A worldwide library cooperative OCLC Online Computer Library Center 24 Hour Reference Goes Global: A Cooperative Approach to providing a Multilingual Reference Service Susan McGlamery Global Product Manager OCLC Cooperative Initiatives

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Languages other than English at home

OCLC Online Computer Library Center

Speaks a language other than English at home (U.S.):  18% of the U.S. population over 5 years old (47 million people) (US Census 2000)  In 1990: 14% of the population (31.8 million people)  Percentage of people who speak a language other than English grew 38% in the 1980s and 47% in the 1990s.  Of the total population, 8.1 percent reported speaking English not very well or not at all.

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Are libraries keeping up?

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Survey: QP and 24/7 libraries  65 responses  73.6% say population speaking languages other than English has increased  How many visit the library?  60% say 5% or less  20% don’t know

OCLC Online Computer Library Center 93.5% provide materials in other languages Books -- fiction 78.2% Books -- non fiction 80% Magazines 58.2% Newspapers 50.9% Databases 38.2% CD's 52.7% Videos or DVD's 72.7% Other (please specify) 20%

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Languages of the materials:  Chinese47.3%  French60%  German49.1%  Japanese41.8%  Korean41.8%  Russian45.5%  Spanish96.4%  Vietnamese29.1%  Other (please specify)32.7%

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Bilingual Staff: 34 of 59 say YES  Chinese25.8%  French41.9%  German25.8%  Japanese6.5%  Korean9.7%  Russian29%  Spanish83.9%  Vietnamese12.9%  Other 25.8%

OCLC Online Computer Library Center 24/7 Reference Cooperative  Fail safe coverage  After hours and as back up  Separate cooperatives for academic and public libraries  Quality control  Subject experts (24/7 and Global Reference Network)  TransitionTaskForce/FAQ_247.htm

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Leveraging a global cooperative  24/7 Reference acquired by OCLC (8/04)  QuestionPoint: libraries in 20 countries, serving patrons in 24 languages Global Reference Network  WebJunction: Spanish Outreach

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Language Issues  Software interface  Unicode compliant  QuestionPoint Librarian interface translated into 8 languages  Librarians needed to staff  Cultural issues

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Current Patron Interfaces  Chinese  Dutch  English  French  German  Japanese  Korean  Polish  Portuguese  Slovenian  Spanish  Turkish

OCLC Online Computer Library Center 24/7 Reference – Spanish language  U.S. bilingual librarians  Participants: California, Florida, Maryland, soon Wisconsin  Available approximately 50 hours per week live, otherwise by

OCLC Online Computer Library Center LAPL - English

OCLC Online Computer Library Center LAPL - Spanish

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Spanish language interface

OCLC Online Computer Library Center Scripts in Spanish

OCLC Online Computer Library Center If no Librarians are available live…

OCLC Online Computer Library Center 24/7 Reference – next steps  Survey: Ability to offer reference help in other languages is more important than the delivery method used and the hours of service  Looking for partners to extend service  French, Chinese  Combination of chat and reference

A worldwide library cooperative OCLC Online Computer Library Center Questions and Discussion Susan McGlamery