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Service Equality in Virtual Reference

Research is divided about the potential of e-service to bridge communication gaps, particularly to diverse user groups. According to the existing body of literature, eservice may either increase or decrease the quality of service received. This study analyzes the level of service received by different genders and ethnic groups when academic and public librarians answer 676 online reference queries. Quality of e-service was evaluated along three dimensions: timely response, reliability, and courtesy. This study found no significant differences among different user groups along any of these dimensions, supporting the argument that the virtual environment facilitates equitable
service and may overcome some challenges of diverse user groups.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/105494
Date January 2008
CreatorsShachaf, Pnina, Oltmann, Shannon M., Horowitz, Sarah M.
Source SetsUniversity of Arizona
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeJournal Article (Paginated)

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