet more than the library

Only 9% said they use the library more than the Internet for information searching.

The Pew Internet & American Life Project. (September 15, 2002). http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/OCT02_Issue/article03.html (accessed September 29, 2011)

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Impact of the Internet

In the digital age, the biggest change is increased user expectations. Increasingly, user expect to be able to find everything online, full-text.” (1998)

“Now both reference staff and patrons believe that an answer to almost every question can be found if the right combination of resources and search strategies is chosen from the multitude of Web resources and online services accessible.” (2002)

Carol Tenopir and Lisa Ennis

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What is Virtual Reference Service (VRS)?Internet-based Reference ServiceAsking a question onlineLive online reference serviceVirtual, digital, live, interactive, real time, web-based, synchronous “Using computer and communications technology to provide reference service to patrons anytime and anywhere”

- OCLC’s Question Point (QP)

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What is Virtual Reference Service (VRS)?Internet-based Reference ServiceAsking a question onlineLive online reference serviceVirtual, digital, live, interactive, real time, web-based, synchronous “Using computer and communications technology to provide reference service to patrons anytime and anywhere”

- OCLC’s Question Point (QP)

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Virtual Reference Desk

a project dedicated to the advancement of digital reference and the successful creation and operation of human-mediated, Internet-based information services.

is sponsored by the United States Department of Education

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U.S. Dept of Education’s Virtual Reference Desk Guidelines

AccessibilityFast turn-aroundClear policiesInteractiveInstructiveAuthorityPrivacyReview and evaluationPublicize service

IFLA Digital Reference Guidelines"Guidelines for Implementing and Maintaining Virtual Reference Services.“ American Library Association. 2005.

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Pros and Cons of VRS

Pros◦ Immediate

assistance for remote users

◦ Real time VRS is better than email for conducting reference interview

◦ Remains anonymous

◦ Awareness of the library among the user community

Cons◦ Additional staff◦ Less flexible schedule◦ Lack subject expertise◦ No visual or auditory

cues◦ Less interactive◦ Typing is slow◦ Some logoff before you

finish answering◦ Slow communications

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Developments in VRS

Asynchronous digital reference

Patron submits a question and the librarian responds at a later time

Example: Email, Web Form

Synchronous digital reference

Patron and librarian communicate in real time.

Example: Chat, Voice over IP, Video Conferencing, SMS, IM

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More VRS Developments

a. Email & Web Formb. Reference Kiosksc. Instant Messaging & Short Message

Service d. Video Conferencinge. Voice over IP f. Online Chat g. Collaborative Reference Servicesh. Commercial Services

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More VRS Developments

a. Email & Web Form

Describe the services offeredTypes of questions it handles, or does not handleFrequency the mailbox is checkedResponse timeConfidentialityPrioritiesHow statistics are kept and how service is evaluated

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More VRS Developments

b. Reference KiosksPlace Cybrarian Kiosks in the library so that users can ask librarians wherever they are in the library

HK Central Library KioskReference kiosks provide quick access

to the Library's database resources.

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time.

53 million active

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

eBuddy is a privately held company which owns a browser-based web and mobile messenger service supporting various instant messaging services. eBuddy was launched in 2003 under the name e-Messenger, located at www.e-messenger.net, before rebranding itself in 2006 to eBuddy.

35 million total

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

IBM Lotus is a client–server application and middleware platform that provides real-time, unified communications and collaboration for enterprises. Those capabilities include presence information, enterprise instant messaging, web conferencing, community collaboration, and telephony capabilities and integration. It is sold by the Lotus Software division of IBM.

40 million total (licensed, entitled users in enterprises

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

ICQ is an instant messaging computer program, which was first developed and popularized by the Israeli company Mirabilis, then bought by America Online, and since April 2010 owned by Mail.ru Group. The name ICQ is a homophone for the phrase "I seek you". This is an adaptation of the Morse code callout "CQ", which means "calling any station".

50 million active

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

IMVU is an online social entertainment destination where members use 3D avatars to meet new people, chat, create and play games created by Fydor Guthenschlag. IMVU has over 50 million registered users, 10 million unique visitors per month and three million monthly active users. IMVU has the world’s largest virtual goods of more than 10 million items(some hidden by their creators), almost all of which are created by its own members.

1 million total

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

Mail.ru Agent (MRA, M-Agent) is a free instant messaging program created by Mail.ru, one of the largest Russian web portals. Besides basic IM functionality (presence, contact list, sending text messages, file transfers, message history, etc.), M-Agent also provides online gaming, peer-to-peer voice calls, video calls, low-rate VoIP calls, free SMS, automatic mail checking and other useful features.

1 million active (daily)

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

Meebo is a social platform connecting users with their friends across the web. It began in 2005 as a browser based instant messaging program which supported multiple IM services, including Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, AIM, ICQ, MySpaceIM, Facebook Chat, Google Talk, CafeMom and others

1 million total

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

Mxit (pronounced "mix it") is a free instant messaging application developed by MXit Lifestyle (Pty) Ltd. in South Africa that runs on multiple mobile and computing platforms. Along with its own standard protocol, it can connect to Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Facebook, AIM, or Windows Live Messenger contacts as well

11 million total (9 million in South Africa)

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service User count

Paltalk Messenger, or simply referred to as Paltalk, is an Internet chat service that allows users to communicate via instant messaging, voice and video chat. It offers thousands of chat rooms and the ability for users to create their own virtual chat room on any topic and category. Paltalk Messenger is a downloadable software application that is currently available only for Windows.

