As I Sit Studying: WWW-Based Reference Services

Abstract

This article reports on the current state of reference services on the World Wide Web (WWW). It explains what a WWW-based reference service is, describes several models of handling requests, and explores the impact of these services on traditional reference services. Based upon anecdotal information the author concludes that, to date, Web-based reference services have had little impact upon traditional reference services.     

Developing a Chat Reference Training Program

ABSTRACT

In the last few years, chat reference services have been implemented by public, college and university libraries. One important aspect of the chat reference service is library staff training. Literature shows that this is a vital step in offering a chat reference service. Library staff need to be well-trained in areas of chatting, reference interviewing in a digital environment and using electronic resources, such as the Internet and databases. This article discusses the chat reference training program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The following text provides an outline for establishing a chat training program including planning, organization, implementation and assessment. Areas of discussion include the chat reference interview, chatting and patron management techniques.     

Internet Reference Services for Distance Education

SUMMARY

Published guidelines for distance learning library services provide a framework for distance education librarians to use in planning services for off-campus students. Other literature in the arena of distance education librarianship provides concrete examples of how reference services have been offered in real settings. This paper attempts to synthesize these two types of literature in order to offer models of reference service for distance learners.     

R U There? How to Reach a Virtual Audience Through Affordable Marketing Strategies

ABSTRACT

Virtual reference is a vital service component of many libraries. Whether serving college students or the general public, a real-time reference service demands highly trained staff and quality resources. What can administrators do to make sure their users make the most of this cutting-edge service? The University at Buffalo (UB) was one of the first universities to establish a virtual reference service. Known as Instant Librarian, the chat room thrives as a major public service without placing a drain on staff or budget. This article discusses the marketing strategies UB applies to chat reference, including advertising, use of icons, and user surveys for assessment.     

HawkHelp

SUMMARY

This article describes the factors that influenced the design of a chat reference service that meets the needs of distance learners as well as traditional students. Emphasis is placed in the importance of collaborative projects, evaluation of software, and planning the organizational structure. An innovative “peer and tier” staffing initiative may extend hours and free reference librarians to concentrate on research and in-depth questions. Finally, a planning effort by information services may lead to a one-stop shopping service that will include student services that often are problematic for the distant learner (counseling, enrollment, financial aid, etc.).     

A Historical Overview of Internet Reference Services for Distance Learners

SUMMARY

The advent of library services and collections on the Internet revolutionized reference services to students enrolled in distance learning programs. Prior to the Internet, reference librarians who supported distance learning programs had few methods, and many of them costly, to provide the equivalent library services advocated by the ACRL Guidelines. Through the Internet, these librarians were able to approximate the services and resources that had always been available to students who came into the library. This article describes the development of reference services on the Internet in a variety of libraries that support distance learners.     

Online Web Development Platforms Enable All Reference Staff to Work on Subject Guides

Information technology has disrupted the careers of many professionals over the past decade by changing both what work is performed and how it is performed. Technical skill set gaps among reference staff are a serious problem in libraries today. The library subject or topic research pathfinder continues to play a large supporting role in a library's reference service, yet few reference departments have a staff compliment in which each and every team member has the same Web development skill sets. Research guides are no longer static webpages with organized lists. Online Web development services like editme.com and LibGuides enable all staff to equally participate in developing webpages to support reference service, without a steep technical learning curve.     

Ask a UT System Librarian

SUMMARY

University of Texas System libraries initiated a chat reference program to support distance learners enrolled at University of Texas component institutions, including the UT Telecampus Digital Library. Librarians at several geographically distant campuses staffed the collaborative chat reference service.

Librarians assisted students at other UT System campuses, in effect becoming “distance librarians” who must have thorough knowledge of both their own library resources and the resources available at other campus libraries.

Librarians at The University of Texas at San Antonio share their experiences with this collaborative chat reference service.     

基于SOM神经网络的服务质量预测

服务质量预测在服务计算领域中是一个热点研究问题.在历史QoS数据稀疏的情况下,设计一个满足用户个性化需求的服务质量预测方法成为一项挑战.为解决这一挑战问题,本文提出一种基于SOM神经网络的服务质量预测方法SOMQP.首先,基于历史QoS数据,应用SOM神经网络算法分别对用户和服务进行聚类,得到用户关系矩阵和服务关系矩阵;进而,综合考虑用户信誉和服务关联性,采用一种新的Top-k选择机制获得相似用户和相似服务;最后,采用基于用户的和基于项目的混合策略对缺失QoS值进行预测.在真实的数据集WS-Dream上进行大量实验,结果表明,与经典的CF算法和K-means算法相比,本文方法较大程度上提高了QoS预测精度.     

User Satisfaction Survey of Ask-A-Question Service at the Internet Public Library

ABSTRACT

To assess satisfaction of the Internet Public Library's Ask-A-Question service, we conducted a three month user survey between February 12 and May 11, 2004. Most respondents were highly satisfied with the answers they received. Although only a few respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the service, we conducted failure analysis on those transactions. The conclusion includes suggestions for improving the IPL digital reference service.     

