Can Master's-level Students in LIS Programs Provide Effective

Professional Virtual Reference Services?

A Report of an LIS Education Program and ASERL

Collaborative Initiative

Feili Tu, Ph.D., M.L.I.S.

School of Library and Information Science

The University of South Carolina

feilitu@sc.edu

Andrea Wright, M.L.I.S.

Science Reference Librarian

Thomas Cooper Library

The University of South Carolina

wright46@mailbox.sc.edu

Outline

• Background

• Project

• Goals

• Project Design

• Evaluations and Feedback

• Questions

USC SLIS

• Offers Bachelor’s,

Master’s, and

Doctoral degrees

• Utilizes combination

of in-person, satellite,

and web technologies

for instruction and

extracurricular

activities

Background

• SLIS/USC: ALA accreditation – Over 30 Master’s level courses, mostly DE

– For example, in the Spring 2008 semester:

• Spring 2008:

– Total=32 courses:

» 25 DE courses: 688 students accessing DE

technology/week

» 7 on-campus courses: 44 students in classroom/week

Total SLIS/USC students=484

Project: Fall 2007-Spring 2008

Our Vision

• Foster excellence in LIS education and

scholarship:

– training students in information services

– evaluating their performance in

• applying technology

• accessing appropriate information resources

• forming professional collaborations

Purposes

• Produce qualified graduates who can perform both face-to-face and VRS

• Help practicing librarians obtain a professional level of expertise in VRS

• Utilize the SLIS resources to support real-world academic library services

• Evaluate the SLIS students’ competencies through user and project administration feedback

ASERL Ask-A-Librarian

• Participating Institutions

– College of William & Mary

– Mississippi State University

– University of Alabama

– University of Central Florida

– University of Memphis

– University of Mississippi

– University of North Carolina at Charlotte

– Virginia Commonwealth University

ASERL Ask-A-Librarian:

Standard Service Model

• Live chat and email reference through

DocuTek VRLplus

• Collaborative coverage of virtual desk

Day of the Week Coverage Times

Monday – Thursday 9 am – 9 pm

Friday 9 am – 6 pm

Saturday 1 pm – 5 pm

Sunday None

ASERL’s “Ask-A-Librarian” Online Chat

Reference Service with Extended Hours

Nearly 100 hours of service per week – an

increase of 33%

Project Design: Utilization of

the SLIS Resources

• Primary Investigator (PI): Dr. Feili Tu

• Project Coordinator: Andrea Wright, MLIS Candidate (in 2007)

• Administrative Central: SLIS Director’s Office

• Service Personnel: Master’s level students or recent graduates

• Features:

– Paid internship or practicum

– Competitive application

process

– Internships overseen by

Primary Investigator

– Day-to-day operational

control provided by Project

Coordinator

Training and Services

• Live Webinar with trainer from SirsiDynix

• Live introduction session with librarian from ASERL_AAL institution

• Hands-on practice with DocuTek system

• ASERL Institutional Policy Pages

• ASERL/SLIS del.icio.us account

• Blackboard

Project Evaluation:

The Research Component • Effectiveness of the

provision of VRS by the SLIS student staff 1. how effectively students

provide VRS

2. training provided by ASERL_AAL and its effectiveness

3. whether availability of a real-world internship/practicum experience facilitates qualitative changes in students’ learning

• Interviews

– Student Staff

– ASERL_AAL

Management

• Documentation analysis

– Communication

– Reference interview skills

– Searching and

information-seeking

skills

– Technology access

“ … We had experience working with other

library schools. Students did not know

how to conduct reference interviews and

ended up sending patrons to Google and

Wikipedia. … No problems with your

students. …”

“ … [The SLIS/USC] Students have done an excellent job answering questions, using the tools that we [ASERL_AAL Consortium] provide. Questions are not easy to answer; tools are not easy to use … Sometimes, they did better than our [ASERL_AAL Consortium’s] librarians. …”

From

ASERL_AAL

Management:

Facts and Figures

Interviews with ASERL_AAL

Management

• Evaluation of SLIS-

Provided Services = 7

(Totally Satisfied)

• Should ASERL Ask-a-

Librarian continue to

partner with

USC/SLIS? Yes

• Overall Rating = 7

(Excellent)

• Being comfortable with using technology

• Knowing how to conduct reference interviews and use authoritative sources, and answering reference questions appropriately

• Knowing how to provide proper referrals

• Picking up questions efficiently

• Following policies well

• Handling problematic users appropriately

• Not requiring additional training

Interviews with ASERL_AAL

Management (Cont.) Strengths of ASERL_AAL

Extended Hours Program:

• More hours of

coverage but frees up

librarians

• Student workers get

hands-on experience

• Extended high-quality

services with

reasonable cost

Weakness of ASERL_AAL

Extended Hours Program:

• Students are not on campus; some questions cannot be easily answered.

• Website handled through outside group; therefore, it is difficult to update.

• Students have to check the web sites from different campuses to monitor the changes of procedures and services.

Interviews with SLIS Student

Staff

• SLIS curriculum

– Most useful course:

• Introduction to

Information Services &

Sources Course (basic

reference course)

– Most useful skill:

• Reference Interview

– Most useful knowledge:

– Knowledge of reference

sources

• Training

– Most useful:

• Hands-on practice

– Not covered:

• Dealing with

problem patrons

Most Useful SLIS courses:

1. Introduction to

Information Services &

Sources Course

2. Online Information

Services

Interviews with SLIS Student

Staff (Cont.)

Benefits to Students:

• Experience with live

reference with real

patrons

• Helpful for career

development

Strengths of AAL Model:

• Easy to use interface

Weakness of AAL Model:

• Co-browsing

• Lack of access to databases

• Lack of access to databases Overall Experience Rating:

Documentation Analysis

26%

39%

7% 8%

39%

27%

1

1% 2

2%

3

6% 4

15%

5

11%

6

16%

7

49%

Overall rating of session

average = 5.78

Highest = 7

Issues Related to Analysis of

Transaction Transcripts

• The instrument used for documentation analyses was developed by the PI based on the ALA _RUSA Guidelines for behavioral performance of reference and information service providers.

• It was difficult to determine students’ performance in the following items:

– Effective information retrieval, including formulating

search strategies, online searching, and using indexes in

print and electronic formats

– Conducting online user instruction

– Technology troubleshooting

Reflections

• From Andrea:

• What do I think?

• From the SLIS Director, Dr. Samantha K. Hastings: – “In these days of emphasis

on evidence-based learning, it is critical that we provide our students with hands-on learning opportunities. We are proud of our students’ abilities, and this project has demonstrated that our pride is quite justified.”

Contact Us:

Feili Tu, Ph.D., M.L.I.S.

feilitu@sc.edu

Andrea Wright, M.L.I.S.

wright46@mailbox.sc.ed