3.3 million unique visitors per month

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service

Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free instant messaging computer program in mainland China. As of July 11, 2011, the active QQ users accounts for QQ IM totaled 812.3 million, possibly making it the world's second largest online community.

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service

VZOchat (pronounced as viziochat) is a free software for making video calls and instant messaging. Unlike well-known Skype and other VoIP software, VZOchat is not based on P2P technology. Instead, it uses a central server to handle data flows. As of January 2010, the community of VZOchat users comprised more than 1,100,000 people and rapidly growing.

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service

Windows Live Messenger (formerly named MSN Messenger) is an instant messaging client created by Microsoft that is currently designed to work with Windows XP (up to Wave 3), Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Mobile, Windows CE, and others. The client has been part of Microsoft's Windows Live set of online services since 2005. It connects to Microsoft's .NET Messenger Service.

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service

Xfire (pronounced "X-Fire”) is a proprietary freeware instant messaging service for gamers, that also serves as a game server browser and has various other features. It is currently available for Microsoft Windows.

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More VRS Developments

c. Instant Messaging (IM)Brief emails exchanged very fast in real time

Service

Yahoo! Messenger (sometimes abbreviated YIM) is an advertisement-supported instant messaging client and associated protocol provided by Yahoo!. Yahoo! Messenger is provided free of charge and can be downloaded and used with a generic "Yahoo! ID" which also allows access to other Yahoo! services, such as Yahoo! Mail, where users can be automatically notified when they receive new email. Yahoo! also offers PC-PC, PC-Phone and Phone-to-PC service, file transfers, webcam hosting, text messaging service, and chat rooms in various categories.

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More VRS Developments

c. Short Message Service (SMS)

A service available on most digital mobile phones

Permits people to send short messages between

Mobile phones Other handheld devices Landline telephones

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More VRS Developments

d. Video Conferencing

Videoconferencing is the conduct of a videoconference (also known as a video conference or videoteleconference) by a set of telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called 'visual collaboration' and is a type of groupware.

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d. Video Conferencing

Video Conferencing SoftwareA combination of chat software, audio and video applications2 kinds of software

Software for writing classesSoftware for businesses to hold conferences Examples:

DaedalusGroupWiseWeb PublisherNorton Connect NetMicrosoft NetShowMicrosoft NetMeetingReilly WebBoard

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d. Video Conferencing

Video Conferencing SoftwareEXAMPLE: Microsoft NetMeeting

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e. Voice over IPSince 2003 IM services have voice components

MSN Messenger, AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger

Provides free or low-cost talk on internet Negative - call other Internet users using the

same software program

Positive - make calls to land and cellular-based phones for a modest fee

New programsSkype, Google Talk

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e. Voice over IPService User count

Skype is a software application that allows users to make voice and video calls and chats over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and videoconferencing.

Skype has 929 million registered users as of September 2011

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More VRS Developments

e. Voice over IPService

Google Talk is a freeware voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) client application[offered by Google Inc. The first beta version of the program was released on August 24, 2005. It is available for the Android operating system, Microsoft Windows (XP, Server 2003, Vista, and Windows 7), Intel Mac OS X 10.5 or later, GNU/Linux, and Google Chrome OS.

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f. Online ChatOnline chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions. Online chat may address as well point-to-point communications as well as multicast communications from one sender to many receivers.

•AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)•Camfrog•Campfire•Gadu-Gadu•Google Talk•I2P-Messenger (anonymous, end-to-end encrypted im for the I2P network)•ICQ (OSCAR)•InSpeak Communicator•Internet Relay Chat (IRC)•MUD

•Paltalk•QQ•SILC•Skype•Talk•Talker•TeamSpeak (TS)•Windows Live Messenger•XMPP•Yahoo! Messenger

The following are common chat programs and protocols:

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More VRS Developments

Chat Debate - ProReach out to patrons who Can’t get to the Reference deskNever have been reached before

Good for Those who need instant repliesClarifying a question fasterAssisting users to learn effective ways to search through co-browsing and escorting

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More VRS Developments

Chat Debate - ConSome transactions never finishedSystem or browser crashesCo-browsing proprietary db is difficultPatrons disappear Time-consumingLibrarians must multi-task Concerns about qualityShady reputationLow acceptance on the web by commercial business

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More VRS Developments

g. Collaborative Reference Service

Extend hours of coverage of participants to 24/7

Cooperation and collaboration, informal or network arrangement

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More VRS Developments

h. Commercial Service

Search engineAskJeeves Ask yahoo

Expert systems:

Allexperts.comGoogle answersAskMeNow

Information Please Know’Post Experts Exchange Inforstry Webhelp.com Questia Ask.yahoo.com/ask/most LC’s Ask a Librarian Virtual Reference Desk

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Quote about VRS

Digital reference matters but it will not if we: do it badlydo it alonedo it only one waydo it in secretdo it too slowlyor from a position of fear

- Joe Janes