1. 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
3. USC SLIS
• Offers Bachelor’s,
Master’s, and
Doctoral degrees
• Utilizes combination
of in-person, satellite,
and web technologies
for instruction and
extracurricular
activities
4. 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
6. 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
7. 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
8. 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
9. 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
10. ASERL’s “Ask-A-Librarian” Online Chat
Reference Service with Extended Hours
Nearly 100 hours of service per week – an
increase of 33%
11. 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
12. 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
13. 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
14. “ … 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:
16. 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
17. 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.
18. 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
19. 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 databasesOverall Experience Rating:
21. 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
22. 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.”
