[WEB4LIB] RE: What's wrong with virtual referenc

[Robertson, James]

Bernie,

	I think most of us figured it out.  After all, a 54 hour reference
session is really "going the extra mile."  :-)

			--Jim

Jim Robertson
Assistant University Librarian
Van Houten Library
New Jersey Institute of Technology
323 King Blvd.
Newark, NJ  07102-1982
(973) 596-5798 -- james.c.robertson at njit.edu -- www.library.njit.edu


-----Original Message-----
From: Sloan, Bernie [mailto:bernies at uillinois.edu]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 2:16 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: What's wrong with virtual referenc


I am surprised no one else has caught my little gaffe here. Aaron Dobbs has
just pointed out off list that I should have said "minutes:seconds" rather
than "hours:minutes". :-)

-----Original Message-----
From: Sloan, Bernie 
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 11:17 AM
To: 'amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us'; Multiple recipients of list
Subject: RE: [WEB4LIB] RE: What's wrong with virtual referenc

While we're talking about length of the average digital reference interview,
here are some findings from a study I did for the Ready for Reference
service in Illinois...

Length of Session (613 sessions, from January 2001 through June 2001):

Range (hours:minutes) from 2:04 to 54:26
Median length was 13:11
12.2% less than 5 minutes
21.4% 5 to 10 minutes
25.5% 10 to 15 minutes
14.3% 15 to 20 minutes
26.5% longer than twenty minutes

In other words, two thirds of the sessions lasted longer than ten minutes.

Bernie Sloan

-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew I. Mutch [mailto:amutch at waterford.lib.mi.us] 
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 10:26 AM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: [WEB4LIB] RE: What's wrong with virtual referenc

I'm curious if the studies that the authors cited about the length of the
average digitial reference interview take into account the information
provided during the interview? When they state that they take longer than
face-to-face interviews, are they comparing apples-to-apples? I ask
because I know from my personal experience asking reference questions
online that the information provided often leads me to ask further
questions which extends the length of the interview. Because I can quickly
evaluate the quality and the relevance of the material that I'm directed
to, it's much easier and quicker for me to then refine my request or ask
for additional resources based on what has been sent to me. 

In a face-to-face setting, my first question might direct me to a
reference resource where I have to pull the resource off the shelf, review
the material and then return to the librarian for the location of
additional resources, especially if the first resource doesn't meet my
need. That would be two separate interactions that combined might take the
same amount of time that one online interaction would take.

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI