Richardson/DIS 2002 Symphony of Synchronicity? Evaluating Chat Reference Dr. John V. Richardson Jr. UCLA Professor of Information Studies LSSI Presidential Scholar VRD Chicago, 12 November 2002

Richardson/DIS 2002 Presentation Outline S. S. Green’s Qualities Attributes Identified by Subsequent Authors RUSA Behavioral Guidelines Open vs. Closed Questions LSSI’s Green Guidelines Assessing Transcripts Further Readings

Richardson/DIS 2002 Green’s Qualities (1876) Courteous disposition Sympathy Cheerfulness Patience Enthusiasm SOURCE: S.S. Green, “Personal Relations Between Librarians and Readers,” American Library Journal 1 (November 1876): 79ff. See

Richardson/DIS 2002 Subsequent Textbook Authors Wyer (1930) Intelligence, Accuracy, and Judgment Hutchins (1944) Memory, Imagination, and Perseverance The Effective Reference Librarian (1981) Tact, Intelligence, and Imagination Katz (1982) Professional Knowledge, Judgment, Speed SOURCE: Richardson, KBS (1995), p. 25

Richardson/DIS 2002 ALA RUSA Behavioral Guidelines (1996) Readiness Interest Understanding Verification SOURCE: “RUSA Behavioral Guidelines for Information Professionals”; for a discussion see Saxton and Richardson, Understanding Reference Transactions (2002), p. 60ff.

Richardson/DIS 2002 Open vs. Closed Questions Open-ended questions are those questions that will solicit additional information from the inquirer. Sometimes called infinite response or unsaturated type questions. Note that neutral questions are merely a subset of open questions, according to Dervin and Dewdney. Closed ended questions are those questions, which can be answered finitely by either “yes” or “no.” Also known as saturated type questions. SOURCE:

Richardson/DIS 2002 Open Questions How may I help you? Where have you looked already? What aspect are you looking for? What kind of information are you looking for? What would you like to know about [topic]? When you say [topic], what do you mean? SOURCE: Based in part on reclassifying some examples from Jennerich and Jennerich (1987), p. 14; Ohio Reference Excellence (2000), p. 8; and Dervin and Dewdney (1986), p. 509.

Richardson/DIS 2002 Closed Questions Can I help you? May I help you? Can you give me more information? Can you describe the kind of information you want? Can you give me an example? Could you be more specific? Are you looking for [topic]? SOURCE: Based in part on reclassifying some examples from Jennerich and Jennerich (1987), p. 14; Ohio Reference Excellence (2000), p. 8; and Dervin and Dewdney (1986), p. 509.

Richardson/DIS 2002 LSSI Green Guidelines Drawing upon the variety of sources previously mentioned, LSSI’s SS Green Award for Exemplary Reference uses multiple criteria:

Richardson/DIS 2002 Assessing LSSI Transcripts Several model transactions are available for public perusal April -October 2002 Source: Submit your own for consideration:

Richardson/DIS 2002 Further Readings The LSSI checklist is based on findings presented in the research literature. For a model of the process, see John V. Richardson Jr., “Modeling the Reference Process: A Systems Approach,” College and Research Libraries 60 (May 1999): and is reprinted in Saxton and Richardson, Understanding Reference Transactions (2002), chapter 7. For more background research on each of the questions in the checklist, see “The Current State of Research on Reference Transactions,” In Advances in Librarianship, vol. 26, edited by Frederick C. Lynden. New York: Academic Press, You can find nearly 1,000 citations to reference related studies at reference or those 250 related solely to virtual reference work, see