This is an interesting article available on Emerald. A case study that discusses the introduction of a chat service using Meebo.

Luo, Lili. “Toward sustaining professional development: Identifying essential competencies for chat reference service” in Library & Information Science Research, Volume 30, Number 4 (December 2008) pp: 298 – 311

August 30, 2010 – 10:40am — birdie

Freed from their desks, reference librarians at the Orland Park IL Public Library have taken to the aisles to help patrons find the answers they need.

“We’re out there looking for them,” said Diane Srebro, assistant head of adult services. She asks a patron if he needs help as she makes the rounds with a HP Tablet as part of the new ‘Ask Me’ campaign.

The program began in the spring to enhance customer service for library patrons.

Armed with laptop computers and sporting “Ask Me” buttons, the librarians are fielding about 200 questions a month from the floor, Srebro said. All told, the reference desk averages about 3,000 reference questions a month.

“Technology has freed us from the reference desk,” Srebro said. “It’s part of our strategic plan for the adult services area.” Southtown Star.



This study documents the number and types of referrals to librarians by a paraprofessional staff member at an academic reference desk. Results indicate that over two semesters, only 7.4% of the reference desk transactions required referral to a librarian. From the results of this and other studies, the authors explore the expanded use of trained paraprofessionals at the reference desk

• Combined Chemical Dictionary
• IGI Global ebooks
• LexisNexis AU
• Polymers: A Properties Database
• Safari Tech Books
• Web of Knowledge (Web of Science)
• Informaworld – advanced search (Basic Search from home page seems ok)
• Kompass – accessing company details (drilling down through search results)

[Source: Mike Brooks]

Summary: A review or reference sources published in 2009.  With over 40 sources, this list covers the following subject areas:

• General Reference
• Language & Linguistics
• Fine Arts
• Performing Arts
• Religion
• Business & Economics
• History
• Law & Politics
• Social Sciences
• Travel & Geography
• Science
• Health & Medicine
• Sports & Recreation

1. For a variety of reasons, IM software (and widgets) are more popular than ever among libraries that want to offer synchronous online reference, as new digital reference services are launched using IM (as opposed to using web chat clients from QuestionPoint, Altarama, etc.) and other libraries (like Temple) are moving to drop their longstanding subscriptions to web chat software.
2. The last few years have seen an explosion of new ways to communicate online with our patrons; pilot projects to try out these new tools and see what works are flowering everywhere. Some tools and technologies that either just launched this year or will very soon (such as Google Wave) are worth keeping an eye on, as they might expand the ways that we our patrons can reach us and enrich reference interactions.
3. Collaborative reference services continue to grow and offer an institution a viable alternative to trying to staff an online reference alone.
4. We need to find more ways to expose reference work to raise the profile of all our reference services. Much as Lorcan Dempsey has suggested we need to make (library) data work harder, we also need to make the traces of reference transactions work harder by repurposing and reusing them in various ways

Abstract

Abstract

Ward, Joyce and Barbier, Patricia ‘Best Practices in Chat Reference Used by Florida’s Ask a Librarian Virtual Reference Librarians’, The Reference Librarian, 51:1, 53 – 68

Abstract

Interesting statistics on the average age of social network users. Full list of sites in the study include:

Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, Twitter, Slashdot, Reddit, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, FriendFeed, Last.fm, Friendster, LiveJournal, Hi5, Tagged, Ning, Xanga, Classmates.com, Bebo.

Kate Gronemyer & Anne-Marie Deitering, Oregon State University Libraries, Corvallis, Oregon, USA

Reference Services Review

Volume: 37, Number: 4. Year: 2009. pp: 421-434

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate librarians’ attitudes towards instruction in virtual reference transactions and to review relevant literature.

Findings – The librarians surveyed see value in providing instruction during the virtual reference encounter, but also identify concerns and barriers. Discussion of Marchionini’s concept of exploratory search and Madell and Muncer’s study on control in computer mediated communication is used to highlight some characteristics of the virtual reference environment that might require unique pedagogy and reference practices.

