California State University

Live/Web Reference Task Force

 

Live/Web Reference in the CSU:

Report to the CSU Council of Library Directors

With Recommendations for a Pilot Project

 

 

Definitions

 

Key terms used in this report and in the Task Force recommendations are defined as follows:

 

Ø      Live/web reference: the provision of real-time, interactive personal reference assistance, and eventually library instruction, by CSU librarians for CSU students, faculty, staff and administrators via web-based customer contact center software.  

 

Ø      Web-based customer contact center software: software that enables questions to be asked and answered in real-time over the World Wide Web in a secure, private environment, using text-based chat, voice over IP and video, web pages, slide shows, and other materials that can be sent to the patron's browser, including web forms that can be filled out by both the patron and librarian; and that enables patrons to receive a transcript of the transaction with referenced URL's embedded.   

 

 

Background and Charge

 

Ø      In 2001 the Council of Library Directors (COLD) sponsored a Symposium on Live Reference in the CSU that envisioned bringing CSU librarians together to hear about cooperative live reference services already underway and to consider the possibility of cooperating together across the CSU to offer expert, interactive, web-based reference assistance to CSU students.   

 

Ø      The Symposium took place in May 2001 at the Kellogg West Conference Center. Cal Poly Pomona.  67 librarians attended, representing most of the CSU campus libraries.   A report on the Symposium, including the program evaluations, participant responses on a CSU-wide service, and Symposium follow up activities,  was presented to COLD at the September 2001 meeting.  At that time a recommendation was made to pursue this initiative with the formation of a task force to investigate and make recommendation on a plan of action for live/web reference in the CSU. 

 

Ø      Subsequently, in December 2001, the Executive Committee of COLD appointed the CSU Live/Web Reference Task Force and charged it with investigating the following:

• Current initiatives and the feasibility of CSU participation;
• Actual and potential user populations;
• Software Options;
• Management issues;
• Information Competence opportunities; and the
• Potential role of Pharos.

 

The Task Force was also charged with making a recommendation to COLD for a CSU Libraries Pilot Project prior to the May 2002 COLD meeting.  

 

 

Task Force Activities

 

The Task Force began its work in January 2002.  Our investigation included the following activities:

 

Ø      Review of Web-based Customer Contact Center Software marketed to Libraries

 

§         Scanned the current product offerings and reviewed listservs and other published comparisons of products on the market. Selected five products for in-depth review --LSSI Virtual Reference, MCLS 24/7, Horizon ReferenceDeskLive, Docutek Virtual Reference Librarian, and Convey OnDemand. 

§         Solicited input from users of these products based on a questionnaire developed by the task force.    

§         Selected three products for further consideration and in-person visits with the task force:  MCLS 24/7, LSSI Virtual Reference, and Convey OnDemand. 

 

Ø      Surveyed CSU libraries in March 2002 to ascertain the current state of live/web reference activities and products in use, equipment issues, and potential pilot libraries. 21 CSU libraries responded to the survey.  Software products in use in the CSU: MCLS 24/7, LSSI, LiveHelper, AOL Instant Messenger, Docutek Virtual Reference Librarian. The situation is fluid, but at the time of the survey this was the status of responding libraries. 

§         6 offering a live/web reference service

§         2 training

§         8 Talking

§         1 not considering

  

Ø      Reviewed existing consortium/system LiveReference projects for applicable service models

§         Consortiums reviewed included:  Illinois Ready for Reference project; MCLS 24/7; QandA Cafe; Pennsylvania Keystone Library Network, Indiana State Library network, and CDRS

§         Current proposals reviewed include OhioLink Cooperative Real/Time Reference Service RFQ and the report from the University of California, Systemwide Operations and Planning Group, Task Force on Digital Reference Service.   

 

Recommendations

 

Live/web/digital reference is viewed by the professional community as a significant evolution in the provision library/information service through the World Wide Web.   Numerous initiatives are currently underway and the extent of use continues to increase.   The rationale for implementing these services is compelling: demand for remote services;  increased remote use of the library's electronic resources and services; decreased use of onsite reference services; increasingly sophisticated software to facilitate and record interactive, real time, remote reference transactions and facilitate bibliographic instruction; and the increase in distance education and satellite campuses;  The CSU Live/Web Reference Task Force is unanimous in its recommendation that the CSU pursue a system-wide service, starting with a pilot project in 2002-2003.

 

 

Pilot Project

 

The Task Force recommends funding for a Pilot Project in FY 2002/2003 to involve selected CSU libraries and the following products deemed most suitable for testing in the CSU:  Convey OnDemand, LSSI Virtual Reference Toolkit, and MCLS 24/7.

We recommend that the CSU libraries currently using MCLS (Pomona, Long Beach, and Los Angeles) and LSSI (Monterey Bay and San Jose State) serve as pilot libraries for those products; and that three libraries agree to test Convey.    

 

The purpose of the pilot is to test the following:

 

·        Service/product stability

·        Functionality of product features

·        Training and support

·        Access to campus site licensed databases

·        Effective service models, including hours of operation

·        Working together to offer extended hours

·        Integration with WebCT, Blackboard and other instructional applications

·        User satisfaction

·        Usage

·        Effective marketing strategies

·        Staff acceptance and workload issues

·        Cost and value

·        Statistics and transcripts-report generating, administrative reports and issues

·        Compatibility with Pharos

 

The Task Force would like to meet with representatives from the test libraries at the start of the Pilot Project to review expectations, expected reports, and other pilot project outcomes. 

 

Workshop Proposal

 

The Task Force recommends that COLD consider supporting a workshop/discussion in spring 2003.  The overall goal would be to move the CSU Live-on-the-Web Reference initiative to the next level.  Task Force members are willing to organize the workshop.

 

Ø      Suggested Content: share CSU pilot project experiences; update participants on the current status of national live/web reference initiatives; provide ample opportunity for discussion and recommendations on next steps for the CSU, including workable service models. 

 

Ø      Targeted Participants: CSU heads of reference, Distance ed/outreach librarians, and Heads/Coordinators of Instruction

 

 

 

CSU Live/Web Reference Task Force

 

Johanna Alexander, Bakersfield                        Janie Silveria, Monterey Bay

Kathleen Dunn, Pomona, Chair             Gordon, Smith,  CO

Rosemary McGill, Fullerton                              Mark Stover, San Diego

Ilene Rockman, CO                                          James Tyler, Chico

 

 

Report prepared by Kathleen Dunn

May 2002