Week 6

1) Compare and contrast these three technologies for offering reference services.

After having tested the various methods of digital reference services, I would say that the biggest difference between them has to do with the style of service and length of response. While using e-mail you as a librarian are set to a particular format in which to respond, but are free to respond at length. Similarly, the e-mail reference librarian is under a great deal of assumption as they may not know the “true” question of the patron and sometimes must “interpret” it for themselves else ask the patron which could be quite time consuming.

Chat reference on the other hand has only a loosely defined style, as each interaction will be truly defined by the patron. Response length will also be determined by the question of the patron and by the patience of the librarian (remember the infamous example #1?). Both types of chat (traditional and QuestionPoint) have their pros and cons as well. Traditional chat is text only, but remains a very stable, easy to use and trustworthy system. QuestionPoint on the other hand contains within it many more features, but sometimes suffers under technical difficulties. No matter which style is used, the librarian is granted the flexibility of being able to work with the patron to determine any root questions, and is able to help with any other questions that may arise (that the patron may not have been aware of or too shy to ask).

Lastly the text version is the most interesting in my opinion as it completely utilizes mobile technology in order to answer small questions. This type of reference is limited entirely by a brief response length and therefore cannot have a style associated with that (unless that style is being brief). The downside is that a patron may not submit a “real” or “answerable” question at which point I guess they would have to be rejected. On the other hand, questions could be answered very quickly assuming the number of staff on hand.

2) What do you think about the Text A Librarian product? Was it easy to use? Do you have any suggestions for improving the product?

Text a librarian was very easy to use and customizable as well. At no point was I ever lost as what to do, or worried about any potential technical faults. However my only complaint may come from the length of the response, as some questions could require something much larger then 200+ characters. Also, a separate section for links might be a good touch as well.