Balancing Digital Reference Services with Real Life in the Library Ann Kunish Greta Bruu Olsen Deichmanske Bibliotek June 28th, 2003

Our Digital Services: Spør biblioteket SMS

MappaMi: Patron account management Keeping track of loans Renewals, reservations Register subjects of interest Focus on patron responsibility Cuts down on telephone calls/ s that have to be handled by library personell

Spør biblioteket Ask a Librarian First of its kind in Norway Begun in 1997 Financed by the governmental organ for libraries from 1998 The future?

Quality-controlled, cataloged links Limited number of hits Introduced in 2002 General topics, topics of interest til school children, music Intended for patrons and librarians Nett Gateway

SMS Reference by SMS Most appropriate for short, fact questions First-day chaos! Popular New patron group

Chat - a worthwhile service or a bad substitute for a phone call? Tønsberg/Nøtterøy the first library to offer chat National service, patrons dont necessarily know which library is serving them Mixed feelings in our library

How do our librarians experience chatting? All were eager to try it Slightly stressfull to begin with Challenging Not an extra work burden!?

Kikkhulet Patrons can see what others have borrowed, whats coming up…inspiration for reading More a fun feature than a real service

Global reference nettwork Patrons and librarians make use of colleagues and collections the world over Library of Congress, OCLC me.BuildPage?show=authorize&language=1

… provides professional reference service to users anywhere, anytime, through an international, digital network of libraries. Question Point…

Respond to, track and manage reference questions from patrons via the Web Refer unanswered questions to other libraries in the library's cooperative as needed based on availability and expertise Refer still-unanswered questions to expert resources through a global web- based network With Question Point you can…

Provide libraries with tools to add simple links from any page in their library portal to support a locally branded and customizable question- asking service including: Web-based submission forms, -based interaction, and live chat for their patrons.

Integrate QuestionPoint's global reference network with alternative service providers the library might be using to address their local needs. Search a global knowledge base of previously asked and answered reference questions

AcademicLibraries NationalLibrariesConsortia SpecialLibraries UnaffiliatedExperts ASK-AServices PublicLibraries Partners ProfessionalAssn. Members QuestionPoint

QuestionPoint is a Web-based LC-OCLC co-branded service that: Enables user to ask questions of his/her local library Allows local library to escalate to other libraries within cooperative Allows reference librarian to escalate to global network

How Does It Work?

Global Local/Regional Consortium A Library Local KB Patron access via institution web pages Individual Library Consortium B Library Global Only Library Global Only Library Global Only Library Global KB Library QuestionPoint Process

The Global Process RequestingLibrary Patron Knowledge Base AnsweringLibrary Librarian ILL, Document Delivery Delivery REQUESTMANAGER SEND QUESTION GET QUESTION NOTIFICATION EDITED Q & A GET ANSWER SEND ANSWER Member Profile Member Profile Member Profile Traditional and Online Resources: Catalogs, Web Resources, Print Resources, Subject Specialists

Member Profiling

How Does Routing Work? Step One - Exclusionary Elements: Weekly Quota Filled Education Level Served Step Two - Best Fit Matching: Subject 30% Geographic Area 20% Load Balancing 20% Availability 20% Format Expertise 10%

Sample Q & A Set

Knowledge Base Editorial Board Guidelines: Copyediting, link checking Add subjects and keywords for enhanced searching Removal of patron information Identify need for later review Volunteer editors from membership 2,100 + records edited since December

QuestionPoint Member Benefits Extend traditional reference services 24x7 service Access to virtual collections Access to subject/language specialists worldwide Web-based (no software) Reporting and tracking tools Forge collaborative partnerships with other libraries and librarians Develop digital reference best practices

Whats next?

WAP-search

Circulation of electronic material Streaming Audio-books, speeches, lectures… Licenses Our legal answer to file-sharing Forging new partnerships /