| How could the committee encourage
librarians to effectively conduct their online reference interviews?
At the committee’s suggestion,
a drop down menu of scripted or 'canned' greetings and other responses
was provided for staff as a way to cue them. As the examples below
demonstrate, replies are divided into sections that include introductory
statements, reference interview remarks, responses to inappropriate
behavior and concluding the transaction (for the sake of brevity,
some sentences are truncated):
Figure 4: Example of AskColorado's
Drop-Down Menu of Responses
*****WELCOME*****
Hello and welcome. I am an AskColorado Librarian. I will be
with you shortly.
That’s a good question. Let’s see what we can find
on that.
Hello. I am working on another question right now. Do you have
time to wait or...
It looks as though a group of students logged in at the same
time. I sent you a...
*****REFERENCE INTERVIEW*****
Do you already have information on this subject? I don’t
want to send you...
I see you are looking for _____. Could you explain that in a
little more detail?
Is this for school? Do you have any requirements about the kind
of sources you...
*****RESOURCES*****
I’m searching, but I’ll be back with you momentarily.
I have found something. Is it OK if I send you a web page now?
Please click on the green link in the chat area. This will open
the website in ano...
You may wish to download an Ask A Librarian application on your
PC. This will...
*****INAPPROPRIATE*****
Your language is inappropriate. Please change it, or you will
be disconnected.
You are still using inappropriate language. You be disconnected
now.
This is a library information service. When you have a reference
question, we will....
Reference librarians are here to help answer questions and to
make referrals to...
Your language/behavior is no appropriate. If you continue to
abuse this service,...
*****WRAPPING UP*****
This could take a while. Would you like me to email you when
I find the inform...
It is time for me to sign off of AskColorado. May I transfer
you to another librarian?
Have I completely answered your question?
Would you like me to help you find the contact information for
your local library? |
These automated responses allow the
librarian to greet the patron quickly and also serve as reminders
about all the important steps in conducting a virtual reference
transaction.
Evaluating
Quality of Interaction (cont'd) |
