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Virtual reference is one of the hottest new ideas in reference and instruction circles right now. What is virtual reference? Ann Viles defines it as, “the electronic mediation between a user needing an answer to a question and the information that will lead to the answer.” In this case, the electronic mediation is not email reference and Web pages, but the use of chat for virtual consultations with library users. What is chat?
Chat refers to a type of computer system that allows users to logon and talk to other users in real-time. It is different from email, which sits in an inbox somewhere until each message is read and deleted. Chat is synchronous and communication is instantaneous. Messages pass between the group of people logged on to the chat service at that particular moment. The online dictionary Netlingo offers a good definition:
chat
A form of interactive online communication that allows you to have real time conversations with others on your computer. Chatting on the Internet can take place via Web pages in places known as chat rooms or on IRC channels . Either way, when participating in a chat discussion, your messages are instantaneously relayed to other members and their messages are instantaneously relayed to you.
There are several directions that a library can take to start a virtual reference service using chat. Some libraries are using telnet based IRC and ICQ software or MOO (MUD Object Oriented) software as we started with at the University of Florida, while others are using Web-based chat software. The software options include Open Source Software or freeware, which is free software that you can install, tweak and program yourself to a variety of inexpensive Web-based software such as ConferenceRoom. For libraries that can afford it, there are sophisticated messaging programs such as eShare’s NetAgent and LivePerson that are used by large companies like Sprint, AOL or 1-800-Flowers to extend chat services to consumers via the Web. If computer expertise is an issue, many vendors offer you the option of outsourcing the chat service. Virtual Reference Desk from LSSI (Library Systems & Services) goes the farthest in offering either a chat space that your own librarians can staff or a completely outsourced reference service that includes LSSI staff to answer questions.
But before reinventing the wheel, take some time to explore some of the ways other libraries are implementing chat. “A Survey of Online Interactive Reference Services “ at <http://web.uflib.ufl.edu/hss/ref/chat/cc3.html> lists libraries that offer chat services. Another registry of virtual reference services is LiveRef(sm), < http://www. public.iastate.edu/~CYBERSTACKS/LiveRef.htm>.
What does a virtual reference encounter look like? Chat rooms can be lively places, with rapid-fire conversations making sentences of text roll continually across the screen. When you get several people logged on and talking, the conversations can progress very swiftly. One feature to look for when choosing software is the ability to limit logons to your interactive reference service. Diane Luckevich offers more tips in her article, “Chat Software”. Below is a screen snapshot of one chat session in the University of Florida’s interactive reference service, RefeXpress.
Besides being a fun way to convey library services, chat is an ideal medium for reaching out to remote users or users that are working with library databases, web pages or other resources outside of the library building. These users could be students working in a computer lab next door to the library or at home, or they could be located in another country. With more and more users using library resources outside the physical confines of the library, this technology allows librarians to better meet remote users’ needs for assistance and instruction. Chat doesn’t require the user to give up their modem connection to telephone a librarian for help; in the case of the software programs that I’m going to discuss, users can simply open up a new web browser window, connect to the library’s chat service and seek help while they continue to work on their research. This enables the librarian on the other end to replicate the user’s situation or to teach the user how to find whatever they need by having the user follow along on their own computer. Librarians can also route users to the appropriate sources very quickly. It’s much easier to type in an URL in the chat window and hit the enter key to send it to the user than it is to read it to a user in a phone call.
In addition, many chat clients offer active hyperlinks, so that when a librarian types in a URL in her/his window, it becomes a click-able hyperlink in the chat window of the user.
Free software options include server software that you can download yourself such as MOO and chat software bundled with operating systems or through Internet portals. MOO Open Source Software such as Jay’s House Core and enCore eXpress are powerful programs that require no downloading of a client on the user’s part to logon to the chat room, the ability to control the number of users that can logon, a robust built-in database for programming frequently asked questions, slides and robots and a virtual environment featuring many rooms with customized features for users to interact with. Free Java applets sucha as Cup-O Mud are available to create a Web page with a chat window type interface for the telnet based Jay’s House Core, while enCore Xpress is already Web-based. The only thing that is required for a MOO is some basic knowledge of programming concepts to be able to install and customize the virtual environment. High Wired and MOOniversity are excellent guides to programming and using a MOO as a virtual reference tool.
