ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 43 | February 2000
Where in
the world is all the information?
New opportunities for reference services
Libraries have undergone great changes in the past two decades. The development of electronic resources and electronic access has increased both the amount of information available through libraries and the complexity of reference services. As part of its continuing review and development of reference services, the National Library is examining emerging issues in this area, and has commenced discussion with State Libraries on reference collaboration.
In late 1999 Roxanne Missingham, Director, Information Services, presented a paper on the National Librarys reference services to the Reference and Information Services Section (RAISS) of the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) annual conference in Sydney (papers from the conference can be found at http://www.csu.edu.au/special/raiss99/). The paper noted that the National Library has seen a dramatic shift in access and usage, not only in readers who come to the Library for information and service, but also in those using the Library remotely. The move to electronic methods of reference inquiry is significant, and represents an acceleration of a trend experienced in previous years.
Comparing inquiries in 199899 with 199798 reveals that the National Library has experienced a decrease of 7.12% in the number of items requested by readers in the Main Reading Room, but a 12% increase in the number of telephone inquiries and a remarkable 83% increase in the use of the online web form and email for inquiries. The move from inquiries by letter to email can clearly be seen in the chart on the following page.
Readers seeking assistance via the telephone have also undergone a major change. No longer do they ask, Does the Library hold ?, as they themselves are able to locate this information by searching the online catalogue wherever they are in the world. Instead, they ask for details about information in a particular book, or about a topic area, however precise or vague.
Use of the Library by advanced researchers has also increased; for example, there has been a consistent increase in the number of readers visiting the Library to use our advanced research reading room, the Petherick Room.
The recent review of the NLAs reference services (http://www.nla.gov.au/refreview/refreview.html) encouraged the Library to look at what developments were needed to meet readers future needs, and also to see how new technologies could be adopted for better services. As part of the process of considering and resolving the issues identified in the review, the Library is looking at electronic reference services.
Digital reference services, or more commonly Virtual Reference Desks, offer great possibilities to meet these changing needs. There are two main types of reference desks: the first is staffed by experts in the field and provides access to specialists, as well as subject-related information and frequently a question and answer service; the second is run by libraries and seeks to provide access to resources, including FAQs, databases and catalogues. Some Virtual Reference Desks have experimented with online chat sessions; one has tried a video-based service. At the RAISS conference in Sydney, Roxanne reported on two well-developed services, the Arts Virtual Reference Desk (http://www.nmaa.si.edu/referencedesk/) and AskERIC (http://www.askeric.org/).
The
National Librarys participation in two international reference
services offers distinct opportunities for exploring the capabilities of
digital reference. Since March 1999 the National Library has been an
active participant in the Cooperative Online Resource Catalog (CORC), OCLCs
pilot project contributing to the creation of a catalogue of Internet
resources and pathfinders (or readers guides). After extensive
trials of the service, a paper exploring opportunities for pathfinders is
being worked through with OCLC (see http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/rmissingham1.html).
The second project in which the Library has participated is the
Collaborative Digital Reference Service, initiated by the Library of
Congress (http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/digiref/).
The purpose of this digital reference project is to ensure that users
anywhere can receive reliable and contextual service any time from trained
and experienced librarians. A pilot project is being planned for remote
digital reference service amongst libraries, using a variety of Internet
communications technologies, with the potential goal of reference services
for users any time anywhere.
Discussions with State Libraries regarding possible areas for future collaboration offer areas of great opportunity. Issues identified for further discussion include Electronic Ready Reference (including online guides), virtual reference services, call centre technology for reference services, research into readers needs, benchmarking and staff competencies.
There are great challenges and opportunities for Australian libraries in providing reference services for the twenty-first century. This year will be one of continued developments in reference services at the National Library, particularly in collaborative reference projects, as the Library explores the potential of new technologies to extend the services offered to its users.
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: tford@nla.gov.au