Introduction

Virtual reference (VR) services are, if not ubiquitous, widespread. In the years since these services first emerged, librarians and users alike have grown more accustomed to using online synchronous communication to keep up with friends and family, communicate with classmates or colleagues, and even to connect with retailers’ customer service departments. Expectations about the type of service that can be provided using tools like instant messaging and chat are shaped by the different experiences users and librarians have with those tools both inside and outside the library.

As instant and text messaging tools move off the cutting edge and into the mainstream it is helpful to take the time to reflect on the assumptions librarians bring to virtual reference service. While the tools continue to evolve, the way we talk about the service itself is similar in both philosophy and practice to the reference services libraries have offered for years in person, over the phone, and via email.

In this paper, the authors present the results of their survey asking librarians to report on their attitudes about providing research instruction during virtual reference. The survey results reveal librarians’ attitudes and assumptions about virtual reference services, technologies and users. These attitudes and assumptions are then analyzed in light of research on exploratory search and computer-mediated communication.

In her inspirational article in the Winter 2008 issue of RUSQ (“A Personal Choice: Reference Service Excellence”) Marie Radford reminds us that reference service excellence begins with the initial patron interaction, whether it is face-to-face or virtual. In this guest editorial, Lorraine J. Pellack reinforces the importance of first impressions formed by patrons.

http://www.rusq.org/2009/11/28/first-impressions-and-rethinking-restroom-questions

Tanya: read the comments, they definitely will reasonate with many of us who work on the desk.

Mirela Roncevic — Library Journal, 12/7/2009 9:02:00 AM

ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. ABC-CLIO. 2009. www.abc-clio.com. YA UG GA
ABC-CLIO’s acquisition of Greenwood Publishing Group in late 2008 and its recent addition of Linworth Publishing to the Libraries Unlimited imprint has placed the already established scholarly publisher in a stronger position. Its newly designed ebook platform, ABC-CLIO eBook Collection, contains over 6000 old and new print titles bearing all of the company’s imprints (including Greenwood Press and Praeger) and covering a spectrum of subjects. The platform provides enhanced readability via a new reading pane, improved search and browse capabilities, RSS feeds, and much more. Also on the horizon is a common platform for all ABC-CLIO and Greenwood subject databases.

Cambridge Books Online. Cambridge Univ. Nov. 2009. cbo.cambridge.org. YA UG GP GA
This has been an important year for Cambridge University Press (CUP). Not only does the publisher celebrate 425 years of continuous publishing in 2009, the university itself is celebrating its 800th anniversary. In recent years, the press has made significant progress digitizing its academic and educational content and making it widely accessible through web-based resources. Its two major online products, Cambridge Journals Online and Cambridge Dictionaries Online, will be joined this fall by Cambridge Books Online—sure to be a powerhouse of scholarly information, given that CUP publishes 2500 titles annually.

Oxford Bibliographies Online. Oxford Univ. Feb. 2010. www.oxfordbibliographiesonline.com. UG GP
Oxford University Press (OUP) will embark on a huge business venture in early 2010 with the launch of Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO): a new kind of “selective rather than exhaustive” research tool providing expert recommendations on important topics across disciplines, with supportive text and annotations. After conducting extensive librarian surveys, phone interviews, on-site focus groups at mid- and large-level libraries, and various graduate student focus groups, OUP created OBO, which it says is designed to cut initial research time on a topic by 75 percent and increase productivity. Kicking things off are modules on Classics, Criminologies, Islamic Studies, and Social Work, with many more in the works, including Business Management, Physics, and Renaissance and Reformation. The product will grow rapidly, with new modules expected every few months.

World Book Online Reference Center. World Book. 2009. www.worldbookonline.com. YA GA
The World Book Online Reference Center (WBORC) is one of three distinct parts of the World Book Public Library Edition (WBPLE), which has been designed with the needs of public library patrons in mind; the other two components of the WBPLE include the World Book Online Info Finder and the World Book Online for Kids (both listed as separate entries above). The WBORC is at the heart the product, comprising 25,000 encyclopedia articles plus thousands of reference articles, technology tutorials for computer novices, 10,000 photographs and maps, 100-plus videos and animations, over 9000 audio clips, and much more.

