users and librarians reveal critical factors for virtual reference service excellence lynn silipigni...
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Users and Librarians Reveal Critical Factors for Virtual
Reference Service Excellence
Lynn Silipigni Connaway, Ph.D.Marie L. Radford, Ph.D.
Best Practices in Collaborative Virtual ReferenceALA 2009 Annual Conference
July 11, 2009
“Way Sweet” or “Just Wrong:”
Seeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services from User, Non-User, & Librarian Perspectives
IMLS, OCLC, & Rutgers University funded project
Four phases:Focus group interviewsAnalysis of 850 QuestionPoint live chat transcriptsOnline surveys
137 VRS UsersTelephone interviews
76 VRS Users
Online Surveys & Telephone Interviews
• Descriptive statistical analysis– Demographics– Multiple choice (surveys only)– Likert-type (surveys only)
• Qualitative analysis– Open-ended questions – 2 critical incident (CI) questions
VRS Users: What’s Hot
Word of Mouth
Recommendation
Interviews N=76 (Adult N=55, Net Gen N=21)
VRS Users: What’s Hot
Give Me the Facts
–Answer the Question
–Accuracy
Survey N=129 (Adult N=71, Net Gen N=48); Interviews N=64 (Adult N=42, Net Gen N=21)
VRS Users: What’s Hot
Be On Target
Be Quick
Be Convenient
Survey N=129 (Adult N=71, Net Gen N=48); Interviews N=64 (Adult N=42, Net Gen N=21)
VRS Users: What’s Hot
Know Your Stuff
Survey N=68 (Adult N=38, Net Gen N=30); Interviews N=34 (Adult N=26, Net Gen N=7)
VRS Users: What’s Hot
Be Personable
Be Friendly
Survey N=129 (Adult N=71, Net Gen N=48); Interviews N=64 (Adult N=42, Net Gen N=21)
VRS Users: What’s Not
Negative Closure
Survey N=68 (Adult N=38, Net Gen N=30); Interviews N=34 (Adult N=26, Net Gen N=7)
VRS Users: What’s Not
“Did you already check the catalog?”
Survey N=68 (Adult N=38, Net Gen N=30); Interviews N=34 (Adult N=26, Net Gen N=7)
VRS Users: What’s Not
Grumpy Librarians
Survey N=68 (Adult N=38, Net Gen N=30); Interviews N=34 (Adult N=26, Net Gen N=7)
VRS Librarians: What’s Hot
Leveraging Complex & Specialized Knowledge
Survey N=143; Interviews N=86
VRS Librarians: What’s Hot
Information Access to Remote Users
Survey N=143; Interviews N=86
VRS Librarians: What’s Hot
Positive Feedback
Survey N=143; Interviews N=86
VRS Librarians: What’s Hot
Tell Me More…
Survey N=143; Interviews N=86
VRS Librarians: What’s Hot
Morphing Modes
Survey N=143; Interviews N=86
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Convoluted or
Confusing Questions
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Imposed Queries
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Co-Browsing
&
Other Pesky Software
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Grumpy Users
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Unrealistic Expectations
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
VRS Librarians: What’s Not
Disappearing Users
Survey N=124; Interviews N=71
What We Learned
VRS Users Want–Access to electronic
information • Convenient
• Accurate
• Timely
– Interact w/ friendly librarians
What We Learned
VRS Librarians Want
– Clear questions
– Query clarification• User feedback
– Positive User attitude
– Resolved software issues
– Ability to serve diverse users
What We Can Do
Provide• Convenient,
authoritative, reliable services
• Accurate information• Positive attitude
End Notes
This is one of the outcomes from the projectSeeking Synchronicity: Evaluating Virtual Reference Services
from User, Non-User, and Librarian Perspectives
Funded by IMLS, Rutgers University, & OCLC
Slides available at project web site: http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/synchronicity/
Special thanks to Patrick Confer, Jocelyn DeAngelis Williams, Timothy J. Dickey, and Erin Hood
