Virtual Reference at the NCSU Libraries: the first one hundred days
Information Technology and Libraries
[September 2001]
Boyer, Joshua
.
Abstract: North Carolina State University (NCSU) Libraries launched an online chat reference service in January using Library Systems and Services LLC''s (LSSI) Virtual Reference Desk. Traffic has been modest but significant (four chat sessions per day). Staff have responded to the service with interest and excitement as well as confusion and doubts. Future directions for the service include improving librarians'' abilities to work in this new medium and extending the hours of the service. The author concludes by arguing that libraries must strive to create Web environments in which answers to the most frequently asked questions are easy for patrons to find without having to contact the reference desk.