World Geography and Culture Online. Facts On File. Fall 2009. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.. YA UG
The list of Facts On File’s (FOF) online products continues to grow steadily. After successfully launching the Infobase Ebooks platform last fall, which houses its ebooks online, the publisher forges ahead with several new products in the coming months, including World Geography and Culture Online (WGCO), which is an improved, new version of FOF’s World Atlas. Designed to facilitate the study of geography by providing both facts at a glance and in-depth coverage, the resource features 200-plus country profiles, 2700-plus images, 1300-plus colorful maps, regularly updated news articles, and much more. Although handy for general research, the product is ideal for social studies classrooms.

The Firefly Five Language Visual Dictionary. 2d ed. Firefly. Dec. 2009. 1104p. ISBN 978-1-55407-492-1. $59.95. YA GA
If you missed the first edition of this useful and affordable one-volume language tool, which LJ selected as one of the Best Reference Sources for 2004, here’s your chance to own a brand new second edition. With over 35,000 entries and 6000 full-color images, the one-volume dictionary provides visual and verbal descriptions of the objects of modern life (e.g., bar stool, MP3 player) in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian. Although not the only such dictionary on the market—DK’s The Five Language Dictionary also comes to mind—it is easily the most comprehensive, not to mention the most visually appealing.

Mango Languages. Mango Languages. 2009. www.mangolanguages.com. YA UG GP GA
This has been a breakthrough year for Mango Languages, an online language learning tool that teaches conversation skills for 12 different languages (more to be added in the near future). The web-based program—which patrons access for free through their library’s web site and use in the privacy of their home—is intuitively designed and equipped with every tool imaginable, including audio narration. It recently made it onto New York Public Library’s coveted Best of Reference list and continues to receive accolades from a variety of industry sources.

Dictionary of Chinese Biography. 3 vols. Berkshire. Oct. 2010. 1536p. ISBN 978-1-933782-66-9. $595. YA UG GP GA
Berkshire Publishing is quickly becoming synonymous with all things China. After launching the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China in May 2009—a major five-volume set comprising 1000 articles on Chinese history and culture—the publisher will release the Dictionary of Chinese Biography late in 2010. The unique three-volume set will use the life stories of 150 key individuals, selected from the earliest dynasties to the present day, to tell the history of China over the entire span of its long and complicated past. Clearly, the set is meant to serve as a complement to the Encyclopedia of China.

Berg Encyclopedia of World Dress and Fashion. 10 vols. Berg Pub., dist by Oxford Univ. Jul. 2010. 6000p. ISBN 978-0-19-537733-0. $1,995; until 7/31/10,$1,595; Online: Berg Fashion Library. YA UG GP GA
Coming in May in both print and online formats, this one-of-a-kind encyclopedia, distributed in the United States by Oxford University Press, will provide authoritative coverage of all aspects of dress and fashion worldwide from pre-history to the present day. With a global and multidisciplinary perspective, the monumental ten-volume set will have 760 articles (equal to 3.6 million words) written by leading experts and 2000 beautiful illustrations, many of which are rare and previously unpublished. It also serves as the first module to be available through an online product called Berg Fashion Library (see separate entry below).

The Films of Johnny Depp. McFarland. Nov. 2009. 222p. ISBN 978-0-7864-4022-1. $55. YA UG GA
An entire reference volume dedicated to the movie career of Johnny Depp? While it is true that the actor didn’t gain immense popularity until after the unprecedented box office success of the Pirates of the Caribbean series, his movie career actually began back in 1987, when he rose to fame in the TV series 21 Jump Street. This scholarly volume organizes all of Depp’s films chronologically, analyzing the ways in which the actor’s eccentric choices of film roles—for which he’s been both praised and criticized—have allowed him to develop into “the representative film actor of his time.”

The Complete Works of George Eliot. 35 vols. InteLex. 2009. ISBN 978-1-57085-667-9. $7500. UG GP
InteLex has been publishing the Past Masters® series of full-text humanities databases since 1989. Its Women Writers collection includes the correspondence, journals, and primary works of key female writers in the English language, including Jane Austin, Mary Shelley, the Brontës, and others. The collection will soon be enhanced with the addition of The Complete Works of George Eliot, which will comprise The Clarendon Edition of the Novels of George Eliot, along with her shorter fiction, translations, nonfiction, notebooks, letters, and journals. All databases in the Women Writers collection can be purchased individually or in any combination to create a customized collection.

