Promotion and evaluation of a virtual live reference service

Area of Science:

• Library and Information Science
• Health Sciences Librarianship
• Digital Reference Services

Background:

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Health Sciences Library aimed to enhance user interaction with electronic resources.
• Virtual live reference service was implemented to reach users accessing resources remotely.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation of a virtual live reference service.
• To evaluate the initial usage and user engagement of the service.
• To analyze factors influencing service utilization.

Main Methods:

• The study involved providing virtual live reference service starting in fall 2001.
• An evaluation was conducted after seven months of operation.
• Analysis included referring web pages, question types, software features, and user login data, supplemented by user surveys.

Main Results:

• The service experienced low initial usage, with only 82 interactions recorded in the first seven months.
• Transcript analysis provided insights into user behavior and interaction patterns.
• User survey data was collected and analyzed to understand user perspectives.

Conclusions:

• The initial phase of the virtual live reference service indicated a need for further investigation into user adoption and promotion strategies.
• Understanding user interaction patterns is crucial for optimizing digital reference services.
• Further research is recommended to enhance the effectiveness and utilization of virtual reference services.