If programming is not one of your strongest assets, AOL Instant Messenger, Netscape IRC and Microsoft’s NetMeeting are free and easy to install and run. But one important issue with these free programs is that the user needs to download and install a chat client before they can communicate with you. Here you run the danger of deterring users who need a fast answer or feel uncomfortable installing software on their own computers. If this is an issue, try HumanClick’s free hosted service for one-on-one conversations with users. HumanClick’s Java client downloads to user’s computers very rapidly.
The variety of mid-range products include the IRC based ConferenceRoom, available at as low at $495.00. It‘s easy to install the Conference-Room server, and the Java-based IRC client installs itself on user’s computers fairly rapidly. There are numerous options in the $500 to $6,000 range which include ParaChat and VolanoChat, both Web-based chat client server programs. Many offer a hosted service, such as ichat or the purchase of chat server software to run yourself.
High-end programs such as NetAgent, LivePerson and Virtual Reference Desk are the most expensive but offer flexibility and powerful options that the other programs do not. These programs feature statistics keeping, logging of transactions and robot features that start the reference interview with users, sort of a virtual “triage.” When a user logs on, the robot would greet them, tell them that a librarian would be with them shortly and proceed to ask the user a series of diagnostic questions. Librarians can then read the details of the interview and see that “John needs some help finding articles in FirstSearch.” Librarians can also build knowledge bases of frequently asked questions and incorporate PowerPoint presentations into the chat program, to send or show to users as needed. The most powerful feature in my view is the ability to “push” a Web page to a user. These “pushed” pages automatically display on the user’s computer, so that you KNOW what the user is seeing at the other end.
This article just briefly touches upon the wide number of software programs and hosted services that can be used to launch a virtual reference service. Consult Luckevich's article for a truly comprehensive list of features and issues to consider when deciding which chat program is right for your library and budget!
AOL Instant Messenger
<http://www.aol.com/aim/home.html>
ConferenceRoom
<http://www.webmaster.com/>
Cup-O Mud
<http://www.du.org/java/
CupOmud/CupOmud_docs.html>
HumanClick
<http://www.humanclick.com/
>
ichat
<http://www.ichat.com>
LivePerson
<http://www.liveperson.com/>
Jay's House Core (MOO)
<http://web.nwe.ufl.edu/writing/help/
moo/jhc/>
enCore Xpress (MOO)
<http://lingua.utdallas.edu/encore/>
NetMeeting
<http://www.microsoft.com/windows /
netmeeting/default.asp>
Netscape IRC
<http://home.netscape.com/>
Virtual Reference Desk
<http://www.lssi.com/virtual/>
NetAgent
<http://www.eshare.com/>
ParaChat
<http://www.parachat.com/>
VolanoChat
<http://www.volano.com/>
References:
Holmevik, Jan Rune and Cynthia Haynes. High Wired: On the Design, Use, and Theory of Educational MOOs . Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, c1998.
-----. MOOniversity: a Student’s Guide to Online Learning Environments. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Luckevich, Diana. “Chat Software.” Web Developer’s Virtual Library. June 2, 2000. <http://wdvl.internet.com/Software/Applications/Chat/> March 1, 1998.
NetLingo. <http://www.netlingo.com/>.
Viles, Ann. “The Virtual Reference Interview: Equivalencies.” IFLANET. Discussion Group on Reference Work Report. April 19, 2000. < http://www.ifla.org/VII/dg/dgrw/dp99-06.htm>. October 13, 1999.
LIRT News, September 2000. Volume 23, number 1.
To report problems, please contact the LIRT News Production editor
at jronan@ufl.edu