Providing Reference in a Joint-Use Library

SUMMARY

As a one of a kind joint-use facility between a private university and a county government, the Alvin Sherman Library, Research, and Information Technology Center at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) provides reference services to both NSU students on and off campus and public users. Reference librarians have had to adjust to the variety of users and demands for new services and at the same time find new and creative methods of offering, promoting, and providing instruction about their services to public users as well as NSU's local and distance students. Tracking statistics can assist in identifying user needs.     

Twenty Years of Virtual Reference

ABSTRACT

In observance of the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the first journal article devoted to virtual reference, the author explores early e-mail and chat reference services.     

Composing web services enacted by autonomous agents through agent-centric contract net protocol

ContextAgents are considered as one of the fundamental technologies underlying open and dynamic systems that are largely enabled by the semantic web and web services. Recently, there is a trend to introduce the notion of autonomy empowered by agents into web services. However, it has been argued that the characteristics of autonomy will make agents become available intermittently and behave variedly over time, which therefore increase the complexity on devising mechanisms for composing services enacted by autonomous agents.ObjectiveIn this work, we propose an extension to Contract Net protocol, called Agent-centric Contract Net Protocol (ACNP), as a negotiation mechanism with three key features for composing web services enacted by autonomous agents.Method(1) A matchmaking mechanism embedded in a middle agent (as a service matchmaker) for discovering web services that are available intermittently is presented based on the concept of agent roles; (2) A selection algorithm based on risk-enabled reputation model (REAL) embedded in a manager agent (as a service composer) is introduced to serve a basis for selecting web services with variant performance; and (3) A negotiation mechanism between a manager agent and contractor agents (as atomic services) is devised and enables both a service composer and the atomic services to request, refuse or agree on adapting changes of services.ResultsThe problem of assembling a computer is discussed in this paper.ConclusionIt is increasingly recognised that web services would become more autonomous by introducing diverse agent technologies to better constitute more complex systems in open and dynamic environments. As web service technologies are best exploited by composite services, it is imperative to devise mechanisms for composing services of autonomy.     

Searchers,Bring Your Credit Cards

ABSTRACT

Libraries will never have comprehensive collections in today's publishing and media landscape. While the ability of searchers to discover content via metadata continues to improve by leaps and bounds, retrieval is rapidly losing ground. Libraries are collecting less, interlibrary loan is less effective today than in the 20th century, and searchers are looking for things that have never been collected by libraries. Reference services need to address the direct-to-consumer download market emerging outside their traditional sphere of influence. Sometimes the best answer to a reference question is “you can buy it here.”     

Constrained dynamical systems,robust model reference adaptive control,and unreliable reference signals

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we address the robust control design problem for nonlinear dynamical systems tracking unreliable reference signals. Specifically, we present robust model reference adaptive control laws that guarantee uniform ultimate boundedness of the trajectory tracking error for nonlinear plants that are affected by matched, unmatched, and parametric uncertainties, and are subject to constraints on the state space and the measured output. These control laws guarantee satisfactory results even in case the reference trajectory or the reference output signal do not verify the given constraints and hence, may draw the plant's trajectory or measured output outside their constraint sets. A numerical example involving the attitude control of a spacecraft illustrates the feasibility of the theoretical results presented.     

The Buck Stops Where?

SUMMARY

University students-whether adult, distance learner, or traditional age-need access to university services and quick accurate answers to their questions beyond traditional “business” hours. Students' busy schedules and changing life patterns dictate that university services meet their needs. At DePaul University in Chicago, student focus groups repeatedly pointed to the need for one central place to get an answer or solve a problem. DePaul Central was created as an information and referral service to satisfy that student need, at the same capitalizing on the value of the librarian skill set.     

Trying it on for Size

ABSTRACT

Most colleges are continuing to see growth in their online education programs. Academic libraries are attempting to strike a balance between traditional library offerings and new online resources and services. Determining how to allocate funds is complicated by the fact that many students in online classes today live near enough campus to come to the library. Should libraries at institutions where most online students live near campus devote scarce resources to providing services such as online reference? One community college library is attempting to answer that question by testing online reference with Elluminate vClass in a limited way.     

Developing Skype-Based Reference Services

ABSTRACT

Internet voice and video calling have demonstrated a dramatic rise in quality in the past several years and have quickly become communication technologies with a disruptive impact on society. Librarians, who regularly adopt such technologies in outreach and public services, should evaluate Web-calling programs as potential sources of innovative reference programming. This article describes the development of Skype video and Internet telephony pilot reference services at the Ohio University Libraries and considers the utility of Skype and VoIP in a library setting.     

Designing and Developing Internet Reference Services to Support Firefighter Distance Learners in Illinois

SUMMARY

This article discusses issues surrounding the development of a small special library's Internet reference services to support firefighter distance learners for the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute's (IFSI) online Firefighter II Certification Program, the first of its kind in the nation. Planning for the Internet reference services involves consideration of user needs, funding, staff management, and collection development. In addition, this article explores how the IFSI Library has established a collaboration and partnership with the online course and Information Technology teams, and local public and community college libraries.