Abstract
The reinterpretation of the traditional reference service in an online context is the virtual reference desk. Placing reference services into an online setting, however, presents many challenges. We report a study and analytic framework which addresses support for decision-making during virtual enquiry work. Focusing on specialist law-libraries, the study shows that enquirers do not volunteer important information to the service and that asynchronous communication media and some social obstacles present barriers to prompting. Also, previous enquiries are frequently used to inform current enquiry strategies but barriers exist in accessing this information. We conclude that email is an inadequate medium for supporting virtual reference services, and that system should support automatic, speculative matching between new enquiry content and integrated enquiry knowledge bases. The contribution of the framework is to offer a structured approach to evaluation in multiple virtual reference contexts and enable rapid convergence on barriers to efficient and effective service.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Borgman, C.L.: What are Digital Libraries? Competing Visions. Inf. Proc. and Man. 35(3), 227–243 (1999)
Marchionini, G., Fox, E.: Progress Towards Digital Libraries. Inf. Proc. and Man. 35(3), 219–225 (1999)
Chowdury, G.G.: Digital Libraries and Reference Services: Present and Future. J. Doc. 58(3), 258–283 (2002)
Bunge, C.A.: Reference Services. Reference Librarian 66, 185–199 (1999)
Taylor, R.S.: Question-negotiation and Information Seeking in Libraries. College and Research Libraries 29, 178–194 (1968)
Saracevic, T.: Modeling and measuring user-intermediary-computer interaction in online searching: Design of a study. In: Proc. of the Annual Meeting of ASIST, vol. 33, pp. 3–9 (1989)
Dervin, B., Dewdney, P.: Neutral Questioning: A New Approach to the Reference Interview. RQ 25, 506–513 (1986)
Kuhlthau, C.C., Spink, A., Cool, C.: Exploration into Stages in the Information Search Process in On-line IR: Communication Between Users and Intermediaries. In: Proc. of the Annual Meeting of ASIST, vol. 29, pp. 67–71 (1992)
Dewdney, P., Ross, C.S.: Flying a Light Aircraft: Reference Service Evaluation from a User’s Viewpoint. RQ 34, 217–230 (1994)
Lankes, R.D.: The Digital Reference Research Agenda. JASIST 55(4), 301–311 (2004)
Reftracker, A.: (accessed March 17, 2008), http://www.altarama.com.au/reftrack.htm
OCLC QuestionPoint (accessed March 7, 2008), http://www.oclc.org/questionpoint/
Beyer, H., Holtzblatt, K.: Contextual Design: Defining Customer-Centered Systems. Morgan Kaufmann, San Francisco (1998)
Strauss, A., Corbin, J.: Basics of Qualitative Research: Grounded Theory Procedures and Techniques. Sage, London (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Attfield, S., Makri, S., Kalbach, J., Blandford, A., De Gabrielle, S., Edwards, M. (2008). Prioritisation, Resources and Search Terms: A Study of Decision-Making at the Virtual Reference Desk. In: Christensen-Dalsgaard, B., Castelli, D., Ammitzbøll Jurik, B., Lippincott, J. (eds) Research and Advanced Technology for Digital Libraries. ECDL 2008. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 5173. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87599-4_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-87599-4_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-87598-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-87599-4
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)