Curious about Qwidget? Join us for an informative discussion with librarians who have taken the plunge and put the QuestionPoint Qwidget up on their library Web sites. Our speakers are from a large university, a community college and a public library. They will discuss aspects of deploying the Qwidget, including: where the Qwidget is placed on the Web site (library catalog, library guides, etc), promotion and response from users (including usage statistics).
This free webinar will be held on Wedneday, October 1, 2008, from 11:30 AM ET to 12:30 PM ET [3:30 GMT to 4:30 GMT]. After the presentations, there will be time for questions. Please register at the link below to attend this informative discussion! If you are unable to attend, the session will be recorded.
Sponsored by BCR (Bibliographical Center for Research) and RUSA (Reference and User Services Association), an ALA Division
Rumors of the "death of reference" have been greatly exaggerated!
Reference and information services now encompass not just traditional forms such as in-person point-of-service, telephone, and e-mail, but also Instant Messaging, Text Messaging (SMS), blogs, wikis, library pages on MySpace and Facebook, and virtual reference desks in Second Life.
A Reference Renaissance: Current and Future Trends conference will explore all aspects of reference service in a broad range of contexts, including libraries and information centers, in academic, public, school, corporate, and other special library environments. This two-day conference will incorporate the multitude of established, emerging, and merging types of reference service including both traditional and virtual reference. It presents an opportunity for all reference practitioners and scholars to explore the rapid growth and changing nature of reference, as an escalating array of information technologies blend with traditional reference service to create vibrant hybrids.
Our theme of a "Reference Renaissance" was taken from an editorial by Diane Zabel, in a recent issue of Reference and User Services Quarterly (winter 2007). Zabel wrote of a "resurgence of interest in reference" and that "reference is experiencing a regeneration, a reference renaissance."
Submissions of papers, panels, and workshop proposals are welcomed that analyze issues, identify best practices, advance organizational and technological systems, propose standards, and/or suggest innovative approaches that will reveal as well as invent the future of reference in this exciting and unfolding landscape. The conference will be organized around the following interest tracks. Please note that the sub-bullets are intended to be suggested topics, not to be a comprehensive listing.
Virtual Reference (including e-mail, chat, IM, SMS, Second Life, etc.) Interpersonal aspects of reference service across different types of service Comparison of VR modes Innovative Service Models (including face-to-face, outreach, and Web 2.0) Comparison of different modes (locations, configurations, etc.) of service delivery Social networking applications (such as blogs, wikis, Facebook, MySpace,
etc.)
Case studies in virtual outreach
Satellite (or outpost) reference, roving reference Managing Reference Services Assessment/Evaluation (including guidelines and best practices, benchmarking performance, service quality, accuracy, effectiveness, and
efficiency)
Hiring, training and motivating staff in an era of rapid change (including performance issues) Marketing initiatives Approaches, Values, & Philosophy of Reference Services Reference as teaching How much help to give (e.g., homework, course assignments) Wild Card (including, but not limited to, controversial issues, comparisons, other innovative topics
TYPES OF SUBMISSIONS:
1. Papers (500 word abstracts): include reports and research studies
on any aspect of reference, user studies, evaluation projects, innovative practical applications, theme papers, or theoretical developments. In addition, works in progress and student papers are invited. Submissions should include: 1) a cover sheet with the paper title, author(s), contact information and affiliations(s) for each author, conference track(s) and
2) a second page consisting of a 500 word abstract that summarizes the paper but does NOT show your name or any contact information. Papers will be refereed by the program committee.
2. Panels: include proposals for 1.5 hour long sessions on topics
such as reference innovations, implementation of new technology, evaluation projects, reports by practitioners on current initiatives, theme panels, and contrasting viewpoints on controversial or hot issues.
Innovative formats are sought, especially those that encourage audience participation, such as: roundtable discussions, debates, forums, or case studies. Submissions should include: panel title, names, affiliations, and contact information for all participants (moderators, panelists, respondents, etc.), conference track(s), and a brief overview (250 words) of the issues, projects or viewpoints to be discussed. Panels will be refereed by the program committee.
3. Workshops, Demonstrations, and Reports from the Field: include
proposals for 30 minute sessions on working projects, new services, new approaches to reference instruction, or to developments-in-progress. These can be educational in nature. Submissions should include workshop of demonstration title, names and affiliations of all participants, contact information, conference track(s), and brief overview (250 words) of the session.
DEADLINES:
April 4, 2008 Deadline for All Submissions
May 5, 2008 Notification of Acceptance to Speakers
SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS:
Submissions should be sent in electronic format (as an e-mail attachment as a Word document or pdf) to Program Chair Marie L. Radford (mradford@scils.rutgers.edu).
