Ref. Qs Via the Web: In Summary

[Robert J Tiess]

First, I would like to express my gratitude to all those
who have contacted me on and off-list concerning
reference queries accepted through web sites.  The
information you have provided confirms my beliefs it
is a worthy service and certainly something libraries
would do well to contemplate as they consider new
ways to serve the information needs of their modern,
technically-sophisticated patrons.

Next, as I have been asked to share my findings with
the list, particularly that information that has arrived
off-list, I will make a brief, informal summary of what
appears to be the state of Web-originating RQs.
Information has arrived from university, state, and
local libraries from all over the world, so the picture
is quite well-rounded.

1.  On the average there seems to be anywhere
      between 5-50 questions per month arriving via
      the web.  Several libararies reported  gone several
      months with only a handful of questions.  The
      number of queries appears to be relative to the
      patron-population of any given institution, and so
      smaller libraries receive substantially fewer RQs
      than larger libraries, as one might expect.

2.  Access is generally not limited to local libarary
      patrons.  Rather, it appears anyone with a valid
      question is answered.

3. Follow-ups are common and largely necessary
     when patrons do not provide enough information
     to substantially narrow the query transaction--as
     is true of most daily reference dealings.  The trick,
     so to speak, is to elicit as much information as
     possible from the patron at first.  Online forms
     with specific fields  (Author, title, etc.) seem to be
     of far greater use than generic mailto: links.

4. Librarians believe it is a valid, powerful extension
     of their overall reference service, and, as some have
     stated, it is anticipated in their mission statements.

5. Ready reference q's seem to be the major variety
     of inquiries, preferrably so as several librarians
     have indicated.

6. There is a willingness or necessity to charge for
     complex searches, particularly those involving
     database and extended online searches; once
     again, not unlike typical, acyberspatial referencing.

7. Follow-ups are almost entirely conducted by
     e-mail; however, in the case of printed material
     requests, mailing/postage becomes an issue.
     Phone calls (usually local) and FAXes are the next
     most common methods of following up.

8. Librarians are not always the initial recipients of
     Internet-originating queries.  Technical assistants
     are sometimes involved, and they forward the RQs
     to the appropriate librarians, who take it from there.

9. Not one library/librarian has reported a negative
     experience regarding RQs via the web.

I am certain there are other libraries and library
personnel who have had experiences exceptional to
those outlined above, but I simply wanted to gain a
sense of how libraries generally perceive web-based
RQ services.  That the responses were overwhelmingly
positive does not surprise me, as I have understood
the matter to be part of a natural synthesis of the
Internet and the Library.

Once again, thank all of you who have taken time to
respond to my initial questions.  You are providing
an invaluable service and are aptly demonstrating
another simple yet powerful way libraries can easily
and successfully integrate Internet technology.

			Robert J. Tiess
			rjtiess at juno.com