Virtual Reference

Is it making a difference?Librarian Wallenius

Leddy Library, University of Windsor

Basics about our Virtual Reference

• Software

• Staffing

• Hours of access

• Level of service provided

Structure of HumanClick

How the system can work:

Chat 1 - library personnel 1

Chat 2 - library personnel 1

Chat 3 - library personnel 2

Chat 4 - library personnel 3

Total numbers for 5 years

0

500

1000

1500

2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06

Year

Num

ber

Number of email questions

740

760

780

800

820

840

860

880

2002/3 2003/4 2004/5 .2005/6

Year

Nu

mb

er

Comparision of 2003/4 & 2005/6

0

50

100

150

200

250

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Month

Num

ber 2003/4

2005/6

Distribution of interaction over time

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

2001-2 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6

Year

Nu

mb

er o

f q

ues

tio

ns

0-5 min.

5-10 min.

10-15 min.

15-20 min.

20+ min.

Less than 5 minutes

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Sep

t

Oct

Nov

Dec Ja

n

Feb

Mar

Apr

Month

Per

cen

tag

e

2001-2

2003-4

2005-6

5-10 Minute

0

10

20

30

40

50

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

Month

Perc

en

tag

e

2001-2

2003-4

2005-6

10-15 minutes

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Sep

t

Oct

Nov

Dec Ja

n

Feb

Mar

Apr

Month

Per

cen

tag

e

2001-2

2003-4

2005-6

More than 15 minutes

0

5

10

15

20

25

Sep

t

Oct

Nov

Dec Ja

n

Feb

Mar

Apr

Month

Per

cen

tag

e

2001-2

2003-4

2005-6

Distribution of percentage over time

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

2001-2 2002-3 2003-4 2004-5 2005-6

Year

Per

cent

age

0-5 min.

5-10 min.

10-15 min.

15-20 min.

20+ min.

Distribution of questions by less than 15 and greater than 15 minutes over time

0

20

40

60

80

100

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr

Month

Per

cent

age

01/2 <15

01/2 >15

03/4 <15

03/4 >15

05/6 <15

05/6 >15

Human Click Interactions June 2001-Febrary 2002

0

5

10

15

20

25

June

4-8

June

18-

22

July

2-6

July

16-

20

July

30-

Aug

3

Aug

13-1

7

Aug

27-3

1

Sept

10-

14

Sept

24-

28

Oct

8-1

2

Oct

22-

26

Nov

5-9

Nov

19-2

3

Dec

3-7

Dec

17-2

1

Jan

7-11

Jan

21-2

5

Feb

4-8

Afternoon

Morning

Chat texts

Reference Desk: Hi, May I help you?

Visitor: hello

Reference Desk: Hi, How can I help you?

Visitor: i am looking for online jorunals that deal with women in canada through the 1920's

Visitor: i can's seem to find the subject

Reference Desk: we could start searching in history indexes.

Visitor: how do i get there

Reference Desk: open library web page.

Visitor: ok im there

Reference Desk: Click on search journal articles.

Chats continued

Visitor: the thing is that it only is a canadian class and i don't want any american info

Reference Desk: and then try by America : History and Life <http://webvoy.uwindsor.ca:2048/login?url=http://serials.abc-clio.com/active/start?_appname=serials&initialdb=AHL> (North American History)

Reference Desk: You can specify canada

Reference Desk: and try also CBCA for Canadian content.

Visitor: ok thank you u have beena lot of help

Reference Desk: You're welcome.

Reference Desk: Good luck.

Reference Desk: bye. and good night.

Librarian: Hi, You are now chatting with a librarian. How can I help you?

Visitor: Hi, I requested 2 books through interlibrary loans. I want to know the status of the order.

Librarian: You can check the status of your interlibrary loan requests by logining back into RACER.

Librarian: It will tell you.

Librarian: okay?

Visitor: Yeah, I checked, it says for one book that its a electronic book, what doed this mean, can i read it on line. for the other book it says only for queens access.

Librarian: If it says we have it and it is online

Librarian: Search the library catalogue by the title of the book

Librarian: no leading articles

Librarian: and it will take you to the link.

Librarian: The other title is being processed.

Chats (continued)

• Librarian: Hi, You are now chatting with a librarian. How can I help you? • Visitor: I am in Management Information Systems and I was wondering if it is possible

to sign-out a copy of the course textbook or if there is a copy at the library to begin with

• Librarian: You need to search the library online catalogue to determine if we have the textbook.

• Visitor: can i do that from my home computer or do i need to search it from the library?

• Librarian: Then come with the call number to retrieve the book from either circulation or course reserves.

• Librarian: Yes you can search from there. • Librarian: It is on our webpage at the upper right side under the Chat with a librarian

logo. • Librarian: You msut come to borrow it however. • Librarian: must • Visitor: ok thank you very much • Librarian: your welcome • Librarian: bye

Types if questions asked

• Majority of questions were reference• Access to online materials• Access problems were very common, but

less often than reference• Interlibrary loans • Refworks or citation style questions• University question• Others

Types of questions continued

• Location in library of materials

• Renewals or fines

• High school students

• Printers or software

Conclusions

• Continue to offer VR

• Actually begin a marketing plan for VR

• Formalize staffing at least for parts of the day

• Consider how to expand to weekends

• Possibly expand evening hours

• Formal evaluation of services

Questions