Information on conference registration and hotel reservations will be forthcoming on the conference website at:
If They Don't Know About it, They Won't Come! Marketing Virtual Reference
It’s likely that members of your own library staff aren’t aware of virtual reference, let alone John and Jane Public. So how can you raise awareness? By marketing, of course; but effective marketing is more than splashy promotions, eye-catching graphics and clever messages. Success is grounded in constant attention, creativity, listening to customers, and being passionate about all that libraries have to offer.
Join OCLC Western libraries and others for this two-hour online workshop presented by Buff Hirko, former Statewide Virtual Reference Coordinator for the Washington State Library and co-author (with Mary Ross) of Virtual Reference Training: The Complete Guide to Providing Anytime, Anywhere Answers. Two sessions are being offered, May 13th and June 5th.
This course will introduce concepts and techniques that tempt folks to use your chat service, and keep them coming back. In addition to basic marketing guidelines, we will also discuss examples of creative promotion, cost-effective tools, and design principles and resources. It is a perfect course for chat service providers and managers from academic and public libraries who want to increase their visibility and understanding of virtual reference.
For more information and to register, please visit the workshop page on OCLC Western’s site at
http://www.oclc.org/western/training/courses/descriptions/W915.htm.
Promoting Virtual Reference Services on (and off) Campus
Tuesday, March 18, 11:30 am - 12:30 pm (4:30 - 5:30 pm GMT)
Over 180 attendees registered for our webinar on promoting virtual reference in academic libraries.
Here are the slide presentations from this webinar:
http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/qp080318_wendy.ppt
http://www5.oclc.org/downloads/presentations/qp080318_nancy.ppt
The recording for the webinar will be posted as soon as it is available.
Academic librarians, are you looking for ways to position your library as the information provider of choice?
Virtual reference provides a great opportunity to guide students to the best resources when they need your help the most. Our two speakers, both heading successful virtual reference services at large academic libraries (the University of Washington in the United States and the University of Wolverhampton in the United Kingdom) will share their tips on promoting their chat and e-mail reference services to students on campus and off, and discuss what works to capture the attention of their campus constituencies. For example, the University of Washington saw an increase of 43% in chat and e-mail activity during the 2006–2007 academic year, as a result of effectively promoting their service.
Our speakers:
- Wendy Haynes became the project champion for the University of Wolverhampton’s new virtual reference service, ASSIST, in September 2006. She has successfully driven the project through to the expected embedding of the service in 2008. During 2007, she completed her MSC dissertation on evaluation of virtual reference services.
- Nancy Huling is Head of Reference and Research Services at the University of Washington Libraries. In January 2002, with the participation of her colleagues, she launched the UW Libraries live chat service and simultaneously established a cooperative chat monitoring arrangement with Cornell University (both Cornell and UW are now in the 24/7 Reference cooperative). Nancy is a member of the QuestionPoint Users Council and the QuestionPoint 24/7 Reference Advisory Board.
ALA Midwinter 2008 Conference in Philadelphia
January 11 - 16, 2008
Best Practices in Cooperative Reference: Reference and Social Networking
Hilton Garden Inn, Salon A/B
Saturday, January 12, 1:30 - 3:30
How do reference services fit in a Web 2.0 world? Stephen Francoeur will explore how libraries are offering reference services via MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and other social network sites and what the practical, legal, and theoretical implications are for answering questions in these environments. Beth Evans will discuss how social networks such as MySpace provide the librarians at Brookyn College with opportunities to do virtual reference in unexpected ways in unexpected places. Whether it is answering a direct query, to pushing a snippet of unexpected, personalized, library instruction, to being a knowledgeable voice in the crowd, librarians can guide information seekers online who may have bypassed other methods of reaching their library or librarian.
Who said reference has to be one person, one librarian, one question? Can reference be a social activity? How can we truly put the user at the center of reference? How can we re-imagine reference as a learning activity where the reference librarian facilitates learning? David Lankes will focus on reference as a truly participatory process and how such a process can take advantage in the latest in web technologies.
Our panelists for this session were:
Beth Evans is an associate professor and the electronic services specialist at the Brooklyn College Library. She has her MLS from Queens College of the City University of New York, an MA from Brown University and a BA from Brooklyn College, CUNY. She was named a Library Journal Mover and Shaker in 2007 for her work with the Brooklyn College Library on MySpace.
Stephen Francoeur is an information services librarian and assistant professor at Baruch College. He regularly writes about reference issues on his blog, Digital Reference.
R. David Lankes is director of the Information Institute of Syracuse, and an associate professor in Syracuse University's School of Information Studies. He was creator of the Virtual Reference Desk Project and has done extensive research into virtual reference.
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