This research is an effort to understand chat reference services
through librarians' perceptions of successful and less successful chat
reference service. Ten Academic libraries in Ohio and Pennsylvania
which offered chat reference services were identified and 40
librarians were interviewed in order to address the research questions
of this study. The main methodology used was the Critical Incident
Technique (CIT) that is based on collecting and analyzing the most
memorable experiences of human behavior in order to evaluate and
identify ways to increase effectiveness of service. On-site, personal
interviews were conducted with librarians who provide chat reference
services. The subjects were initially asked to define chat reference
service and compare it with traditional reference services. Following
CIT procedures, they were then asked to recall and describe successful
and less successful chat reference interactions and to make
suggestions for better chat reference services. The interviews were
transcribed and entered into a database for coding and content
analysis of the collected data using qualitative data analysis
software (MAXqda). Coded data were transformed into categories to
determine and describe librarians' perceptions of chat reference
services. The six major themes that emerged from this study were:
1-Characteristics of chat reference, 2-Attitudes of librarians and
users, 3-Efficiency of reference interview and question negotiation,
4-Service improvement and management issues, 5-Training and review,
and 6-Publicity and user awareness. These themes were discussed
throughout the study. Findings from the recorded critical incidents
indicate the importance of ``attitudes" of librarians and users, the
role of question ``negotiation" and ``type", and the availability of
``resources" in successful chat reference service. The defining
characteristics of chat reference, that it is online, remotely
available and delivered through software raised issues of
``technology", ``chat software", ``service location" and ``service
hours" which were also significant in defining service
success. Furthermore, investigation of reference service quality
criteria, evaluation measures and methods were explored by comparing
literature on traditional and chat reference services and study
findings. This study provides practical evaluation criteria for
providing successful chat reference services in three categories based
on: librarians' performance, chat software, and marketing
issues. Further research for developing comprehensive digital
reference evaluation criteria is recommended.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04192005-233208 |
| Date | 28 July 2005 |
| Creators | Ozkaramanli, Eylem |
| Contributors | Edie M. Rasmussen, Jose-Marie Griffiths, David Robins, Gloriana St. Clair |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04192005-233208/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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