[WEB4LIB] Outsourcing virtual reference?

[george at library.caltech.edu]

In response to Bernie Sloan's Swiftian proposal -- EVERYTHING.  (Your
mileage may vary.)

Context is key.  The campus community, even at a small place like Caltech,
is extremely diverse.  Much like the well documented differences (and
similarities) between public, academic, and special libraries in terms of
the level/degree of service provided, there are lesser documented, but no
less real, differences in service preference and style within the
heterogeneous cultures on a single campus.

Ranganathan's concept -- every reader his book, every book its reader --
addresses the granularity of cultural predisposition of each information
seeker.  This, in turn, is compounded by the current purpose of the seeker.

I don't know the proclivities of the most irascible professor at UIUC nor
would I recognize the screen name of the mayor's spouse in Morris Township,
NJ.  If I were to deliver virtual reference service which did not measure up
to the expectations of these individuals, it may indeed be due to the fact I
am not a part of those environments. That would be small consolation for the
local library administrator called to answer for my hired gun shortcomings.

George S. Porter
Sherman Fairchild Library of Engineering & Applied Science
Caltech, 1-43
Pasadena, CA  91125-4300
Telephone (626) 395-3409 Fax (626) 431-2681