Virtual Reference Services
Stephen D. Coffman, Vice President
Public Library Operations/EastLibrary Systems and Services, LLC
ARL Reference Statistics Reference Meets the Web
DOWN
42.1%
1997-2003
Commercial Reference ServicesThe Other Threat From the Web
"
In the electronic environment, a point-of-need reference service needs to be built into the infrastructure of the Internet--ideally on the browser, or as a constant source on specific sites--and must be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
.... When users click on the "live consultation" option, they are asked to enter their question in an Ask Jeeves-type natural-language search engine, which returns some results from among a collection of librarian-chosen web sites. If the searcher is satisfied, the transaction ends there. If not, he clicks on a "Click To Talk to a Librarian" button and there appears a live person (via, say, CuSeeMe or Netmeeting interactive software) or a text box (using, for example, MOO, Chat, or WOO technology) for real-time chat.
The librarian, who has before her the client's failed search-engine effort, negotiates the real question and either answers it directly or does some follow-up work and gets back to the client via e-mail, FAX, etc.
What Made VR So Appealing? Did offer a possible solution to a
decline that was worrying us We had the example of the
commercial reference services like Webhelp that were using the technology … proving so it seemed that people loved it
Automatically made anybody who used it ‘waaaay cool’
Books, Articles and Conferences Oh My!
Pretty Soon VR Was Everywhere
Growth of Libraries with Chat
1999 Univ. North Texas Cornell Temple SUNY Morrisonville
Total = 4 or 5
2004 Questionpoint 1000 Tutor/LSSI 1000 24/7 1000 Docutek 300? LivePerson Groopz 60 Rakim IM
Total = 3000+
How It Works
Co-Browsing Technology
Librarian’s Browser
Patron’s Browser
Go to url:
• URL pushing
• Two-way (librarian to patron and patron to librarian)
• Send page or escort mode ( can be toggled on and off)
• Form sharing (text in search boxes can be shared)
• Works with many computers
• Talk via chat
• Produces transcript of session including chat and pages shared
Unfortunately Our Patrons Were Not As Enthusiastic As We Were
Joe Janes Global Census Nov 03
Median = 6 questions per day “Global Census of Digital Reference” Joseph Janes Proceedings of VRD 2003
http://www.vrd2003.org/proceedings/presentation.cfm?PID=162
UCLA
Digital Reference Quarterly Comparative
0100200300400500600700
Quarter
Number of transactions
Number of open hours per week
Down 77.6%
Santa Monica Public Library
Not Just Us
Profession Losing Interest
Sales of VR off substantially Many vendors failed or been absorbed OCLC currently in the midst of
research on the ‘viability’ of VR Some services have quietly folded
their tents The major conference has been
discontinued
Discontin
ued
Legacy of VR Transcripts allowed us to track and
analyze the reference process as never before
Allowed libraries to collaborate on reference in ways that would have been impossible before
Allowed librarians from different institutions, subject specialties and even continents to work together
Also Leaves Us With Some Unresolved Questions?
Death of most commercial reference Limited ‘success’ of Google Answers Low use of email reference Low use of chat
1. Do We Really Need VR?
“Just need to market it better” “It’s all reference”, VR just another
method of contacting the library Assuming that patrons do want help
online, is chat and VR the best way to give it to them?
