1. The world’s libraries. Connected. Convergence & Synergy: Social Q&A Meets Virtual Reference Services ASIS&T, 75 TH Annual Meeting 30 October 2012 http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synergy.html Chirag Shah Assistant Professor Rutgers University chirags@rutgers.edu Marie L. Radford Associate Professor Rutgers University mradford@rutgers.edu Lynn Silipigni Connaway Senior Research Scientist OCLC connawal@oclc.org

2. The world’s libraries. Connected. Where We Are Now

3. The world’s libraries. Connected. Current Model of Virtual Reference Services (VRS) Question POSITIVES 20+ years High quality/accurate Professionals Consortium collaborations CHALLENGES Funding cuts Monolithic Collaboration limited beyond consortia Underutilized Answer

4. The world’s libraries. Connected. Social Question & Answer (SQA) POSITIVES Community-based Collaborative Publicly available Low cost Quick turnaround Easy build-up of social capital CHALLENGE No guarantee of quality of answers Some questions receive no answers

5. The world’s libraries. Connected. Convergence of VRS & SQA Similar components Previous efforts Slam the Boards Enquire Rated best answer 79% of time Collaboration possibilities intriguing

6. The world’s libraries. Connected. Cyber Synergy: Seeking Sustainability through Collaboration between Virtual Reference & Social Q&A Sites Partners: OCLC & Rutgers Funded by IMLS for $250K 2-year project

7. The world’s libraries. Connected. Research Questions What is the effectiveness of various VRS & SQA services, quality of content provided, & their relative merits & shortcomings? How does accuracy compare between VRS & SQA sites? What lessons can be learned from SQA sites that could be applied to VRS & vice-versa? How can VRS become more collaborative, within & between libraries, & tap more effectively into librarian’s subject expertise? How can we design systems & services within & between VRS & SQA for better quality & sustainability?

8. The world’s libraries. Connected. Project Phases Phase IPhase II Phase III Transcript analysisTelephone InterviewsConstructing Design Specifications

9. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase I: VRS & SQA Transcript Analysis 560 transcripts (296,158 total) 350 live chat 210 Qwidget (IM) 11 coding schemes 1000 Q&A pairs from Yahoo Answers! (>1 million total)

10. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase I: Transcript Analysis – Preliminary Results Subject - Dewey Decimal Classification Broad range Social sciences & technology - largest percentages Type of Question Procedural & Ready Reference largest percentages Accuracy 90% accurate for Ready Reference 75% correct with citation included Difficulty READ Scale (Gerlich & Berard, ‘07) Most questions fall 2-3 on READ scale (require some effort & time)

11. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase II: Telephone Interviews Librarians 50 VRS librarians Users VRS 50 QP live chat & Qwidget users SQA 50 services users & expert users

12. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase II: VRS & SQA Phone Interview Demographics Librarians 18 academic 16 other VRS/SQA Users 5 VRS only 12 SQA only 56 used both Participant geographic distribution Librarian VRS/SQA User

13. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase II: SQA FtF Interview Demographics 36 SQA student users 24 undergraduate 12 graduate 10 subject librarians Major themes Important for success Topic Length Visibility Timeliness Clarity Availability Verifiability Relevance, quality, & satisfaction on equal planes

14. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase II: SQA Interview Analysis Exploratory Uses & experiences in physical & digital libraries & SQAs Preliminary results “Goodness” of answers Synergy of SQA & VRS Collaboration Leverage subject knowledge

15. The world’s libraries. Connected. Phase II: Librarian Interviews 34 phone interviews conducted to date Major themes Draft coding scheme developed Important Attaining sustained user satisfaction Teaching search strategies Better via electronic media Cite sources

16. The world’s libraries. Connected. The Takeaway

17. The world’s libraries. Connected. Goals & Impact on VRS/SQA Services Improve underutilized services Understand how to leverage librarian subject expertise through virtual collaborations Develop guidelines for practice Make recommendations for evaluation of VRS & SQA Inform systems design Connect potential users with SQA services & VRS

18. The world’s libraries. Connected. Next Steps

19. The world’s libraries. Connected. Next Steps Further analysis of SQA questions Subject Question Type Questions failing to obtain answers Continue interviews VRS/SQA users VRS librarians Conduct design sessions with experts Specifications for system design ANSWERS(0) Answer Question Nee help with English please?

20. The world’s libraries. Connected. Funding & Acknowledgements Cyber Synergy: Seeking Sustainability through Collaboration between Virtual Reference and Social Q&A Sites $250,000 for 2011-2013 Funded by IMLS, OCLC, & Rutgers University Co-PIs Marie Radford (RU), Lynn Silipigni Connaway (OCLC), & Chirag Shah (RU) http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synergy.html We thank Eric Choi, Alyssa Darden, Kathy Juliano, Vanessa Kitzie, Hanna Lee, and Stephanie Mikitish for their assistance in coding, analysis, and data presentation.

21. The world’s libraries. Connected. Selected Bibliography Connaway, L. S. & Radford, M. L. (2011). Seeking Synchronicity: Revelations and recommendations for virtual reference. Dublin, OH: OCLC Research. Retrieved on February 26, 2012 from http://www.oclc.org/reports/synchronicity/full.pdf http://www.oclc.org/reports/synchronicity/full.pdf Radford, M. L., & Connaway, L. S. (forthcoming). Not dead yet! A longitudinal study of query type and ready reference accuracy in live chat and IM reference. Library & Information Science Research, 35(1). Radford, M. L., & Connaway, L. S. (2005-2008). Seeking synchronicity: Evaluating virtual reference services from user, non-user, and librarian perspectives. Funded by National Leadership Grants for Libraries program of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synchronicity/default.htm http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synchronicity/default.htm Radford, M. L., Connaway, L. S., Confer, P., Sabolsci-Boros, S., & Kwon, H. (2011). “Are we getting warmer?” Query clarification in live chat virtual reference. Reference & User Services Quarterly, 50(3), 259-279. Radford, M. L., Connaway, L. S., & Shah, C. (2011-2013). Cyber Synergy: Seeking sustainability through collaboration between virtual reference and social Q&A sites. Retrieved from http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synergy/default.htm http://www.oclc.org/research/activities/synergy/default.htm Shah, C., & Kitzie, V. (2012). Social Q & A and virtual reference-comparing apples and oranges with the help of experts and users. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(10), 2020-2036.

22. The world’s libraries. Connected. Questions? Marie L. Radford: mradford@rutgers.edu Lynn Silipigni Connaway: connawal@oclc.org Chirag Shah: chirags@rutgers.edu ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?