Virtual Reference: Is it for you?

Instructor: Susan Barb

Virtual Reference: Is it for you?

The Internet has radically changed the way our world looks at information. As librarians, we are challenged to adapt our services to meet this change and to utilize the power of the Web to extend our services outside our physical buildings. We’ve moved the Internet into our libraries, now we need to move our reference desks onto the Internet. Virtual Reference provides real-time, person-to-person reference via the Web, but is it right for your library?

Workshop Description: This all-day hands-on workshop will demonstrate real-time virtual reference service using chat and collaboration software. It will focus on the background of virtual reference service and discuss the issues involved in providing this service. The workshop will also provide reference tips and tricks for virtual librarians.

Highlights: Using hands-on exercises, a packet of handouts and a specially prepared bookmarks file (that you'll take home with you on a disk), this workshop will cover the following topics:

• Development of virtual reference services
  • E-mail service
  • Virtual reference desks
  • Real-time reference service
• Pros and cons of providing virtual reference
  • Staffing
  • Scheduling
  • Training
  • Budgeting
  • Political considerations
• Hands-on demonstration of real-time reference service
  • Demonstration of 24/7 reference software
  • Practice with chat
  • Practice with collaborative browsing
  • Experience as both librarian and as patron
• Reference tips & tricks for virtual reference
  • Conducting the reference interview via chat
  • Basic search strategies to maximize results
  • Follow-up strategies for virtual reference
  • Coping with technical glitches.

  Who should attend: Anyone who works in a library in California.

  Prerequisites: This workshop is NOT for beginners. Those attending should be:

  • comfortable using a mouse
  • able to navigate the Web using URLs, browser menus, and toolbars
  • familiar with basic Web terminology
  • some familiarity with chat and how it works.

  Please Note: There is a $50.00 fee for this workshop. InFoPeople does not provide parking passes, lunch or refreshments.

  Fee increase note: The fee for most Infopeople workshops scheduled for the 2001/2002 fiscal year (i.e., those workshops scheduled on or after October 1, 2001) has been raised to $75. Some special workshops, such as those that cover more than one day or that involve the distribution of licensed software or other products, may have higher fees.

  Check-in: 8:30 to 9 AM Instruction: 9 AM to 4:30 PM