[WEB4LIB] RE: Why don't people use e-mail reference?

[Kevin W. Bishop]

Some additional observations on email reference questions.

I'm not on the front lines for our reference team, but I do receive most of
the email reference questions sent to the various library lists, and *all*
of those sent "through" the Institute's web site.  I believe the stats for
the library would be comparable to those which Mr. Sloan cites in his
informal study, perhaps slightly higher - at least one per day on average
(although it fluctuates greatly according to the academic season).  [The
stats for the campus-wide web site, however, outnumber *all* of our
library's reference lists combined; at times by a factor of ten.]  

Perhaps it is the largely repetitive themes of these messages that is most
striking.  In our library's case, most of them address issues of remote
access, library PINs, acquisition recommendations and, of course, the
general reference question.  The other prominent email reference "category"
concerns those that cannot be answered or fulfilled by the library due to
the status of the inquirer (we usually point them toward local resources).  

"Why would anyone use email for reference questions?"
	Apparently, the patron's mode of access to the "library" (on/offline) is
significant.  Distance is a factor - especially since we support a widely
distributed (i.e., global) and very active distance education program.  And
in my opinion, newness to online activities may also play a role.  

"How convenient have you made it for visitors to your web site?"
	For RPInfo, it doesn't seem to make a difference.  They'll always find it,
regardless of how relevant the query may or may not be to the Institute's
operations.  

-kb

>> Of the 18 libraries providing data, well over half (11) averaged less than
>> one question per day. Four more libraries averaged between 1 and
>> 2 questions per day. Two libraries averaged 2 to 3 questions per day.
>> Indiana University seems to be the exception to the rule, averaging
>> about 20 transactions per day. In other words, 95% of the libraries
>> in my admittedly small sample averaged fewer than 3 transactions
>> per day, with over half averaging less than 1 transaction per day.


>> So, once again giving the caveat that this is a small, self-selected
>> sample, my question is: Why don't people use e-mail reference
>> more frequently? With millions of people surfing the Web, and
>> millions of people with e-mail accounts, and internet commerce
>> logging billions of dollars in sales, etc., why does e-mail reference
>> seem to account for less than one-half of one percent of total
>> reference questions?

____________________________________________

Kevin W. Bishop                              
Campus-Wide Information System Coordinator
Libraries and Information Services
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute             
110 8th St. Troy, NY, 12180-3590    
(518) 276-8332   Fax  276-8559
<bishopk at rpi.edu>
<http://www.rpi.edu/rpinfo/>
RPInfo: Rensselaer's Information System
____________________________________________