Historical Dictionary of Ian Fleming’s World of Intelligence: Fact and Fiction. Scarecrow. 2009. 272p. ISBN 978-0-8108-6190-9. $80. GP
In this new installment in Scarecrow’s “Historical Dictionaries of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence” series, Nigel West, the European Editor of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, examines the fascinating double life of spy and writer Ian Fleming, who will forever be known for creating James Bond, one of the most intriguing fictional spies in modern history—as well as the most lucrative; the Bond movies have been seen by more than half of the world’s population. The volume consists of a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and hundreds of cross-referenced entries on actual cases of espionage and real-life spies, along with entries on Fleming’s novels, his family and friends, his employers and colleagues, and other notable characters from his work.

The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible. rev. ed. 5 vols. Zondervan. 2009. 5616p. ISBN 978-0-310-24136-2. $279.99. UG GP
A classic Bible study resource for over 30 years, The Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible has been thoroughly revised with updated and new entries reflecting the latest scholarship and improvements to existing topics. Compiled by well over 200 contributors, the five-volume set now features more than 7500 A–Z articles, hundreds of full-color and black-and-white illustrations, charts and graphs, 32 pages of full-color maps, and hundreds of black-and-white outline maps. Although ideal for pastors, teachers, and students of biblical studies and theology, the set is accessible enough for lay readers. All libraries owning the previous edition will want to update with this one.

America in World History. 4 vols. Sharpe Reference. 2009. 512p. ISBN 978-0-7656-8171-3. $299. YA G
Throughout its short but rich history, America has had a significant impact on the shaping of many world events—both commendable and controversial. This set explores that impact within the context of global history and international affairs. It is organized into four chronological volumes, each devoted to a specific period: America as World Frontier (First Encounters to 1776); America in the Age of Nation Building (1776 to 1898); Rise to Global Power (1898 to 1965); and Challenges of Globalization (1965 to the Present). Four-color illustrations and maps are featured throughout, as well as a bibliography, volume indexes, and a master time line. Available electronically through the newly released Sharpe Online Reference ebook platform.

20th-Century American Newspapers. 2009. Newsbank: Readex. www.newsbank.com. YA UG GP GA
Picking up where Early American Newspapers ends, 20th-Century American Newspapers offers access to major U.S. newspapers published between 1923 and the 1990s, including The Seattle Times, The Oregonian, and The Augusta Chronicle. Available in three series, 20th-Century American Newspapers provides college students and faculty with “fully searchable digital editions of historically significant and regionally diverse publications.” Each series is cross-searchable via the integrated America’s Historical Newspapers interface that allows users to view, magnify, print, and save digital page images. Each title is also available individually as part of American Newspaper Archives.

Encyclopedia of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. 3 vols. Lynne Rienner. Apr. 2010. 2000p. ISBN 978-1-58826-686-6. $395. UG GP GA
Although best-known for scholarly publications covering political and social sciences, Lynne Rienner Publishing is no stranger to reference, having had notable success with The Encyclopedia of the European Union 15 years ago. Early 2010 marks the publication of another major three-volume reference set—and possibly the publisher’s greatest publishing achievement—consisting of hundreds of entries covering every known aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Four years in the making, the encyclopedia underwent a grueling editorial process in order to present an unbiased and balanced perspective on what continues to be one of the most troubling conflicts of our time.

Health Policy Reference Center™. EBSCO. Sept. 2009. www.ebscohost.com. UG
Health-care reform and health-related issues are at the core of every political discourse in America today, making EBSCO’s Health Policy Reference Center a timely resource on a pressing topic. The database covers all aspects of health policy, including health-care access, health-care administration, health-care financing, public health, and more. Over 250 titles are available in full text; indexing is available for over 300 publications, including journals, monographs, magazines, and trade publications. Also included are hundreds of thousands of records with subject headings from an extensive thesaurus. The product is accessed through EBSCO’s enhanced EBSCOhost 2.0 platform, which needs no introduction.