2. If Not VR - What Is Reference In the Age of Google?
Books Help for those who choose not to use
Google Help when Google fails Help when you need more than
3. What’s Most Cost Effective Way of Providing It?
Traditional Reference Is Expensive
Illinois Public Library Statistics – 2002
$54,525,849 Amount Illinois Public Libraries Spent on Books in 2002
$57,380,232 Amount Illinois Public Libraries Spend on Reference Librarians in 2002
Median Hourly Wage Illinois Reference Librarian with Benefits = $27.95
Median Reference Salary with Benefits = $58,136
987 FTE Reference Librarians @ $58,136 = $57,380,232
Yet Few People Use It
Even Worse, Nationally
National Statistics (NCES) 20% or 1 in 5 patrons asks a question 1.1 reference questions per capita 6.8 items circulated per capita
Illinois Public Library Statistics 26.5% or 1 in 4 asks a question 1.2 reference questions per capita 7.9 items circulated per capita
5600 books
at Cornell avg salary plus benefits = $87,859.2
2341 books In the rest of the county avg salary plus benefits =
= $36,738
Re-Examine Staffing
=
Operating Costs Staff Name Staff Costs
Prof / mgmt
Other Total Staff
Cost Per Hour
Staff Cost Per
Circ
Staff Cost Per
Visit
% Staff / Budget
Materials Cost
$1,072,858
7
25
32
$315.55
$2.43
$2.95
62%
$337,251
Orland Park PL, IL
$435,512
3
21
24
$167.50
$1.03
$1.40
69.5%
$48,000
Temecula PL, CA
$415,740
2
20
22
$84.09
$0.64
$0.90
12.8%
$3,250,000
Borders, Orland Park, IL
Operating Costs Staff Name Staff Costs
Prof / mgmt
Other Total Staff
Cost Per Hour
Staff Cost Per
Circ
Staff Cost Per
Visit
% Staff / Budget
Materials Cost
$1,072,858
7
25
32
$315.55
$2.43
$2.95
62%
$337,251
Orland Park PL, IL
$435,512
3
21
24
$167.50
$1.03
$1.40
69.5%
$48,000
Temecula PL, CA
$415,740
2
20
22
$84.09
$0.64
$0.90
12.8%
$3,250,000
Borders, Orland Park, IL
Average Hourly Cost of Operations Library vs Bookstore
72 hours per week
96 hours per week
So Are There More Cost Effective Methods Than This?
Build Reference Into Our Machines
Call Center
So How Much Could We Save?
Erlang C Formula
Where: D (>O) = probability of delay; A = total traffic volume of calls arriving (measured in erlangs); n = number of customer service officers available; and B = probability of loss (rejection) (Poisson distribution).
Where the relationship between D and B is described by:
What It Means: Answer 76% More Questions with Same Staff
Table A Table B
Erlang C Calculations for a
Networked Reference Service
Erlang C Calculations for Existing
Desk Reference Service
Number of ReferenceTransactions / Hour
1620 Number of ReferenceTransactions / Hour
920
Average Amount of Time Per
Transaction in seconds
169 Average Amount of Time Per
Transaction in seconds
169
Average Post Processing Time in
seconds
60 Average Post Processing Time in
seconds
60
Service Level Percentage ("x" in the
formula "x percent of calls answered in
y seconds"
80 Service Level Percentage ("x" in the
formula "x percent of calls answered in y
seconds"
NA
Number of Seconds to answer ("y" in
"x percent of calls answered in y
seconds")
20 Number of Seconds to answer ("y" in "x
percent of calls answered in y seconds")
NA
Number of Minutes in the Interval
Being Measured
60 Number of Minutes in the Interval Being
Measured
60
Number of Staff Required 116 Number of Staff Available 116Staff Occupancy Rate (%) 89 Staff Occupancy Rate (%) 50
Average Speed of Answer in seconds
(time average caller spends on hold)
9 Average Speed of Answer in seconds
(time average caller spends on hold)
NA
Centralization = More Appropriate Staffing
46 Paraprofessionals To Answer the Easy Questions
20 Librarians
For the Hard Stuff
Columbus Public Library Call Center Project
Calls to 614 645-2ASK (2275)
Internal JobAd
Inside Sengkang
Sengkang Self-Service Library
Contracting Out
Make Better Use of Our Limited Resources
Average Question Score Average Question Price
Google Meets Ebay – comparison of performance and cost of Cornell Reference Librarians vs Google Answers 2003.
http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june03/kenney/06kenney.html
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