Chat reference service in medical libraries: part 1--An introduction

Chat reference services offer the opportunity to provide immediate access to quality information to meet the medical information needs of students, faculty, staff, physicians, nurses, and allied health care professionals. Part 1 of this two-part article on chat reference service in medical libraries is an introduction to the management of chat reference services and to features available for chat reference. The management of chat reference services raises issues of planning, staffing, selecting, and marketing. Planning issues focus on the identification of the users, the users' medical information needs, and the users' information-seeking behavior. Staffing issues relate to the selection of chat hours, the location of the chat service, and participation in collaborative agreements. Selecting chat software weighs the sophistication of the chat features against the related cost. Marketing uses techniques similar to traditional reference services and often begins slowly as chat expertise develops. Part 2 of the article discusses trends in chat reference services in medical libraries.