The Child: An Encyclopedic Companion. Univ. of Chicago. 2009. 1144p. ISBN 978-0-226-47539-4. $75. GP GA
Although the mind of a child remains an enigma even to those who spend a lifetime studying it, much has been discovered through scientific research and observation. Bringing together the latest findings on children and childhood from pediatrics, psychology, anthropology, and other related fields, The Child comprises over 500 articles on children’s development from birth through adolescence, considering the ways in which race, ethnicity, gender, and cultural traditions affect children’s experiences of physical and mental health. This resource will be of great interest to parents, social workers, researchers, educators, and anyone else who works with children.

Encyclopedia of Journalism. 6 vols. SAGE. Dec. 2009. 3136p. ISBN 978-0-7619-2957-4. $795; Online: SAGE Reference Online. YA UG GP GA
As journalism continues to be reinvented with the advent of new Internet technologies, it is easy to forget that the profession has been adapting to new realities from its very beginning. This six-volume set covers every branch of journalism—including print, broadcast, and Internet journalism—and every trend, issue, and topic imaginable as it relates to the profession both in the United States and abroad. The first four volumes comprise 350 A–Z entries; the fifth volume is a valuable collection of key documents; and the sixth volume is an extensive annotated bibliography. Likely to become the definitive resource on the topic.

Encyclopedia of Global Warming. 3 vols. Salem. Dec. 2009. 1248p. ISBN 978-1-58765-563-0. $395; Online: Salem Science. YA UG GA
This timely resource on the sobering effects of global warming and climate change is one of several reference titles that will help launch Salem Science this December. The new database provides online access to libraries and schools purchasing the printed versions of Salem’s science reference, including this encyclopedia, as well as The Solar System, Encyclopedia of Global Resources, and Environmental Issues. The 500 essays in the Encyclopedia of Global Warming fall into one or more of the following categories: animals, astronomy, diseases and health effects, economics, conservation, geology and geography, laws, treaties, and protocols, plants and vegetation, popular culture and society, science and technology, transportation, and many others.

InfoSci-Business Technologies. IGI Global. 2009. www.igi-global.com. UG GP GA
IGI Global has already received praise from LJ for two of its key online products: InfoSci-Books and InfoSci-Journals, both giving access to the publisher’s impressive backlist on all aspects of information technology as it relates to such areas as management, health care, public administration, library science, and others. Next in line is the release of InfoSci-Subject Databases, which is a full-text collection of 12 subject-specific databases, one of which is Business Technologies; others include Educational Technologies (see separate entry below), Intelligent Technologies, Medical Technologies, Social Technologies, etc. Each database in the collection consists of 25, 30, or 50 ebooks.

Sleep Disorders Sourcebook. 3d ed. Omnigraphics. (Health Reference). Jul. 2010. 600p. ISBN 978-0-7808-1084-6. $93. UG GP GA
About 40 million Americans live with sleep disorders like insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea, sleepwalking, and snoring, which affect every aspect of their lives. But as we learn from this sourcebook, with proper medical diagnosis, many sleep disorders can not only be managed but overcome. This third edition of a book that first came out ten years ago provides useful and up-to-date information on how to identify key symptoms of sleep disorders and describes in great detail treatment options and sleep medications. A glossary, directory of resources for further help and information, and suggestions for additional reading are also provided.

Imagine how this could be used in a roving reference context…

Reviewed by Julie Zamostny — Library Journal, 11/15/2009

When we first launched the E-Reference Ratings collection development tool in last year’s Reference Announcements supplement (LJ 11/15/08), we promised to update it frequently to help public and academic librarians stay on top of the growing universe of electronic resources.

In this fourth revamp to the feature—following the addition of Travel & Tourism and Genealogy in March 2009 and the expansion of the Current Events category in August 2009—Julie Zamostny, Reference & Educational Services Librarian at Hood College in Frederick, MD, does a mammoth job of upgrading Social Sciences. She not only revisits products she reviewed last year but adds many more, increasing the total number of resources reviewed in the category to 44.

The resources have been broken down into several subcategories to facilitate easier browsing and encourage comparisons among similar products, including Communications, Education/Vocation, Law & Crime, Psychology, and Sociology.

If you are unfamiliar with E-Reference Ratings, take a moment to read the “criteria” legend, which explains what attributes we consider when perusing each product, and the “ratings” legend to see what the various stars mean. And don’t forget to email your feedback and suggestions for future coverage.—Mirela Roncevic, Reference Editor, mroncevic@reedbusiness.com